Cherry and Atticus soon continued to pack up until they were done. And once they were done, they followed the map connected to the invitations.
"Hey, kids, you want some cookies?" An old woman smiled from her house as she sat on her porch with a word search book.
"Put 'em in a doggy bag, Granny," Cherry replied. "Can't right now, we're on an adventure."
"Okay," The old woman smiled. "Don't catch cold!"
"We won't." Atticus smiled back.
Cherry and Atticus kept traveling.
"You think this fight will become intense?" Atticus asked Cherry.
"Aw, come on, how bad can it be?" Cherry replied. "I mean, yeah, it's Mortal Kombat, but it can't be that intense like the video games." Unfortunately, she would be wrong.
It seemed to take a while for them as they traveled until they finally came to a stop.
"Finally." Atticus said.
"Are we there yet?" Cherry panted.
"Yep," Atticus replied. "Take a look for yourself."
"Thank goodness." Cherry sighed.
Cherry and Atticus walked more together to meet the others of the arena area. Once they got to the arena, they saw the others.
"Whoa..." Cherry said as she looked a little nervous before swallowing hard.
"Ooh, are you scared?" Atticus smirked.
"What? No!" Cherry replied. "W-Why would I be scared to see Mortal Kombat up close?"
"Well, looks like this will be dangerous." Atticus said.
"Yeah..." Cherry replied, actually a little shakily. "We could actually be frozen by Sub Zero..."
"Or have our souls taken by Luna." Atticus replied.
"Or our spines could actually be taken out!" Cherry panicked.
"Come on, let's go sign in." Atticus told Cherry as he walked ahead of her.
"I regret this decision..." Cherry muttered as she backed away nervously. "I wonder if it's too late to go to Granny's house and have those cookies?"
A sword soon came down in front of her.
"GAH!" Cherry yelped as she fell down slightly and cupped her chest while taking a shallow and wheezy breath.
A man with a fold around his eyes soon came toward the sword and picked it up.
"Kenshi..." Cherry whispered anxiously.
Atticus soon helped her up and brought her along to the registration.
Cherry hid behind Atticus as she looked quite scared before looking to him. "Atticus, I changed my mind, I wanna go home now."
"We can't go home, we just got here, besides, we were invited." Atticus reminded her.
"I'll just watch the movie..." Cherry smiled nervously. "I don't get nightmares anymore."
"Cherry, you've played the game, you know all their moves as much as I do." Atticus whispered to her.
Cherry looked around nervously. Atticus hummed to himself and soon signed himself and Cherry in.
After doing that, they now had to find out where they would stay until the tournament would start.
"Hmm... Where could we stay?" Atticus wondered.
"As far away from here as possible!" Cherry begged.
"Aw, come on," Atticus replied. "This from the high score mistress in the local video game arcade?!"
Someone soon arrived in front of them. Cherry looked a little nervous.
"A couple of newbies?" The person asked.
"That's us," Atticus replied. "I'm Atticus, and this is my friend, Cherry."
"And we're kind of wanting to know where we can stay until the tournament starts." Cherry said nervously.
"Well, maybe I can help." The person replied.
"And, um, you are...?" Atticus asked while Cherry shivered slightly.
Cherry seemed a little too nervous to answer.
"The name's Blade," The woman replied. "Sonya Blade."
"Nice to meet you, Miss Blade." Atticus smiled.
"Please, call me Sonya," Sonya replied. "Anyway, I can show you where you both can stay."
"Thank you, Sonya." Atticus smiled.
"Sure thing." Sonya replied.
"I am going to die..." Cherry said to herself.
After walking for a while, they soon arrived at where Sonya was taking them.
"This will be your temporary shelter," Sonya told them. "I hope the accommodations are fair enough for you."
"Sonya, will we die when we fight?" Cherry asked.
"Yes, you will," Sonya replied which made the perky goth pale slightly. "Unless you fight right, then you will deliver the fatality to your opponent before they can finish you."
"Thank you for telling us." Atticus said.
"You're most welcome," Sonya replied. "You'll have to do some training of course. Find out your best moves, use your best weapons, delivering your best blows."
"We will." Atticus nodded.
"I'll let you guys get settled in first." Sonya told them before leaving.
Cherry and Atticus went to get settled in, Atticus was unpacking, but Cherry just stood still.
"Cherry, calm down." Atticus said while unpacking.
"I-I-I'm fine, really... Y-You're scared..." Cherry smiled nervously, she then shakily took a drink of her water bottle before holding it out while her hand shook and water splashed out from it due to the shaking.
Atticus looked unimpressed already knowing that Cherry was scared.
"I'll be right there, I just left something in the car..." Cherry smiled nervously before running off.
Atticus continued until he paused, and then called out. "WE DIDN'T COME BY CAR!" He soon saw that his best friend just used one of the classic lies. "Ooh...!" he then shook before running after Cherry.
"Hey, you're not from around here, are you?" A girl smirked to Cherry as she sat in a tree while meditating.
"Um, well, no, so, I thought I'd leave, and, uh, come back later..." Cherry smiled nervously.
"You know, you remind me a lot of me," The girl replied. "I didn't think I could fulfill my own or my brother's destiny from Raiden, but I decided that I was ready and it was time to seek it so we could carry on a proud tradition like our ancestors."
"Wait... You're Luna!" Cherry realized who this was. "You were always my favorite Mortal Kombat character because of how brave and bold you were to carry on your family's legacy."
"So, you've played as me before?" Luna asked.
"Sure, lots of times!" Cherry beamed.
"So then you know all my moves?" Luna asked.
"Oh, yeah!" Cherry nodded in excitement.
"You look scared though." Luna smirked slightly.
Cherry soon powered down. "Well, to be honest... I'm a little scared."
"Scared that you might not make it?" Luna guessed.
"Yeah..." Cherry admitted. "I mean, you guys literally fight to the death."
"That's because this is a serious tournament." Luna said.
"You sound so calm," Cherry replied. "I mean, if you lose, you'll just die! People don't come back to life from death!"
"I know, but you know what I do to keep myself calm in the heat of battle?" Luna asked.
"Um... What?" Cherry asked as she honestly didn't know.
Luna soon whispered of what helped her stay calm to Cherry. Cherry listened and soon relaxed.
"That's what it's all about." Luna advised.
"Thanks." Cherry smiled.
"Sure thing," Luna replied. "You look like you could use some help in the fight training department."
"Well, I'm no Karate Kid." Cherry admitted with a shrug.
"Then I'll teach what I can." Luna said.
Cherry smiled.
Atticus soon came over and panted once he found Cherry and Luna. "Cherry, there you are," he then said. "Luckily I caught you in time."
"Oh, um, hi, Atticus." Cherry blinked anxiously.
"Look, Cherry, I know you're scared, but we can fight." Atticus told her.
"Oh, I'm not scared anymore." Cherry said.
"You're not?" Atticus smiled, feeling proud of her.
"Yeah, Luna helped me." Cherry replied.
"That's great." Atticus said.
"This is your friend, huh?" Luna asked. "A boy?"
"Yes, Luna." Cherry replied.
"Hmm..." Luna paused in thought. "He kinda reminds me of Johnny Cage."
"This is my best friend, Atticus Fudo, and where he was trained by Goku." Cherry introduced.
"Goku, huh?" Luna asked.
"Yeah, he's from the Dragon Ball world." Atticus smiled.
"Hm... I heard about him, I never met him though." Luna replied.
"Well, if you've heard about him, then you should know that he is as strong as they say." Atticus said.
"Hm, I suppose so," Luna smirked as she crossed her arms. "Maybe I can make your friend as strong as you."
"That would be interesting." Atticus replied.
"Though most likely impossible." Cherry said.
"Won't hurt to try," Luna giggled. "Oh, you two look quite hungry."
"I am a little hungry..." Cherry admitted.
"Well, are you all unpacked?" Luna asked. "I can take you to get some food."
"I'm unpacked." Atticus said.
"Uh, I guess I have some to do myself." Cherry replied.
"You better get to it," Luna suggested. "You guys have a big adventure ahead of you."
Cherry soon hurried to her luggage.
"Thanks, I guess Cherry needed that." Atticus told Luna.
"I guess she doesn't get out much." Luna replied.
"You could say that." Atticus said.
Cherry soon unpacked her own clothes as she went to get settled in as she tried not to be so scared about death. Once she unpacked, she joined Atticus and Luna.
Luna came to a pot and poured herself a bowl of some soup to show Cherry and Atticus what to get so far as they explored.
"Wow." Cherry said as she was amazed to see several Mortal Kombat characters up close and in person.
"This really means a lot to Cherry." Atticus said to Luna.'
"I can tell," Luna chuckled as she helped them to some food. "Tonight, you'll rest, but tomorrow, you will begin your training for the upcoming tournament."
"We understand." Atticus said.
Cherry looked a little nervous, but she tried to keep her cool.
"It'll be okay, Cherry..." Atticus told her. "Don't you think I was nervous when I first met Goku?"
"You were nervous?" Cherry asked.
"Well, yeah," Atticus replied. "I was nervous about meeting him and training with him... Of course, that was back with my fear of storms until Chichi sang to me."
"Her song must have been special if it got to help." Luna said.
"My Favorite Things." Atticus smiled in memory of the song.
"Nice." Luna said.
"It was such a lovely song," Atticus smiled. "Whenever I hear a storm while going to bed, now I just hear Chichi singing that song to me."
"I'd love to meet Chichi and Goku, maybe someday..." Luna shrugged. "Anyway, good to have you two on board for our little battle."
"Just know that I won't be holding back." Atticus said.
"Fair enough by me, because I won't either," Luna smirked. "Now we just need to find you a trainer."
"Someone who might be strong like me," Atticus replied. "No offense, but I'd like a guy too."
"Of course, of course..." Luna understood as she soon thought of who would be perfect for Atticus until she had an idea of who would be perfect.
Cherry and Atticus soon ate up since it had been a while since they last ate while Luna went to find a certain someone to help train Atticus before coming back to the two.