Mortal Kombat: Elemental Realm
AN: Hello there, my dear readers! I got to updating this little story here. Hope you enjoy it!
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Abyss Trinity: Yeah, people do tend to exaggerate when it comes to those things.
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3 Enter Outworld
A month has passed after Raiden visited the Elemental Nations and the ninja villages began gathering their best fighters for the tournament. After the rest of the nations were informed of what happened, along with the testimony from Raiden himself, they gathered in the Leaf village and waited for the news.
The Five Kages were all present, the ninjas they selected for the tournament, and some to be their guards were also present there. They were granted a somewhat prolonged stay in the village in case it took Raiden longer to arrive with the news.
The Leaf Twelve, Kakashi, team Samui, Darui, Cee, Kurotsuchi, Akatsuchi, Chojuro, Temari, and Kankuro were all selected as candidates for the tournament.
All of them were gathered in the Hogake building as instructed, right on the day that they were to be transported to the tournament.
"I don't like this," the Raikage, Ay, muttered. "We should be fighting in this bloody thing ourselves, not let others fight our battles."
Onoki, the third Tsuchikage chuckled in his chair. "Of course you would be the one saying that," he said before rubbing his back. "After that war, my back is in even worse condition than before. I doubt I'd be able to put up a good fight. Let the youngsters deal with this, while we old men rest."
Ay scoffed. True, he wasn't exactly in his prime but he wouldn't consider himself old.
Mei, the fifth Mizukage voiced that displeasure. "Speak for yourself, old man," she said before flicking her hair. "I'm still in the prime of my life."
"Lady Mizukage," Chojuro chimed in. "That may be true, but you're way too an important figure to be put at such risk."
Mei turned to him and smiled. "Oh, how sweet of you, Chojuro," she said in a voice that made the young man blush.
"I have to agree with Chojuro," Omoi said. "I mean, what if a Kage gets killed, that will surely have a negative impact on-"
"Zip it!" Karui interrupted as she looked at her teammate. "We don't need your paranoia here."
"Regardless," Gaara said. "The Daimyos have decided that we can't participate in this tournament due to the importance of our status, despite our own opinions on that."
Gaara actually wanted to go into the tournament himself, but when the meeting was organized with their Daimyos it was decided that risking their village leaders is not worth it, and they would need to choose who should participate in their stead.
But the selected didn't mind as they would gladly give up their lives for their Kages. However, they still felt somewhat nervous as they didn't know what to expect from the tournament.
"Now if we only knew when exactly this Raiden would show up," Kankuro said as he crossed his arms.
"This matter is very delicate," Samui responded. "If the situation is as serious as it was said, then we may as well wait the whole day."
"I really hope it doesn't come to that," Kiba said as he looked at Akamaru who seemed to agree.
"Despite how we feel, we better hope that we prepared as well as we could for this thing," Tsunade said. "Otherwise we'll be in a whole other world of trouble, literally in this case."
Then there was a sound of a thunder strike above them, making everyone look up.
"Is that it?" Temari asked.
"That's usually how Raiden comes here, so it most likely is," Shino answered.
"Then we shouldn't waste any time!" Ay said. "Let's get to the roof." He began walking away with everyone else following him swiftly.
Once they arrived at the roof, the Hidden Leaf ninjas were greeted by the familiar form of Raiden, who stood there with his staff waiting for them.
However, he wasn't alone. Beside him was another man. He appeared to be a samurai with the style of the dark and gold armor he wore and the two Sashimonos on his back. He had long white hair that he wore in the back styled in a bun, and white eyes similar to that of Raiden's. The man could very well pass as a soldier in the Land of Iron.
"I see that you've gathered for the tournament," Raiden said as he approached them. "Good. We will be transported to Outworld shortly. Mortal Kombat will be held there, and we will access it via a portal."
"Alright, we let's finish this thing as soon as we can!" Naruto exclaimed.
"If only it were so easy," Sakura said.
Mei eyes the man next to Raiden and couldn't help but smile. "And who might this handsome man be?"
The said man then got closer to the group as well. He then put a closed fist into his open palm before giving a bow. "I apologize for my inappropriate manners," he said in a professional tone. "My name is Hotaru. I am the chief commander of the Seidan Guard from the Realm of Order. It is an honor to meet such esteemed warriors from the Realm of Elements."
Mei couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh, handsome and polite. A very nice combination," she said in a flirty tone but Hotaru's face remained neutral as he seemingly wasn't affected. "Will you also be participating in the tournament?"
Hotaru shook his head. "Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to participate in the tournament since I don't hail from your realm or Outworld. Trust me, my lady; I would very much like to drown Shao Kahn and his followers in magma, but I must follow the order of things."
"Then what are you doing here, exactly?" Sasuke asked. "And where did you say we were from?"
Hotaru proceeded to explain. "While I can't fight on your behalf, I was given a task to guard you during your trip to the tournament. My Seidan Guardsmen and I will defend all of you with our lives."
"How nice of you," Mei commented.
"I'm only following orders. As for the other question, your realm has been dubbed the Realm of Elements or Elemental Realm due to your ability to wield elements."
"In any case, there is still one matter to settle," Raiden said before reaching for something behind his back, which turned out to be a glass jar with several pieces of paper in them. "Unfortunately, only twelve participants from each realm be a part of Mortal Kombat. This jar contains folded papers with numbers written on them. Each of you will draw and the people with numbers from one to twelve will be the ones participating."
"What?! That's crazy!" Kankuro protested.
"It isn't the most ideal, but Shao Kahn went through the same process and chose his combatants. You have to follow the same."
Raiden honestly didn't like this idea. However, Shao Kahn did end up proposing it, letting chance decide who will fight for him so the others would have no choice but to agree.
"If we have to, then we have to," Darui said before walking over to the jar and picked a piece of paper from inside.
The rest quickly followed suit and picked their numbers as well. Once they revealed which numbers they possessed, the participants were decided.
Those were: Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Temari, Darui, Chojuro, Rock Lee, Kurotsuchi, Shikamaru, Hinata, Kiba, and Cee.
Raiden thanked the Elder Gods for their luck. It would seem that Naruto and Sasuke will participate after all. "While the rest of you may not be able to participate, you can still go as spectators for the tournament if you wish."
All of those who weren't participating, decided to join, to at least bring the moral support for their comrades.
"Then it is decided," Raiden said before he turned around. He brought his hand up before shooting electricity which ended up taking an oval glowing shape. "This portal will lead you to Outworld."
Hotaru then motioned to the portal. "I implore all of you to gather single-file so we can proceed in an orderly fashion."
"Man, this guy's a nut for protocol, isn't he?" Kiba muttered.
"I honestly don't know what's wrong with that," Omoi said.
One by one the ninja entered through the portal, ready to once again face their destiny.
Once everyone stepped through the portal they saw that they were surrounded by people dressed similarly to Hotaru, armed with Naginatas and katanas at their hips.
As the ninjas grouped the Seidan Guards began positioning themselves to their sides, all walking in perfect sync.
The ninjas then saw where they were. They were located in front of a giant building that could definitely be described as a huge palace, with the noticeable shape of a skull wearing a samurai-like helmet decorating the top of the palace. The lights that were seen through the 'eyes' of the skull gave it an ominous look.
They also gazed at the surroundings. There wasn't much greenery to be seen from where they stood, seeming to be mostly a wasteland that was populated. Another thing to notice was the unnatural color of the night sky, with it being purple which no doubt came from the purple glow of the Outworld moon.
"Lovely place," Tsuchikage commented as he floated in the air.
"If this Shao Kahn wanted to go for a supervillain look, then mission accomplished," Kiba said as his eyes narrowed. This place really gave him the creeps.
"We don't have time to waste. Let us proceed," Raiden said before walking towards the palace. The guards gave a salute before walking alongside the ninjas.
As they walked through the entrance of the palace, the residents of the Elemental Realm couldn't help but gawk at the people who were there. Some of them looked like normal humans, but there were also many who had features like claws and long sharp teeth, others were tall and muscular with four arms, and there were also some who looked like a combination of a human, horse, and bull.
And many of these Outworlders also gave the heroes quite a number of stares, knowing who these newcomers were and why they were here.
"I wonder if we will fight anyone like any of these," Naruto wondered.
"If we do, it doesn't matter," Sasuke said. "They will fall the same as everyone else."
They walked through the courtyard and into the main building of the palace, entering a long hallway that their group could pass through. It was decorated with many weapons and statues, many other decorations colored red as blood.
After a few more minutes of silence, Mei decided to break it.
"So tell me, Hotaru," she began gaining the chief commander's attention. "You said earlier you would gladly drown Shao Kahn and his followers in magma."
"I apologize if I spoke out of turn, ma'am," he said.
Mei couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh, no, no. Nothing to worry about. I was just curious, that's all. Do you actually have the ability to control lava?"
Hotaru gave a nod. "I do indeed, ma'am. It is one of my special abilities."
Well, isn't he just perfect, Mei thought to herself. "You know, I also have that special ability as well. And you don't have to call me 'ma'am'. Mei will do just fine."
"No offense, my lady, but that would be very unprofessional of me," he said before turning back to his duty.
"Just what do you expect to get from him?" Ay whispered to the Mizukage. "With the way this man acts I doubt he will ever notice you the way you want."
"Just give me some time," Mei said dismissively. "I'll have him by the time this is finished."
After passing many hallways they walked up to some huge double doors. They stood there for a few moments before the doors opened, giving them a view of what seemed to be a large arena. There were many people gathered in the stands, consisting of those races that the ninjas saw back there and more.
In the middle of the arena was a throne made of stone, with the backrest shaped like a skull with ram horns. However, everyone's eyes were drawn to the person sitting on that throne. Despite sitting down, the ninjas could tell that the man was quite tall. He was also very muscular, matching the Raikage in that department. He wore spiked boots, gauntlets and shoulder pads, two leather straps interlocking on his chest, with his private areas covered by shorts and a red piece of cloth. But the most noticeable feature was the skull samurai helmet that wore, similar to the design on his palace, with the red slitted eyes looking right at the group.
The man on the throne looked at them approaching before rising from his throne to his full towering height. He then spread his arms. "Welcome, contestants and representatives of the Elemental Realm!" he exclaimed getting some cheers from the people in the crowd.
"I already don't like him," Karui commented, to which a lot of them seemed to agree.
"I am Emperor Shao Kahn!" the man introduced himself, his deep voice echoing through the arena. "Conqueror of worlds, and the rightful ruler of Outworld!" He then walked over closer to the group before continuing. "As you were probably already informed, you will be fighting for your realm in this Mortal Kombat tournament. But don't think of me conquering your realm as something to be dreaded but as a privilege, to become something greater than you were before."
Naruto gritted his teeth. "Why the hell should we view you attacking us as a good thing?! Just who do you think you are?!" Naruto yelled getting Shao Kahn's attention.
Nobody was sure how Shao Kahn would react to Naruto's outburst, but to hear him laugh came a bit unexpected.
"I see you have fire in you, boy," Shao Kahn commented. "It just might help you last longer. But to answer your question, I am a man who destroyed demons, brought entire civilizations under my boot, slain the Dragon King himself, and crushed gods with my fists!"
Well, isn't that just great? Naruto thought. Another bastard with a huge ego.
Shao Kahn then walked back to his throne. "Now, the tournament itself will proceed tomorrow. Until then you can enjoy my palace as you wish. Some of my guards will show you your rooms. Now be gone."
The group then turned around and walked away from the throne.
"Be ready, all of you," Raiden said. "Because tomorrow, your fate will hang in the balance."
AN: And that is it for now! No fighting in this chapter but I do hope that you enjoyed this chapter.
I implore you to also check out my other stories. You won't regret it. And leave a review. They are great motivators.
See you next time!