"I still don't get why Black Dragon members were invited here."
"Yeah, they suck at fighting."
Jax chuckles at Rei's statement as they watched the current fight. It was nighttime now, but it was still raining rather heavily. Currently fighting was a Black Dragon member with a strange jacket on and had a tendency to turn himself into a human slingshot fighting a woman in blue that usually stood by Shang Tsung's throne. The woman was winning by a long shot, her fans tearing into the guy. The fairy was sitting on Rei's shoulder, a part of her purple tunic looking slightly frozen from sitting there. It hadn't spoke a word.
Raiden had been watching it for a while, curious as to what it exactly was, and why did Rei have it now? The fairy notices him staring, turning to look at him. One of its wings twitched.
"...your little ball of light is staring at me." Raiden spoke up, Rei looking at him.
"That little ball of light is called a Spectrite." She corrects him, taking the little fairy into her hands, "It's what a soul becomes during the conversion process in my realm."
"The what now?" Jax asks, having overheard. Rei giggles.
"Well, I suck at explaining things, but my mother could explain it better than me. She's on this island, but she's really unpredictable. My people say she makes Chaosrealmers look like Seidans in comparison."
"How do you even know she's here?" Raiden asks.
"She's fucking 10 ft tall, she's not hard to miss unless you're blind or easily distracted. Plus she's really powerful when it comes to magic so it's easy to sense her presence" Rei says in a flat tone. Raiden and Jax both look at her weirdly. She just shrugs, the Spectrite fluttering in the air now. Rei notices that there's ice on her shoulder, cracking it and dusting the ice shards away before turning to Raiden.
"I mean… if you want to meet her, we can go look for her. Like I said, she's not hard to miss. She could probably even help us out too if we ask nicely." She suggests, "After all, the more, the merrier, right?"
Raiden considers it for a moment, but shook his head. "Maybe later if I feel we need the extra assistance."
"Suit yourself, big guy." the Asali says, the Spectrite now resting on her head.
Back at the Pit, the sky shined with the light of a thousand stars, oddly clear despite it raining where the others were. Probably due to how Shang Tsung's island worked. Cyrax was walking along it, currently pondering on what Raiden had said earlier. A growl suddenly catches his attention, turning around to see Baraka alongside a rather tall woman with four arms: Sheeva.
"What are you doing?" asked Cyrax, "I'm not here to fight you. I'm assigned to kill Johnny Cage."
"Shang Tsung no longer has need of you." The woman answered, holding up two of her arms to prevent Baraka from intervening.
"What do you mean?" The Lin Kuei asked once more. The woman took up a fighting stance.
"He is terminating your agreement. And you!"
A fight then ensues. Baraka simply sat back and watched, but then noticed something from the corner of his eye. On the other bridge far from there, he spots a very tall woman tossing what looked to be empty buckets down into the Pit. The Tarkatan thought in confusion, scratching his head Who was this woman? She didn't look like she was of Earthrealm or Outworld. He tries to get a closer look… and was met with a paint bucket to the face after she sees him staring.
"Not polite to stare, fucknut!" Azriel yells from the bridge before disappearing in a puff of bright red sparkles and smoke via a pirouette. Baraka rubs his face, feeling that a few of his teeth were missing from the paint bucket, growling a bit. A loud thud was heard, Baraka turning back to see Sheeva on the ground unconscious, Cyrax standing over her victoriously.
"I need to have a talk with your master." Cyrax demanded as he looked Baraka in the eye. The Tarkatan roared and charged forward, blades unsheathed. Might as well take out his anger from the paint bucket meeting his face on this Earthrealmer.
"This fight is not over!" He corrected.
Cyrax simply returned to his stance. "You mean to finish me? You couldn't even stop the actor!" He taunts. Baraka looked very insulted, growling loudly.
This Earthrealmer was gonna suffer.
It was an intermission at the temple. The Earthrealmers were in their own little group, chatting among themselves. Rei was with the Spectrite, watching it fly around Raiden, Raiden not really sure how to react, just watching.
"Why is it doing this?" Raiden asks her.
"Oh, they tend to do that when they sense strong energies and auras." Rei says, "Of course he senses your godly aura."
"It is a he?"
"Yeah. Say hello."
The Spectrite was still silent, but it did circle Raiden again before sitting on Rei's shoulder. She chuckles.
"He's shy." She gently pats it, the fairy's wings twitching. Raiden just let out a small chuckle, gently touching it himself. Immediately he notices how cold it was to the touch, making a surprised sound.
"It is cold to the touch. Is that normal?" he asks.
"Yeah, that's normal. If they had any powers while they were alive, it transfers over." Rei nods, "This little guy could control ice."
"Interesting…" Raiden looked more curious, but says nothing else.
The doors to the arena swing open, and in walks Cyrax. He looked a little banged up and bits and pieces of his clothes were slashed open. Raiden regards him with a silent nod as he passes by, Rei just tilting her Spectrite's wings twitch again, and it mumbled something Raiden or Rei couldn't hear. The yellow clad Lin Kuei went up to Sektor and Shang Tsung.
"Sektor, we need to talk." Cyrax told the red clad Lin Kuei, "Our host tried to have me killed."
"You were speaking with the Thunder God." Shang Tsung defended, "You indiscretion has jeopardized my whole plan."
"Cyrax is Lin Kuei." Sektor jumped in, "He will complete his task." Shang Tsung gave in a rather incredulous look, returning to his throne.
"We shall see… The next match will be Cyrax versus Johnny Cage." Shang Tsung announced, said actor's attention drawn away from an annoyed Sonya, who looked very thankful for the announcement.
"What, me? Alright then." Johnny said as he made his way onto the arena. "Not everyone gets to rumble with a celebrity. Ready for your beat down, Sunshine? Here it comes!"
The Spectrite suddenly flies off Rei's shoulder and over to Cyrax, fluttering near him. Cyrax looked confused, feeling a cold chill around it.
"H-Hey! Get back here!" Rei shouts at it, but it doesn't listen. It instead flapped its wings very hard and fast, looking eager to join the fight. Johnny used the opportunity to attack, sucker punching Cyrax.
"Oh fucking hell…" Rei focuses, a black blob that used to be her shadow swiftly moving on the ground in a zigzag motion. It reappears behind Cyrax as he was punching Johnny, now as a watery, all black clone of Rei. The clone grabs the Spectrite and sinks back into the floor with it. The blob zig zags back and reappears next to the Asali, holding the startled fairy. Rei takes it.
"Bad! You do not go doing that!" She scolds it, the clone turning back into her shadow again, "You could have gotten crushed!"
"How did you… do that?" a disturbed Sonya asks, Rei looks at her with a grin.
"I'm a Goddess of Darkness, shadows count as darkness." She answers, putting the annoyed Spectrite on her shoulder again. It flash freezes her shoulder in retaliation, but she ignored it. Raiden however, gently presses down on the ice, shattering it and dusting it off her. The Spectrite looks angry, glowing brighter than usual and rams itself into Raiden… flash freezing him. Rei sees this and starts laughing hard while Liu Kang and Kung Lao both look worried, Liu Kang holding a small flame near him to thaw him out. By the time Raiden was partially thawed out and shivering due to the cold, Cyrax had Johnny on the floor, looking disappointed while the actor groaned in pain.
"That should shut you up." boasted Cyrax as he stepped over and lifted Johnny up by his neck, preparing to land a final blow.
"Finish him!" the sorcerer demanded, watching in anticipation. Cyrax looked over to him, then towards Raiden, who shakes his head despite his shivering. His decision was soon made.
"I won't kill him!" Cyrax let Johnny down and walks off. Shang Tsung glowers in fury, but Raiden nodded in approval. While Sektor watched Cyrax leave with disdain on his face, a few of Shang's masked guards soon came in, one of them going up to the sorcerer and whispering something into his ear.
"WHAT?!" Shang Tsung stood up, his fury now known, "Who would dare defile the paintings of me? I will have their head!" He then stormed out of the arena, everything now silent. Everyone looked very confused, especially Raiden and Rei.
"W-What is going o-on?" Raiden stutters, now completely thawed out but still very cold due to his now ice cold soaked clothes, "And s-someone help Johnny Cage…"
"On it." Jax goes over and picks Johnny up via lumberjack style, much to Johnny's protests, bringing him back to their side. Sonya chuckles at the sight, going to check on him.
"You alright, Raiden?" Rei asks, the Spectrite chuckling at what it had done. Raiden shook his head.
"My clothes are soaking wet with ice cold water…"
"How's that any different from being in the rain?"
"The rain isn't this cold. I can't just leave for the Sky Temple right now to change, we're at a crucial point in the Tournament." Raiden explains.
Rei looks deep in thought before grinning.
"I know someone who can help with that!"
"You were commanded to kill Johnny Cage. You disobeyed."
"I eliminated him from the tournament. He didn't need to die."
Deep in the jungle away from the arena, Cyrax and Sektor were alone, the red Lin Kuei looking rather angry at the yellow one's actions from earlier. "You have broken your oath." Sektor spoke.
"I used my judgement!" retorted Cyrax.
"The Cyber Initiative will eliminate insubordination." spoke Sektor.
"We're not machines, Sektor." Cyrax began to explain, "I chose to serve the Lin Kuei. But, I will not surrender my free will!" With that, he sucker punched Sektor, starting another brawl. The fight between the two technologically advanced assassins is brutal and deadly, but in the end, Cyrax was able to defeat Sektor.
"Tell the Grandmaster that I am finished." Cyrax spoke calmly. Sektor looked up at him in anger.
"No one leaves the Lin Kuei-"
WHAM!
Cyrax promptly responded to Sektor via boot to the face before walking off, leaving his now former comrade unconscious.
"Azriel, heads up. Rei's on her way with some friends."
Azriel perks up from her spot on the beach, sipping her martini. She was sitting next to the 20 ft hole she had dug, the shovel embedded in the ground nearby. She chugs the rest of it and tosses the glass behind her, the sound of it breaking was heard, followed by a guard's cry of pain as glass cut them.
"Is Raiden with them?" She asks, grabbing the shovel and hopping back into the hole.
"Yup. He's a little upset though. Wet clothes after being thawed out is never fun." Corliss answers, "What are you doing?"
"You'll see." Azriel says, digging a bit more, tossing dirt and sand out of the hole. She was going to have a little fun with the Earthrealmers, "Just let Rei know I'm still in the hole."
"On it."
Azriel peeks a bit over the edge of the hole, seeing Rei in the distance with the Earthrealmers. She giggles darkly, sinking back into the hole. This was gonna be good.
"Are you sure she's here…?" Liu Kang asks, looking around. Rei nods.
"Positive. This was where I last saw her. She was digging a pitfall to see if any unsuspecting people would fall in." She answers. Raiden was still shivering behind her, feeling that presence again and looking very nervous. When they saw dirt and sand being tossed out of the hole, they stopped. All but Rei, that is, for she went up to the edge. Raiden looked very, very nervous, bits of static coming off him as a result.
"Mom, are you still digging this?" Rei asks.
"Why yes, I am!" Azriel beams happily, "I got bored, so I'm making it a bit deeper~"
"Well, can you stop for a second? My friends wish to meet you." Rei asks, Azriel grinning. Azriel tosses the shovel out of the hole, Johnny shouting in fear as the shovel misses him by mere inches. Azriel pirouettes again, vanishing in a puff of reddish black smoke. Rei stands back as the earth starts to rumble, looking confused. The others were confused as well, but Raiden?
Pure terror.
An explosion of confetti and sparkles comes from the hole, Azriel spinning out of it and striking a pose.
"Hello, my darlings!" She says with a grin and bowing, "Elder God Azriel, at your service~"
THUD.
"Raiden!" Liu Kang and Kung Lao shout, rushing to the fallen Thunder God's aid. Raiden had fainted out of fear and shock, unconscious on the ground. Rei rushes over as well, ignoring Azriel's and Corliss' laughter, gently tapping Raiden's face to try and wake him up.
"Mom! You nearly gave him a heart attack!" Rei yells at the laughing Elder God.
"That's your mother?!" Kung Lao asks, stunned.
"I just meant to scare him! I didn't expect him to faint!" Azriel giggles, floating over and picking Raiden up bridal style, the Thunder God still out cold. Liu Kang picks up Raiden's hat, twirling it a bit before deciding to wear it himself, chuckling.
"Lao, check it out. I'm a fire god!" Liu Kang says, making his hands ignite as he struck a pose. Kung Lao laughs at that, everyone else finding it amusing as well. Liu Kang looks proud of himself.
Hopefully Raiden doesn't smite when when he wakes up.