So, I'm very much aware of what happened to some past chapters a few days ago. Luckily someone pointed it out to me so I was able to fix them in time. It won't happen again, since I'm double checking everything whenever possible.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this intermission chapter! It's more casual than anything, plus a bonus cameo!
Corliss was pleased. Oh so pleased.
More and more sub-timelines were starting to go away, and she was even starting to see some new ones take their places. And from what she sees, all of them weren't nearly as bad as the old ones, and some were outright better and more desirable. It made the Asalian Time Goddess very happy. She switches from the Time Tree screen to another screen that shows Azriel still sitting at the beach, now sunbathing on the beach, and then pulls up another screen, showing the Earthrealmers getting their things to leave the island. Rei still looked pretty banged up, but Sonya and Jax were able to patch up her wounds nicely. She chuckles, activating her mic.
"Good job Rei, you're a quarter of the way done." She says into the mic, only Rei being able to hear her, "You got one more Tournament to go and then the Invasion."
Luckily, Rei was alone since Raiden went to talk with the Monks. "That's good to know. How's everything doing on your end?" Rei asks.
"Going great, the bad timelines are going away and new ones are springing up. It's all going according to plan." Corliss answers, getting another energy drink and cracking it open, "Azriel's really happy about it."
"I can imagine. Is she still expecting us?"
"Yeah, she is. She's sunbathing on the beach right now. Go to her as soon as you can."
"Will do." Rei gives a thumbs up. Corliss switches screens to Azriel's.
"Azriel, they'll be on their way soon. The Earthrealmers are getting their belongings and I think they were all invited to the Wu Shi Academy to celebrate. You going to join them?" She asks, Azriel perking up a bit.
"Oh yes. I figured I'd help with the celebration. You know I can never turn down a good party~" Azriel says with a delighted smile, "It'll be a wonderful time for them before it gets shot to hell. Plus I do wish to have a little word with Raiden in private."
"Oh? You're not gonna traumatize him more, are you?" Corliss sips her drink.
"Oh goodness no! I still feel bad for making him faint earlier. I was not expecting such a reaction from him." Azriel had sat up, shaking her head and frowning, "I was expecting more of an awestruck reaction at how an Elder God that wasn't Shinnok had set foot on Earthrealm. I'm not sure what Izanagi and his crew did to him, but I'm going to get to the bottom of it, and I'm going to fix it. It's the least I can do for her after what befell her."
"Who are you talking about?" Corliss looks confused. Azriel doesn't answer her, vanishing in a puff of smoke. Corliss sighs heavily.
"One of these days, I'm paying Callum my life savings to see what goes on in her mind…"
"Alright, everyone got everything?" Rei asks the Earthrealmers, "Cause Mom needs to see us once all of you are ready to go. It's important."
Jax and Sonya both came here pretty light, both nodding. Johnny had three bags of stuff, though two looked drowned from when Johnny tried to get Liu Kang to help him carry his bags, but Liu Kang had taken Kung Lao's "wise advice" and chucked them into the pond near the courtyard. Needless to say, Johnny was not very happy when he had to get them out himself, leaving the man soaking wet as well. Nightwolf had left earlier than they did, so he wasn't joining them on their way off the island. Raiden was silent, hands fidgeting again since he has to see Azriel again. Lastly, Liu Kang and Kung Lao were watching Raiden, seeing he was nervous again.
"We are ready to go." Sonya says with a thumbs up, "Lead the way, Rei."
"Let's go, bitches!" Rei says as she turns around to start heading to the beach, only to run straight into Azriel, who had just poofed in a second before hand. Azriel just chuckles, helping Rei up.
"Hello, my pretties~ Figured I'd just come to you all directly to save you the trip." She says, arms outstretched in a greeting pose, "I bet you all are curious as to why I needed to see you. It's not everyday mortals like yourselves get to bask in the greatness of someone like me. All but Raiden, that is, but that's a discussion for a much later date." Azriel looks over them all, immediately seeing how nervous Raiden was but doesn't comment on it.
"In honor of your victory over Earthrealm, I would love to treat you all to a grand feast and some fun! There's nothing better than having a good meal and fun time with friends and family after something like this. I should know. After my realm's victory in Mortal Kombat thousands of years ago against Outworld, the resulting celebration was something I will never forget."
"You had me at grand feast." Johnny looks hungry, rubbing his hands together, "I'm starving! The food here isn't all that good."
"I'm… gonna have to agree." Jax says, sounding surprised at himself, "The food here does suck."
"Probably because it was all food from Outworld…" Raiden mumbles, oddly quieter than usual and head hung low. Azriel heard it, her smile faltering a bit, but it wasn't noticeable.
"Where will you hold this celebration, great one?" Liu Kang asks as he bows to her. Azriel giggles at the show of respect.
"At the Wu Shi Academy of course! Isn't that where you and your friends are going?" She asks, "Your monk friends deserve to join in on the fun too! The more, the merrier as you mortals would say."
"Sounds wonderful. It would be an honor." Liu Kang looks happy. The others look excited as well. A feast gifted to them by an Elder God? It was a one in a lifetime opportunity! Rei looks at Azriel with a grin, Bi-Han going back into Rei's gem.
"Express way to Wu Shi Academy?" Rei asks Azriel. Azriel grins.
"Express way."
"This is awesome!" Johnny cheers as he sits at a large table that was filled with tons of food, enough to feed all the monks at the Academy and then some. There was simple decorations up, and Liu Kang was the center of everyone's attention, the monk getting all sorts of praise and thank yous from his fellow monks. Sonya and Jax were over with Kung Lao, setting up something that Azriel told them to set up while she went outside for a second. Rei was at the table, already eating away happily, giggling in delight.
"Mom knows how to conjure up the best food ever!" She beams, Bi-Han popping out of her gem and landing on a plate of strawberries, which made her giggle more.
"Careful, don't get mistaken for a strawberry!" She says to the Spectrite, Bi-Han just letting his wing twitch in response. Rei looks around for Raiden, wondering why he wasn't enjoying the festivities or food. She goes up to Sonya on the raised platform.
"Hey, have you seen Raiden? I figured he would want to join us."
"I haven't seen him since we got here. I think he's just not into parties like this."
"Or maybe it's because of Azriel being around?" Sonya and Rei look at Jax, the man continuing.
"I don't think he's used to his elders being, y'know. Around like this. Liu Kang tells me the mere mention of Azriel's name sent him into some nervous panic when he brought up asking Azriel about his visions and stuff." He explains, "If I had to guess, he's not around because he's trying to avoid her."
"Speaking of Azriel, where is she? We almost have this set up for her, but do not know what she's planning." Kung Lao asks. Rei shrugs.
"Hell if I know. I can't keep track of her sometimes."
Outside in a secluded courtyard, Raiden was alone, meditating above a lotus pond. His staff was embedded in the ground nearby, and in the distance, storm clouds looked to be approaching. Almost as if they were attracted by Raiden's presence. Despite being alone, he felt as if he was being watched from above.
He is entirely correct.
"CANNONBALL!"
Raiden's eyes snap open one second too late as he's snatched out of the air and brought underwater by someone that jumped into the pond from above, that someone being Azriel. Panic sets in as he scrambles to get to the surface and out of the pond, trying not to accidentally electrocute himself as he did so. Once he's clawed his way out of the pond, Azriel resurfaces, giggling like crazy.
"Aww, aren't you a killjoy~" She grins, Raiden shaking like a leaf as he was trying to catch his breath. She swims over and gets out of the water, sitting next to him.
"I couldn't resist, my apologies." She pats him on the back, "You throw a slow ball at home plate, I gotta fuckin' SWING, y'know?"
"I-It…. It is fine…" Raiden assures, despite it not being fine, but he wasn't going to tell her otherwise, "It is my fault for letting my guard down…"
Azriel notices he's tense and nervous still, raising a brow. She watches as he coughs a bit, now sitting on his knees before her, head down and hands shaking faintly again. It upset her a bit. Usually when she did this with a God or Goddess back in Purgatory, they just reacted with annoyance, empty threats on her life, or even laughed it off, knowing Azriel was just playing around. Then again, things were different in Earthrealm. She makes him look at her, smiling sweetly.
"Raiden, why are you all alone at here when your friends are enjoying the feast inside? Don't you want to celebrate with them?" She asks. Raiden's expression seems to soften a bit, averting his gaze.
"I…. sometimes prefer to be alone after stressful situations." he answers, "I need to relax alone."
"I can understand that, you're just like my other daughter." Azriel lets Raiden's face go, using her magic to dry him off once more. She sees his hat floating in the pond and gets it out, drying it off with a flip.
"But, this is a once in a lifetime occasion, Raiden. You may be a God, but even some events happen only once. Please come join us." She gives Raiden his hat back. Raiden just looks down at his hat for a minute, Azriel watching him.
"...ok." He nods, looking up, "...but might I request an audience with you?"
"Granted, speak." Azriel allowed, ready to listen.
Raiden takes his amulet off his chest, looking at it. "Earlier in the tournament, I started having these visions of future events that are to happen. My future self sent them to me before he is killed by Shao Kahn. His last words were "He must win", but I do not know who exactly he is referring to. It was not Liu Kang since my amulet still cracked even after he won, and it troubles me."
"So that's why it's like that." Azriel looks at the amulet, Raiden taking it off and giving it to her to look at it, "When did this start cracking?"
"As soon as I had the first vision."
"Interesting… from what I'm hearing, these instances are connected. I believe your future self sent these visions to prevent whatever it was that befell the future and lead to his death." Azriel theorizes, "So instead of following the visions outright, try thinking outside the box. Like for example, let's just say one of your visions involves one of your friends getting into a fight that would lead to disastrous results. Instead of encouraging it, knock them the fuck out so they can't do it. That way, whatever horrible thing won't happen and your friend will be ok, albeit with a nasty headache or something. I'm sure they'll appreciate a migraine rather than dying. I know I would."
"Azriel, your idea of thinking outside the box is blowing shit up." Corliss spoke up, "And while I admit it does work sometimes, it doesn't work all the time."
Azriel ignores her, giving Raiden his amulet back. Raiden looks rather thoughtful at her words, pinning his amulet back on it's place.
"I see… Do you think it will work?" he asks, sounding hesitant still. Azriel pats him on the cheek.
"Honey, I know it will." She says, "Have faith in this Elder God. Yes, I may seem like some mental asylum patient with an addiction to blowing things up and trolling the hell out of everyone, but I can be wise and all knowing when I want to be. I just like to have a little fun with my eternal life. Even if it means pissing off those fools that made you a fucking mess."
Raiden felt an odd sense of comfort at hearing that, just looking at her in slight awe. Azriel smiles again, gently cupping his face in her hands.
"Don't ever be afraid to come to me if you need anything during my time here. Unlike Izanagi, I'll listen and help to the best of my abilities." She assures him, patting his cheek sweetly. Raiden blushes faintly, even after she lets go of his face. All he could do was bow to her.
"Thank you, Azriel." He says, looking calmer now. She chuckles, helping him up.
"Come, Raiden. Let's go enjoy the festivities."
"Cousin, cousin!"
Kung Lao looks up from his meal to see a four year old boy running up to him, the monk smiling as the boy hugs him. Liu Kang smiles at the sight, but Sonya, Johnny, Jax, and Rei looked confused.
"Who's the kid?" Rei asks. Kung Lao gives the boy a slice of cake.
"This is my little cousin. Say hi to the nice lady, Jin." He says. Jin smiles.
"Hello!" He says with a smile, showing a slight gap in his front teeth, Rei squealing in delight. Sonya also had a huge smile at how cute he was. The boy sits next to his older cousin, happily eating the slice of cake with a big smile on his face.
"Lao, you're gonna spoil him." Liu Kang warns.
"Hey, he deserves cake once in a while. He's just 4." Kung Lao retorts, Jin having stole another piece of cake when he wasn't looking. Johnny noticed, but he gives Jin a "I won't tell" look, Jin giggling at that. At that moment, the doors fly open, and in came Azriel and Raiden, Azriel being greeted to a lot of bowing monks. She chuckles.
"Up, ya ninnies, I don't always need to be greeted to bowing." She says while Raiden took his seat at the head of the large table. The monks raise their heads, nodding at her request before resuming whatever they were doing.
"Where were you?" Rei asks, "We started eating without you."
"I had an audience with your mother." Raiden asks, helping himself to sound food, "I needed insight on my situation."
"Hope she was able to help you." Rei smiles. Bi-Han flies off the strawberries when she reacted for some, now fluttering around to see everyone else. Raiden just nods, starting to eat. Johnny looks confused.
"Gods need to eat too?"
"Not exactly, Johnny Cage. We do not require it, but we can partake in it if we choose to. Earthrealm's foods are quite delicious."
"That explains so mu-"
"Sonya Blade, I will not tolerate shots at my weight!"
"Rei's no better. She's 210."
"MOM!" Rei shouts, blushing hard, "That's not something they should know! And It's all MUSCLE!"
Azriel just looks smug, going over to the pedestal. She brings a set of pine boards out of nowhere, placing it on it and whistles to get everyone's attention. Everyone looks at her with the exception of Bi-Han, who just hovers next to her.
"So, I decided for a little game we could play, we would try something from my realm. We call it "Test Your Might"." She starts to explain, "The point of the game is to see who can break what with willpower and might alone. Would anyone like to try?"
Johnny cracks his knuckles. "I bet I can break anything!" He gets up and joins Azriel on the stage, "In fact, I can probably outdo anyone here."
"Wanna put your money where your mouth is, Johnny?" Liu Kang looks interested as well. Azriel looks very interested.
"Oh? Are we going to have a VS match with this?" She asks, looking excited.
"Step on up then, Lulu!" Johnny grins, Liu Kang looking eager to knock him down a peg. Azriel giggles excitedly and uses her magic to make a duplicate pedestal with another set of pine boards.
"Alright boys, all you gotta do is break whatever I put in front of you. First up, pine boards. Something simple. I bet even that little boy over there can break these." The Elder God points at Jin, the boy eating some chicken now. Kung Lao chuckles at that, nodding to confirm it.
The two men focus their might, all silent. Azriel watches, ignoring Bi-Han on her shoulder. With a small cry, both bring their hands down on the boards, breaking them with ease. The monks clapped, as did Azriel.
"See? Easy." Johnny grins.
"Anything harder?" Liu Kang asks Azriel without missing a beat.
Oooh, I love your attitude~" She says, "Yes I do~"
Azriel whips out two bundles of bamboo, sitting them on the pedestals. "Bamboo bundles! These are a bit harder to break, and easy to see why Raiden's hat is made out of it."
"It is quite resilient." Raiden confirms, "But it does risk bending and fire damage."
Johnny and Liu Kang focus their might again, this time taking a bit longer to focus, but once they were ready, they both busted the bundles, though Johnny shook his hand a bit after breaking it. Liu Kang grins as he saw this, not bothered at all. The monks once again applaud this.
"Already in pain, Cage?"
"Hell no. It just stung a bit, that's all."
As Azriel makes brick piles appear on the pedestals, Raiden hides his hat, Rei giggling at the sight. "Bricks! Now this will hurt if you aren't prepared." Azriel says, "If you aren't careful, you might break your hand."
Johnny looks a bit unsure of himself on this one, while Liu Kang is already focusing his might. Johnny focuses his might as well. After a solid minute, Liu Kang is first to bring his hand down, busting the brick pile to pieces and looking very proud of himself. Johnny follows suit, and while he too was able to bust through the brick pile, he shook his hand again, wincing a bit. The monks clapped, and this time, Sonya and Jax joined in, quite impressed. Raiden was too busy eating to notice, while Rei looked unimpressed.
"Getting too hard for you?" Liu Kang asks with a smug look. Johnny glares at him under his sunglasses.
"N-No! In fact, keep it coming!" Johnny says, too stubborn to admit that it really hurt when he busted through the bricks. Azriel decides to be nice and heal his hand before bringing out two gold ring racks.
"Gold rings! Rei can't even get past this." She says, Rei hearing that and looking insulted.
"Hey! I got past it-"
"When you decided to use your leg to break it instead via a leg drop. The whole point of Test Your Might is to see if you can do it with your bare hands. " Azriel corrected her, Rei huffing, muttering something about having better leg strength than arm strength. Raiden perks up at that, glancing at for a second, seemingly interested. Liu Kang and Johnny focus their might. And after a minute, they busted through the gold rings, but now both men shook their hands at that, Johnny more so than Liu Kang.
"Jesus Christ…." Johnny swears under his breath. Liu Kang just looks mildly annoyed. Azriel chuckles at that as everyone claps again. She slaps down two large chunks of amber on the pedestals now, both men looking concerned.
"Amber chunks~ Only Deurium, Metal, and Earth Element Asali in Purgatory can break this. But can you humans do it?" She says with a devious grin, "To be honest, as far as I am concerned, only Raiden would be able to break this."
"Break what?" Raiden asks, not having paid attention. He already had a stack of 3 empty plates near him, only rivaled by Rei's count. Azriel giggles again, not as surprised as Sonya and Jax are as they looked surprised at how much the two Gods could eat. Kung Lao and his little cousin didn't look bothered at all.
"Are you trying to get us to break our hands?!" Johnny asks, "This is solid damn amber!"
"Are you chickening out?" Liu Kang asks him, looking determined to prove himself. Johnny frowns, cracking his knuckles.
"Oh hell no." He focuses his might, as does Johnny. Azriel giggles.
"I'm not trying to break your hands, this is just how we do things in Purgatory." She says as they focus, "We take games very seriously."
"Damn right we do!" Rei confirms, "Asali don't fuck around!"
All is silent, the two men taking a solid two minutes to focus their might. The air is tense, and even Raiden is watching this time. With mighty roars, they brought their hands down, shattering the amber chunks to pieces, but there was also the sound of cracking from Johnny, the actor crying out in pain.
"My arm!" he yells, having broke it. It was as limp as a piece of bacon flapping in the wind. Liu Kang just grabs his unbroken arm, shouting something in Chinese that was bad enough to warrant Kung Lao to cover Jin's ears.
"Liu Kang, watch your tongue! There is a child here!" He says in anger. Jin looked confused, but said nothing as he resumes stealing some of his older cousin's food.
Azriel heals Johnny's arm via her magic, Johnny looking thankful once more. Before they thought this was the last thing they had to break, Azriel spoke up once more.
"Now, I would make the last thing you two break be a diamond brick, but seeing as you two could shatter amber, I want to see if you can break a mineral from Purgatory." She conjures up two large crystals and sets them down on the pedestals. They were bluish green in color and glowed faintly. Rei recognizes the mineral, and looks worried.
"Mom, are you gonna make them break Lazarite?!" She says, sounding upset, "Trinian can't even break it, and she's a Deurium Goddess of Empowerment!"
"Lazarite?" Liu Kang questions. Azriel chuckles.
"It's a mineral found only in Purgatory. It conducts magic unlike any other mineral, and is known to be 10 times harder than diamond, so it's often used to craft wands, armor, swords, you name it. The two main ways we "break" it is overloading it with magic or smelting it down like one would iron and gold." She explains, "Rei's amulet, for example, is made of treated violet and silver Lazarite, so it's indestructible."
"I can throw it at someone's face and it would do a lot more damage to them than it." Rei confirms with a grin. Johnny and Liu Kang look at each other, both looking unsure, but at the same time, not wanting to chicken out. They start focusing their might. This time, Azriel watches very carefully, wanting to see if one of these two could break it. Rei watches as well, but she looks really worried. After sometime, both shout like madmen and bring their arms down.
The Lazarite crystals weren't even cracked. Johnny and Liu Kang's arms, however, were broken, both crying out in pain. A collective "Oooooooo" is heard from everyone, who either winced in pain or immediately looked away. Rei instinctively grabs her own, feeling second hand pain. Azriel even looked pained to see that.
"That answers my question." She says, going to heal their arms.
"That shit is really hard…" Johnny curses, screeching like a girl when Kung Lao's hat narrowly missed him by inches, embedding itself deep into the wall behind him
"LANGUAGE!" The monk shouts in anger, Jin just tilting his head in both confusion and curiosity. Azriel laughs hard at that as she fully heals the two men, going to get Kung Lao's hat for him. Raiden looks rather curious, getting up from his spot and heading up to the stage, standing before one of the crystals.
"Raiden, are you gonna try this?" Liu Kang asks, "If what Rei says is correct, you won't be able to break it?"
"Are you doubting me?" Raiden gives him a questioning look, Liu Kang backing down.
"Hold up! I wanna try too!" Rei joins him up there, taking Johnny's place, but unlike Raiden, who was close up to his Lazarite crystal, Rei was a few feet back, "I ain't gonna let some Thunder God outdo me!"
"You can't even break gold with your bare hands!" Raiden tells her, Rei blowing a rasp at him.
"Who said I was using my hands?" She says, stretching her legs a bit, looking eager, "I never was a fisticuffs type of girl. That's my sister's thing. I prefer kickboxing. Watch and learn, Thunder Thighs~"
Raiden looks both slightly insulted and slightly flattered at the same, but says nothing, focusing his might. Rei does the same where she was. All was silent, Liu Kang and Johnny returning to their seats while Azriel gives Kung Lao his hat back. Everyone was watching them, some of the monks looking a bit worried, thinking Raiden would break his arm on this crystal as well. Within a minute, both Gods were ready.
"YEET!" Rei yells, flipping over to her crystal for a leg drop while Raiden lets out a roar that sounds like thunder booming as he brought his hand down.
CRASH!
"HOLY MOTHER OF ME!" Azriel yells, stunned speechless as Lazarite shards scattered about, everyone cheering happily for the two. Rei was sitting on the ground, leg still outstretched while Raiden stumbled back a bit, both startled at what they did. However, both Rei's leg and Raiden's arm looked limp and were bent at odd angles. Once they got over the initial shock, both looked very delighted.
"Suck on that, Mom!" Rei says very smug, pulling herself up onto her good leg by using the pedestal, "I knew those lessons would pay off!"
"I think I fractured my collarbone again…" Raiden sounded only mildly annoyed, not concerned about his arm at all. However, he looked more proud of the fact that he got that reaction out of Azriel.
"Pretty rocks!" Jin goes to collect some shards for himself, Kung Lao chuckling at that and helping him. Azriel shakes herself out of her shocked stupor and giggles happily.
"Now that's not something one sees every day! Congratulations you two!" She heals both Rei's leg and Raiden's arm and collar bone, both looking thankful, "Anyone who wants a Lazarite crystal is more than welcome to one!"
Immediately several monks come to get some. Sonya and Jax grab a few for themselves, wondering how they can incorporate the mineral in military tech, while Johnny and Liu Kang decided not to get any. The two gods return to their seats, Raiden smiling for the first time in a while. This wasn't so bad after all.
The next morning, everyone was in the courtyard of the academy to watch Liu Kang's champion crowning. Said Shaolin Monk walks through a congregation of monks and his new friends from the tournament, with the exception of Nightwolf, who most likely returned to his homeland, towards Raiden and Rei, the Asali now with her hair down and in new clothes that looked more casual, her navel gem now more visible. Bi-Han rests on her shoulder, now a bit bigger than normal. Liu Kang clasps his hands in respect and bows his head. Raiden then presents him with a golden medal with a dragon at its forefront, signifying Liu Kang's new status as Champion of Mortal Kombat. He hangs the medal around Kang's neck as the crowd applauds. Azriel joins the group in front of the congregation, arms outstretched again.
"Liu Kang, it is such an honor to have watched you fight so bravely, so diligently for the sake of Earthrealm. The last time I saw anyone like you was my own realm's Champion, Ti Fa Rin, but she has long since passed, may she rest in peace. While I might not be the Elder God who created Earthrealm, I still want to congratulate and reward you for your efforts." She proclaims, "Step forward!"
Raiden and Rei step aside so Liu Kang could, the monk bowing to Azriel as well, looking excited. Azriel creates a small ball of light, and when she delicately touches it with her finger, the ball of light turns into arm bracers with Asalian runes on it, along with small gems on it with faint fire patterns surrounding the traditional Mortal Kombat Dragon Symbol. Liu Kang takes them as they came to him, admiring them in awe.
"Dragon's Fire Bracers." Azriel explains, "They will greatly enhance your pyrokinetic abilities when worn, and if you choose to learn it, allows use of Fire Magic Spells. Use them with pride and use them well."
"Thank you, great one." Liu Kang looks delighted, deciding to put them on now. He immediately felt a difference as he looks them over. He tries igniting his hand…. But ends up igniting his entire body, startling him and everyone else.
"Cousin Liu's on fire!" Jin shouts, looking scared. Kung Lao holds him as Liu Kang manages to put himself out. Azriel just laughs hard, while Rei and Raiden just look at each other with "WTF" looks.
"You were not kidding when you said she was like this…."
"At least she didn't give him a matching spell book. Then we're all screwed."