Chapter One

A long time had passed since he last had seen this vision.
Countless years had gone by like nothing, he had seen friends and enemies fall and new heroes or evil rise like they where nothing but domino pieces in an even larger game few where limited to understand.
He nearly forgot this vision where it not for those nights he was so desperate to get into bed he almost fell asleep on the spot and would wake up two hours later sweating heavily, ears ringing from a feral scream of utter terror.
Strangely it was the only thing he could really remember, that and a startling pair of blue eyes.
Every time he saw those brilliant eyes he felt at peace, contrary to the blood curling scream which send him spiralling down straight into Netherealm.

Currently the protector of Earthrealm was standing stoically on the patio of his homely residence his gaze lingering on the cloud free baby blue sky, silently watching some occasional flocks of birds flying by.
It was one of those mild summer days you thought about when you read a book that started with an exactly mirroring scene like the one he was standing in.
Truth to be told the tall man with the weathered but strangely still young looking face did not know what exactly he should be doing right now.
It concerned him that he had nothing truly significant to do within the realm of his responsibility. But, as his mother always said: for everything there was a first.

With a sigh he stared down at his hand in which he was holding an Amulet of ethereal beauty.
A gem of gleaming blue was incorporated into mystical metal Edenian poems often called Mithril, a silver like metal which was feather light and could protect its bearer from a rampaging troll.
A few years ago, around the time he first had this vision which he did not remember anymore, the Elder Gods had called upon him.
And when the Elder Gods - easily the most oldest and most powerful creatures of all time - called upon you, you had to answer.
So he immediately left whatever he was attending to at this moment - which was a little tour through his gardens as break from his heavy work, nothing really important - and flashed to haven right to the front, or one should say middle, of the Elder council.
At first they had questioned him, then, after answering the questions to the best of his abilities, he had been given this magnificent piece of perfection, this Amulet forged by the Elders themselves.
He did not know why he was the one receiving this great gift, he could have listed many other gods and goddesses who were more than capable of handling this Amulet.
But nothing the Elder Gods had done was something for naught, so he trusted their decision.

Another sight fled him as he closed his serene eyes shortly, just to reopen them to another flock of birds gliding by in the sky above.
How much he loved the peace within the temple he called his home, the peace on his terrace, in his gardens. What a pity it was that humans had the tendency to ruin this peace so easily.
His iris less eyes stared tiredly at the horizon and he could have sworn they were swollen, but then again in these past days he felt puffy anyway, as if his whole body, his complete human shell, was slowly rotting away.

Worst was he knew why.
The problem was the next huge Mortal Kombat Tournament beginning in a few years, a Tournament which was likely to kill nearly all it´s attending warriors or worse: enslaving all of Earthrealm to the will of the one Emperor of Outworld.
He had already set eyes upon a new champion, one who could - and would - bring about the first win in favour for Earthrealm in all of Mortal Kombat.

His Name was Kung Lao, a great warrior among the ancient Order of Light.
He along with two others would fight for Earthrealm, being their greatest hope.
Sure there were other who could qualify, but all of them had not the exact same thing in them to compete and life through a Mortal Kombat tournament.
Their Souls might have been silver, as was required from himself, but their hearts were tainted, nothing like the chosen three who did not even know of their choosing right now.
Those three had a single component all others had not: a heart of gold - metaphorical speaking of course.
Their hearts where surely of flesh and blood, but what he needed, what he saw, were hearts of purest gold and souls of flawless silver.
What he saw was what humans called an aura, around the being itself, around its soul and heart.

While the god of thunder stared into the cloudless sky lost in thought, the wind blew into his back and carried a small, barely noticeable sound into his sensitive ears.
It sounded nearly like steps, mixed with the silent murmuring of a deep voice, but that was impossible he would have felt it if anybody infiltrated his temple uninvited.
So, sure there was nobody sneaking up on him, he did not turn around to check.

Then all of a sudden he felt it.
It began slowly, as if you squeezed a bruise a little to hard, but soon it got even worse.
He could not tell you what it really was, he could only tell you what it felt like and right now it was a steel knife in his windpipe.
A damn huge steel knife, getting blunter and drilling deeper and deeper into his flesh with every passing second still doing no damage.
The last thing the protector of Earthrealm heard was cold, cruel laugher before he collapsed horrified about his very own foolishness.

Yo!

Hope I did not keep you waiting.
Had two long weeks, hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I do.
As I was writing the lines about Rai-dude and his temple I was thinking about the one seen in MK VS. DCU.
That game is probably going to play a little role here at some point.
I´m not sure if its going to be in this story or if it´s a sequel of some kind...
I truly hope Raiden is not to OOC in this chapter, I have another version of this chapter where he actually turns around and faces the mysterious intruder before the same ending occurs.
So let me know if you want to read the other version as well or if this version is good enough.

You noticed the reference to "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" or the reference to "Love The Way You Lie" from Rihanna?
Here are some cookies. (::) (::) (::)

Well, what do you guys think?
And don´t think I don´t know you are there, because those views and visitors don´t go around popping out of nowhere.
Thanks to the ones who favour and follow this story. :3

yours,
Berry