Chapter Forty-Eight
Outdoor Hot Springs
While relaxing in the hot springs, Sonya Blade looked up at Outworld's skyline. The sun had already set behind the tall mountains making the sky a navy blue color. She noted the fact that there were no stars in sight, just like it should back in Earthrealm.
Makes me miss home, she thought to herself.
"What are you thinking about?" a female voice said next to her.
Sonya turned to her left and noticed the Interpol detective Chun Li just getting into the springs slowly, letting herself submerge into the hot steaming water until she was covered from the neck down.
"Nothing really," Sonya replied. "Just thinking about how strange it'll be when we get back to Earthrealm… you know, trying to get used to that environment again."
"I know what you mean," Chun Li agreed. "But getting used to being home again may be more quick… since it's a place we've been in our whole lives."
"True," Sonya said.
The two fell silent for a moment, both of the relaxed by the heat the springs offered. It was only the two of them there, a rare occurrence for anyone. However, it was most likely because it was around the time when rarely anyone was here due to the darkness that surrounded them.
After about two minutes, Sonya decided to break the silence. "So, how have things been with you lately?"
Chun Li smiled a little. "Things are going pretty good, especially with Lei."
A warm smile came on Sonya's face in reply. "You two and everyone else, at least it feels like it to me. Is he treating you good?"
"He has always been, so there shouldn't be a reason for it to be any different now," Chun Li answered. "Yesterday, he gave me a handful of wildflowers for no reason… had a cute little blue bow around the stems too."
"Awe, that's sweet," Sonya said.
"So," Chun Li began to say. "How are things going with you? I know Lei and I see you and the team a lot since we're working together, but we don't really get the chance to socialize."
Sonya thought for a moment before answering. "Well, not too much has been going on really… Guile finally got those paperwork done, the Delta Red team are still on their investigation, Wagner is still being the dork that he is, and I think Alex and Kenshi are getting a little too close if you know what I mean."
Chun-Li chuckled a bit. "Seems like Lei and I aren't the only one. However, do you think your superiors will be okay with the two of them fraternizing?"
"Kenshi's a free agent, so it won't be a problem," the Captain mentioned. "Besides, it happens all the time with us military soldiers. We just have to be more secretive about it."
"I see."
"Speaking of Kenshi," Sonya continued. "He won his match last night, although it was by disqualification. The moron he went against tried to fire an empty gun at him… then I think he got frustrated and he hurled the gun at Kenshi's nose. It only left a bruise and a cut so he only needed an old-fashioned ice-pack."
Chun Li sighed a little. "Well, at least one of us in the military or police force is able to make it this far into the tournament. I already can't believe tomorrow is the last day of Round Five!"
Sonya looked at her with surprise. "Already? Feels like only yesterday when only Round Four was starting!"
"Tell me about it," Chun Li agreed.
The blonde agent took a deep sigh as a thought came to her. "After all this time, we've found nothing on either the Black Dragon or former members of Shadaloo. I'm starting to think that it's all a joke and that we've been doing nothing but chasing someone who's probably not even here."
"I'm sure something will come up soon," Chun Li said. "Eventually, we'll get leads on any of them, hopefully before the tournament's over."
Sonya sighed. "I really hope you're right. I don't want to feel as though we came here for nothing."
"Well think of it this way… think of all this time we spent here as a vacation."
Sonya laughed a little. "Well, maybe."
Unknown Area
Far from the tournament grounds, Akuma trained endlessly. It was as though it was the only thing he knew, having no other strive but to fight. Fighting was indeed his life.
He kept his focus mainly on his energy, the demonic power he possessed flowed within his veins. Akuma remembered it like it was only yesterday when he gave in to his dark side, a side effect of the Ansatsukenfighting style that he and his brother Gouken were taught years ago. Since learning of the dark nature of their fighting style, he vowed to learn everything of the fighting style including it's dark side as a means to use the fighting style the way it was intended to be used.
Gouken, however, refused to give in to the fighting style's full potential, believing it to be the wrong path. Akuma went on to a hidden island near Japan to train, pushing the limits in order to become the most successful Ansatsuken fighter of all-time. The moment he learned of the deadly Raging Demon, a move that jeopardizes the user's life, but yet instantly kills his victims, he was no longer human and no longer possessed any compassion he had previously.
To prove that he was indeed powerful, he killed his master, taking his prayer beads with him. The next day, he fought his brother. Gouken had the chance to finish off Akuma, but had refused. Akuma had told him that he would never be a true warrior.
The next they met, years later, Akuma took the opportunity to kill Gouken.
Since then, Akuma has done nothing but look for worthy warriors to find in order for him to continue the prove that he was indeed strong. Ever since Gouken's death, he noticed that one of his students, Ryu, has been following him around back in Earthrealm. Though the two had meet on separate occasions, the two have never had an official battle. Ryu has been seeking revenge for his master's death, but at the same time is looking for answers as to why he is being tormented by the dark side of Ansatsuken.
Akuma hasn't given him a straight answer yet… however, he indeed wanted to see the young warrior succumb to the dark side as a potential successor.
Now here he was in Outworld. He had been accepted into The Blood Tournament by accident. However, every opponent he has gone against were nothing more than jokes. Having a match tomorrow night, he expected to have a better challenge.
He knew that if he won the tournament, he would receive the medallion as a reward. The medallion meant nothing to him, so he planned to destroy it as a means for his own amusement before returning to Earthrealm.
As he continued to train, he heard more than one set of footsteps not too far from him. Akuma continued training despite this… merely so that it would seem that he hadn't noticed anything.
Suddenly, monster-like cries were heard as a handful of tarkatans jumped from their hiding places all around. Once they were close enough, Akuma jumped up in the air before shooting a handful of blue projectile energies at them, knocking a handful of Tarkatans away. Then, he let out a larger projectile in a fire form. Being much more powerful, the projectile knocked back even more tarkatans, rendering them unconscious.
He then fell back down to the ground, landing on both feet safely. More tarkatans jumped out and he took them each down with ease, landing some punches and kicks either knocking them out cold or killing them.
A few more jumped out and as they did, he jumped up again as he performed a Hurricane Kick, following it up with a powerful uppercut to two tarkatan. With the two moves, he was able to snap off their necks.
Only one tarkatan remained afterwards. Akuma quickly glided towards him before a bright white light surrounded them. Punches and kicks were heard before only last blow echoed throughout the area. The light dimmed down showing the now-dead Tarkatan bleeding on the ground. Akuma only stood as the 'ten' symbol glowed a blood red on his back. He stayed like this for a moment before he calmly returned to his training session as though none of this even happened.
Unknown to him, the sorcerer Shang Tsung watched all of this from behind a ten-foot boulder. Only an hour ago did the Underground Lair tournaments ended where Shao Kahn asked him to embark on his assignment to retrieve the demon Akuma.
As a precaution, he sent out some tarkatans so that he would know how truly strong Akuma was. After what he witnessed, he cursed himself in his mind.
Damn it! he thought to himself. Getting this bastard to the fortress is going to be tougher than I thought!
The sorcerer began thinking of a plan then, trying to figure what could possibly take down Akuma much better than even he can. However, it only took him a few minutes to figure out an idea, a sadistic smirk coming over him.
In order for his plans to take place, all he needed were a handful of Shadow Priests, the medallion…. and a certain Fighting God.
Walking across a wooden bridge near the forest, Kitana looked down at the clear river below. She smirked to herself as she spotted some fish that were swimming underneath, going towards the east.
About a half a mile up to the west, she was able to see the waterfall gushing down from the cliff above. The water was as white as snow as it fell down to the river, soon turning into a perfect blue color.
In the distance, she heard the morning birds chirping away, a sound she hasn't heard in ages, as she stepped off the bridge an onto a pebbled walkway. Walking in a slow pace, her high-heeled boots clicked against the walkway as she passed an area filled with green grass and grown trees filled with leaves that matched the grass.
Kitana smiled at the sight. This was indeed Edenia, the world she's known for so long. It was here that she would find peace.
As she continued walking, she noticed a figure up ahead, standing near a cliff with their back turned to her. She noticed that the figure possessed long blond hair flowing down freely behind them. Upon seeing the large sword that was equipped behind their back, Kitana smiled as he realized who this was.
Kitana paced herself over to the person before stopping a few feet away. "Siegfried! What brings you to Edenia?"
Siegfried didn't reply to her. He continued standing there with his back still turned to her. Kitana became confused then. She spoke loud enough so she knew that he heard her. Why wasn't he answering her?
"Siegfried?" Kitana began to ask. "Why aren't you answering me? Is everything all right?"
She then decided to go up to him to make sure. She walked over to him just close enough so that she was able to reach her arm up to touch him.
"Siegfried?" she called out again as she reached over to touch his shoulder.
However, before she could lay a finger on him, Siegfried quickly turned around. Instead of seeing his handsome face, Kitana was met with a demonic one that was burning with fire. His blue eyes were replaced with a set of a reddish-orange and whites replaced with a black color.
Kitana let out a short scream before backing away quickly. She could only watch as Siegfried grinned, showing off a set of sharp teeth. He then reached out to her as he hand burst into flames just like his face had.
"Kitana…" he uttered before his entire body was caught in the fiery fire…
Main Palace
With a quick shriek, Kitana's eyes snapped open and she sat up more from the chair she was sitting on. As she tried to catch her breath, she slowly began to realize that she was outside on the balcony and had somehow ended up falling asleep out here.
How did I end up doing that? she thought to herself.
Kitana then let out a deep sigh as the dream she just woke up from came back to her. It was only the fact that she was becoming a bit homesick, but it was over what happened to Siegfried in that dream. It had only been a couple of days since she witnessed him transform into something she couldn't explain and she hasn't seen him since.
From that dream, she was beginning to think that maybe Siegfried was cursed by something. Of course, there is that idea where a nice person can be quite manipulative (Tanya for instance) in order to get their way. Kitana wondered where that left for Siegfried? Was he here to break himself from the curse of the medallion? Or was he here for an evil deed?
As she thought through this, she heard the balcony door open which made her turn towards it. Her mother Sindel had opened the door and stepped outside. A white cotton-robe was wrapped around her body and her long hair was wet, obviously having just taken a bath.
"Kitana, what are you doing out here?" Sindel asked her with concern.
Kitana sighed to herself as she looked down at the ground. "Yeah, I'm fine… I had fallen asleep on the balcony and just woke up."
"Oh dear," Sindel said with a small frown. "It's quite cold out tonight. Come inside before you catch a cold."
"I'll be there in a minute mother," Kitana assured her before the Queen went back inside.
The young Princess stood herself up once she knew that her mother was far from the door. She stretched herself out a bit before looking out at the world before her. Hardly anyone was down at the palace grounds considering that it was getting late and all the matches have been done for the night.
Briefly, she thought about Siegfried. Hopefully it's just a curse and not the fact that he could be evil, she thought. I only wish that whatever it is that he'll get through it. Maybe then, we could at least have a good friendship…
With another small sigh, Kitana turned around and began heading back inside her room.
Shao Kahn's Fortress
Keeping himself in the darkness, Raven looked around the area that he was in. All was quiet in the darkened hallway, with the exception of a couple of creaks, mostly likely coming from within the walls considering that the fortress seemed quite old.
It was nearly two hours ago that he and Nina infiltrated the fortress. They entered the palace together from the back, breaking the necks of two guards who were guarding the entrance in the process. Since then, the two had separated in hopes of finding any information they could report back to Raiden and Rose. To keep in contact, they used communicators that were placed over their ears, similar to the ones Raven usually wore in his missions back on Earth.
Neither one of them had yet to discover anything as of now. Raven cursed himself upon thinking of this, realizing that he and Nina weren't given enough time before Shao Kahn returned from the matches at the Underground Lair. To him, it was either leave now or stay hidden somewhere within the fortress.
Raven pressed a button on the communicator before speaking. "Nina, are you there?"
A brief pause lingered before Nina replied. "Yeah, I'm here. Discovered anything yet?"
"Not yet," Raven answered. "However, I'm growing a bit concerned. Shao Kahn should be returning soon enough. It's unfortunate that we weren't given enough time to search around."
"Look on the bright side," Nina began to assure him. "At least it gave us a chance to get in here without him being here. Just remember that Raiden and Rose don't expect us back for a few days."
Raven nodded, nearly forgetting about that. He then spoke into the communicator again. "All right, where are you right now?"
"Third level," Nina answered.
"Fourth level here," Raven mentioned. "I think there are seven levels altogether, though I could be wrong. Meet me up here and we'll try to find an area to rest in overnight. If you find anything else in the meantime, contact me."
"Gotcha," Nina said.
Raven then took his finger off the communicator. He was just about to step forward when he suddenly heard two sets of footsteps coming from behind him. Quickly, he turned around, but saw no one there. He noted the corner that lead to the next hallway and realized that whoever was coming, they were definitely coming from that direction. He then looked back in the direction he was heading in and realized that he was far from the next turnabout and figured that he wouldn't have time to get there before he was seen. He then looked up at the ceiling and noted a set of beams that were there. They were going to be the only use for him right now. Quickly, Raven jumped up, swinging himself forward so that he was able to better hide himself.
A few moments passed before the two figures turned a corner. They happened to be Baraka and Mileena, who were having a discussion amongst themselves while slowly walking down the hall. Raven listened in in case anything important came up in their conversation.
"To think that we are one day away from ending the fifth round of this wretched tournament," said Mileena as she stared at Baraka with her yellowish-red eyes.
"It wouldn't be so wretched if we were both still in it," Baraka said. "Besides, you and I don't need this tournament in order to gain our goals."
Unknown to them, they had just passed Raven who was watching them from above. They then walked a few yards ahead before stopping. Even so, Raven was still able to hear them talk.
"Together we'll seek out that medallion from the winner of the tournament," Baraka said. "And that is whether or not they are friend or foe."
Mileena smiled delightfully under her veil which covered her tarkatan teeth. "And with the power of the medallion in our hands, we'll be able to overthrow anyone who gets in our way. Once we rid of Shao Kahn and everyone else allied to him, we will become King and Queen of Outworld. Then, when we overthrow the royals of Edenia, we will merge Edenia with us."
"Then perhaps we will do the same with Earthrealm," Baraka said as Mileena wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Yes," Mileena said a bit more seductively. Using one free hand, she slowly took off her veil before looking at Baraka lovingly. "Then maybe we can take over the other realms while we're at it."
Raven then watched as the two opened their mouths. He felt his nose twitch with disgust as their tongues touched, sharing what one would call a semi-French kiss.
With these two, Raven wouldn't even know what to call it.
The 'kiss' only lasted a few seconds before Baraka quickly pulled away. Mileena looked at him with confusion as his head snapped back and forth a few times before the blades in his arms quickly shot out.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" Mileena asked.
Baraka took in what sounded like a long sniff. "Can't you smell the blood? There's a human not too far from here!"
Mileena placed a hand on her hip. "For all you know, it could be one of the moronic guards serving the Emperor."
From there, Raven knew that Baraka had sensed him. He realized that even if he tried to get away now, Baraka would sense him running off in the other direction. Having no other choice, he waited until both of their backs were turned to him before getting himself quietly down to the floor. Then, he quickly took out two long kunais that were behind his lower back, planning to kill the both of them.
Baraka and Mileena turned around again just as Raven slashed his kunais at them. Mileena jumped back in surprise as Baraka blocked one of the knives with his blades. Using their weapons, the two of them engaged in combat, the sound of their weapons clashing heard all around the hall. A few feet away, Mileena took her sais out, ready to jump in to battle when given the chance.
Raven noted the fact that Baraka was quite fast. Even so, the agent eventually found an opening. Quickly, he lifted his foot up and kicked Baraka hard in the face, sending him flying back a bit and on to the floor.
Now having a chance, Mileena jumped forward with a loud growl before lashing her sais at Raven, who blocked with his kunais again. Though Mileena wasn't as quick as Baraka, Raven noted that she was quite strong, feeling the force of her attacks within his knives.
Raven's weapons continued clashing with Mileena's sais. Eventually, one of Mileena' sais got passed Raven, cutting off one of the black tassels tied to one of the kunais' scabbards right off like paper. In reply, Raven landed a few kicks at her abdomen before jumping up to perform an air kick, sending her flying back. She ended up knocking into Baraka, who was just getting up, and the two fell back to the ground.
In his fighting stance, Raven stood there with his knives out, ready for more. He waited until both Mileena and Baraka were back on their feet.
Raven was just about to run forward when he was suddenly hit by a large projectile from behind. He quickly fell forward, passing a surprised Mileena and Baraka before losing consciousness. Mileena and Baraka looked down at Raven, wandering what just happened. They then looked over at where he was previously standing, finding their answer.
Sheeva straightened herself out a bit after shooting out a projectile at Raven from behind, having heard a commotion not too far from where she was. She then walked over to where Mileena and Baraka were.
"You have saved us some trouble in taking him down," said Mileena.
"Who is he?" Sheeva asked.
"Obviously a spy," Baraka replied. "He must've been the one who killed those guards outside in the back. No matter now, since we have managed to catch him."
"And at a good time too," said Mileena. "We only have two new prisoners and I'm sure Shao Kahn will be pleased we know that we got a new prisoner this soon."
"He should be back any minute," Sheeva said as he picked up Raven and threw him over her shoulder. "Get some rope. We'll be taking him to the throne room. I'm sure that Shao Kahn would like to meet him."
With that, the three of them began walking down the hall to fulfill their new deed.
In Another Part of Shao Kahn's Fortress
In a large room, Kira stood around as she waited for either Kabal or Havik to show up. She was told by them that they were going to have a meeting to discuss 'more plans to get closer to the medallion.'
Kira didn't care what the meeting was going to be about. Ever since a few hours ago, when Havik got himself disqualified from the tournament, she had lost all faith in the Black Dragon. Havik was their only chance to get the medallion, since she and Kabal lost the tournament back in Round Two. Instead of helping, Havik foolishly stole a gun from a viewer and tried shooting his opponent (turned out there were no bullets in the gun so it was not the only lost cause), therefore causing him his disqualification.
What kind of idiot would do that? she thought to herself. Then again, Havik was the Cleric of Chaos after all.
That thought brought up another issue. Why is it that Kabal was willing to be lead by a crazy man such as Havik? None of this made any sense to her.
As she continued thinking through this, she heard footsteps not too far from her. Kira turned her head to the noise and saw Kabal coming towards her.
"Do you have any idea what Havik has done?" Kira called out in a harsh tone.
Kabal stared at the red-haired woman. "Yes, I was there at the tournament tonight as well and I am aware of what he did."
"So you understand how I'm feeling about this whole thing, right?"
Kabal nodded. "Yes. However, that sort of thing was expected from him, considering the fact that he comes from Chaosrealm."
"So why are we, as the Black Dragon, putting our trust in an insane moron?"
Kabal sighed a bit. "That 'insane moron' happened to actually save my life after the Red Dragon Mavado tried to kill me and stole my hookswords in the process." As he spoke, Kabal took out one of his two hookswords from behind his back. He then stared at it as he spoke again. "Obviously, I've taken care of that bastard since."
Kira looked at the hooksword as well. "I assume that you believe that you owe him a bit of a debt then."
"He never actually stated that," Kabal explained. "However, he was the one who suggested to rejoin the Black Dragon once he knew that I was once a following member back in the day."
Kira raised an eyebrow. "I see now… so what do we do with him from this point forward?"
"Havik and I had a discussion right after his match," Kabal replied. "We wanted to have a meeting to discuss new plans to get to the medallion."
"…So we are still going to follow him? Kabal, he's ruined a good chance for us to get to the medallion to begin with. Had he not got himself disqualified, we wouldn't even discuss yet another plan."
"I am aware of that," Kabal said, the volume of his voice raising a bit. Obviously, he was getting tired of Kira's bickering. "As always, we have to be patient."
"…You're kidding, right? How many times have you said that and nothing has progressed? The first time you said that was weeks ago, probably the day we came here! It's obvious that we shouldn't be following anything that idiot says!"
"You do remember that it's Havik who is going to lead us to our goal. You shall see when this tournament is over."
Kira had enough. She couldn't believe that her leader was putting his trust into a man of chaos, the very man who had caused them the best chance of getting the medallion. Losing a fight was one thing, but to get yourself disqualified over something that could've been avoided was completely different.
Quickly, Kira took out her dragon teeth knives with a grunt. "I can't believe you have fallen this low! Now I've came to realize… the Black Dragon are nothing more than a joke!"
Kabal saw the knives as a threat. He took out his other hooksword and got into a fighting stance. "You dare to defy the Black Dragon?!" he yelled out.
Kira eyed him. "You said it yourself… you wanted this clan to be different from the old clan. You didn't want be like a band of pirates. You wanted to be better than any other clan. However, with Havik's involvement, the Black Dragon will end up the way it was before."
In anger, Kabal lashed out his hookswords at Kira, who quickly blocked the maneuver before she was hit. Before they knew it, the two of them found themselves engaged in combat. They weapons clashed with each maneuver they made while playing both offense and defense.
Although Kabal's weapon was bigger than Kira's, she had no problem blocking his attacks. A handful of times however, she had no choice but to duck herself from the hookswords depending on what angle it was attacking her from.
Neither one of them were sure how long their fight lasted, but neither of them cared. All they cared about was taking the other down.
At one point, Kira found an opening and took the opportunity to kick Kabal back, forcing him to stumble back a few feet. Before he could recover, Kira quickly shot out a pink projectile from her hand. In retaliation, Kabal shot out his own projectile from his mouth. The two projectiles ended up colliding with each other, exploding into nothing in mid-air.
From there, they continued with their fight. However, it would come to be that it wouldn't last much longer. At one point, Kira lashed one of her knives which ended up cutting a small potion of the front tube that connected to Kabal's oxygen mask.
Though he was still getting oxygen, Kabal realized that his supply would eventually be limited. He realized that he couldn't go on with their fight in this condition.
However, before he could run off, Kira had raised one of her knives and threw it right in his chest. Kabal fell back to the floor from the force of the impact with a grunt. Then, before he knew it, darkness took over him.
Once Kabal's body was still, Kira walked over and looked down at him. "That takes care of that," she muttered.
It was then that she heard someone clapping from behind. Raising an eyebrow, Kira turned to the noise and noticed Havik emerging from the shadows. Obviously at some point of the fight, he had come into the room and saw the fight happened. He waited in the shadows until the fight was over.
"I applaud you Kira," Havik said to her. "You are giving in to the Chaos-"
However, before he could finish, Kira let out a growl before throwing her other knife forward. The knife ended up planting itself right through the helmet Havik was wearing. The force knocked Havik to the floor quickly. Once he was on the ground, Kira had expected him to twitch a bit. However, he didn't move once and she assumed that she had instantly killed him.
Kira looked at the two dead men on the floor. It was official… the Black Dragon was done. Kira thought through what she could do next, but it was obvious… all she could really do now was continue to serve Shao Kahn. She could always tell him that they planned to betray him and that she didn't want anything to do with their plan… a half lie that was for sure.
Bending down, Kira bent down to take the knife out of Kabal's chest. "Hmph… the Black Dragon are nothing more than a nuisance."
Then, a moan was heard from behind her. Thinking someone had come into the room, Kira turned around. Instead, she was met with a sight that she wasn't expecting… Havik was actually sitting up!
Her eyes widened in shock as Havik reached for the hilt of the knife. "I have a splitting headache," he said calmly as he pulled the knife out of his helmet. A little blood spewed out once the knife was out. It looked as though the knife only pricked his forehead rather than hitting his brain. His helmet had saved him.
Still in shock, Kira could only watch as Havik stood himself up. He then walked over to her and stretched his hand out which held the knife. Though she felt reluctant, Kira managed to get herself to take the knife in her hand.
"I am most impressed child," Havik said to her. "If given the chance, you are indeed worthy to truly embrace the Chaos as I have."
At this point, Kira had heard enough. Pretending that none of this was happening, Kira quickly turned her back and walked out of the room.
Havik waited until she was out of the room. Once she was, Havik bent down to Kabal and felt to see if there was a pulse on his arm. Indeed there was one. The shock of having his oxygen tube and being stabbed must've rendered him unconscious.
"Looks like I'll be bringing you back to life again, my friend," Havik said as he picked Kabal up and threw him over his shoulder. "You better just hope I find a good hiding place before death meets you."
Then, Havik ran off with Kabal into the darkness, planning to not return to the tournament grounds for a while.
Unknown Area
Hours passed, but time meant nothing for Akuma. Even after being attacked by a handful of tarkatans, he continued training. They only served as practice for him and nothing more.
A while ago, Akuma noted the sudden change in the winds. Obviously, something was taking place. He was even able to feel some sort of evil in the distance. Was it an essence that this world provided or was it a worthy opponent? If it was indeed the second one, Akuma was ready to fight them.
Some time passed before he realized that the evil essence in the air was coming closer to him. He continued training despite the small distraction. However, the more time passed, the more that the energy became stronger. Soon, he was able to fully recognize the energy… a living being.
By now, Akuma had stopped what he was doing. He stood still as a grin came over his face, impressed by the strong energy.
"Such power," he said aloud. "…show yourself."
The living being didn't hesitate as they stepped forward from behind one of the boulders. Though Akuma didn't know it, this was the Fighting God Ogre. All he knew that he possessed such a power it was unbelievable. Akuma couldn't compare that to any of his past opponents.
Without saying anymore, Akuma got himself into his fighting stance. He had expected Ogre to do the same, but instead he glided towards Akuma before throwing a punch, which Akuma immediately blocked. Even underneath his block, Akuma felt Ogre's immense strength, indeed one that he never went up against before.
The fight between the two lasted quite a while. Mostly, they changed various punches and kicks, but they also exchanged they more powerful moves, which included uppercuts and especially projectiles, which were exchanged more than their other moves.
As the fight continued, Ogre slowly began to get the upper hand in the fight as Akuma found himself on defense more than offense. For the first time since giving in to his dark side, Akuma felt himself slowly getting weaker. However, even so, he refused to succumb to any sort of weakness.
Then, Ogre shot out another projectile which Akuma ducked under, causing the projectile to fly over his head. Just as he was beginning to stand up, Akuma suddenly found his entire body immobilized by an unseen force. Then he was raised up in the air. At that point, Akuma saw that he was surrounded by a handful of Shadow Priests. Akuma grunted as he struggled to get out of the hold.
Then, one of the Shadow Priests glided towards him with it's hands clasped as though they were praying. Once it was a few feet away, the Shadow Priest made various different signings with it's hands. With each signing, a glowing blue kanji letter emerged out of the hand and went right into Akuma's body. The process only lasted a few seconds before the invisible force exploded. The hold on Akuma was then released as he fell on to the ground unconscious.
Soon, all was quiet, at least for a moment before Shang Tsung emerged from behind one of the boulders, holding out the medallion in his hands, which has been controlling Ogre and boosting his power. The red tear on the medallion glowed in it's blood red color.
Even from a couple of yards away, the sorcerer could smell the energy on Akuma. A smirk came over his face at the realization that he was in possession of one of the most powerful fighters in the tournament. If anyone had the chance of winning the tournament, it would've been him or Scorpion. With Akuma now captured, his chances of retrieving the medallion were no longer possible.
"Shao Kahn would indeed be pleased," he said to himself.
He then ordered the Shadow Priests to head out. All the Shadow Priests picked up the unconscious demon, raising him above their head, before departing the area.
Shao Kahn's Fortress
Raven wasn't sure how long he had been unconscious before waking up. Once he opened his eyes, all he was able to see was blur, forcing him to blink a few times before his vision was cleared.
The agent looked around the area he was in. He was on the floor in a large room only brightened by countless candles. He then tried moving his hands, but quickly realized that they were tied by a rope behind his back.
"Ah, you're awake," a female voice said above him. Lying on his side, Raven was able to look up towards the voice. Upon seeing Mileena standing over him, he began to remember what happened. He had been fighting her along with Baraka… but he couldn't remember what rendered him out cold to begin with.
Then a thought came to him. Nina… He wondered if she knew that he had been captured.
However, the thought came too soon as the door to the room opened. A woman in a yellow attire and a lizard-like creature dragged Nina, who was also tied up, into the room.
"Let me go you bastards!" Nina yelled out.
"Shut up!" the woman holding her growled as she threw her down on the floor next to Raven.
Nina and Raven were only able to briefly look at each other as they realized that they had been both captured. It was then that a shadow took over them. Looking up, a large figure with a skull helmet stood before them. Just by the attire alone, Nina and Raven both realized that this was the Emperor of Outworld- Shao Kahn!
"You've done well Tanya and Reptile," Shao Kahn said to them. "Quan Chi had thought we had spies among us and it turned out he was right. Mileena, Baraka, Sheeva… you've done good as well."
The Emperor then turned his attention to Nina and Raven. The two of them could do nothing but stare up at him as a bit of fear came over them for the first time since they could remember, wondering of their fate.
"So, you two thought that you could get away with your plans?" he said to them. "You may have taken down some of our guards, but you have foolishly underestimated us. Now tell me… who are you working for?"
Neither one of them said a word, a reply that pretty much gave away the answer to Shao Kahn. "I will ask again… who are you working for?"
Once again, silence.
After a moment, Shao Kahn snapped his fingers. Quickly, Baraka, Mileena, Reptile, and Tanya ganged up on the two and began beating them senseless. Sheeva nearly joined the fray, but Shao Kahn stopped her but putting an arm out in front of her. Sheeva whirled her head to his direction in a bit of confusion.
"You'll end up killing them," Shao Kahn said to her. "I don't want them dead just yet."
The four continued beating on Nina and Raven. Shao Kahn noted that the two were only let out grunts rather than the agonizing screams that he was expecting. Already he knew that they were worthy to keep alive for a while.
"Enough!" Shao Kahn called out. His four minions immediately stopped what they were doing and pulled away. Bruises began developing on the two with Raven bleeding through the nose and Nina bleeding through the lip.
"I'm going to ask one more time," Shao Kahn said to them. "Who are you working for?"
Silence was the reply once again. Obviously, these two would go to any length to protect the one who sent them here. No matter though… he was going to have them taken well care off.
"Take them to the dungeons!" Shao Kahn ordered.
Quickly, the four minions picked the two up from the floor. A loud crack was heard as one of them stepped on Raven's sunglasses, which had fallen off his face during the beating.
Despite struggling, Nina and Raven knew that there was no way out of this. From behind them, Shao Kahn and Sheeva watched them get dragged off until they were out of the room, the door closing behind them.