SPECIAL FORCES COMMAND CENTER, EARTHREALM:
Soldiers made their way throughout the Special Forces Command Center as Sonya stood in front of a digital holographic map of Outworld, talking with Kitana over an interrealm communication channel. "So you're telling us that a civil war's happening over in Outworld?" asked Sonya, her arms crossed. "Precisely, Commander Blade." replied Kitana's voice over the comms channel. "After Shao Kahn died, I claimed Outworld's imperial throne in hopes of guiding its people to a more . Since then, the two have been waging civil war against each other, effectively splitting Outworld in half. Me and Jade have been attempting to assist General Kotal's forces, but the Tarkatan hordes on top of the other warriors loyal to my sister have proven difficult to continually fight off. I've contacted you in hopes that you would be willing to spare some of the Special Forces' soldiers and resources to assist us against Mileena's rebellion." Sonya's brow furrowed with concern. "I'll try to do what I can, Kitana, but the Special Forces are spread pretty thin at the moment. There's been an upsurge of Black Dragon activity since Kano's death."
Just then, Jax's voice came through on another communication device. "Commander Blade, this is Major Briggs, over." "This is Commander Blade. What's the situation, Jax?" asked Sonya. "Me and a squad were investigating a warehouse collapse, and judging from what were able to find, the place must've been used by the Black Dragon as a safe haven before it came crashing down." "Were you able to find or recover anything important?" asked Sonya, her brow furrowing. "It was mostly the usual Black Dragon fare. Guns, drugs, ballistic weapons, the usual. But there was something else I noticed." explained Jax. "My and my men were searching through some debris when we found Kobra's corpse. He had a whole stalagmite stabbed through his chest. And there's really only one person I know of who could've done this." "Tremor!?" asked Sonya. "Didn't you kill him over a year ago?" "Well, I thought so, but the body was never found after the building I confronted him in was destroyed by Kano in a bid to kill me." "But why would Tremor try to kill his fellow Black Dragons?" asked Sonya, puzzled. "No clue, but what we do know is that a man who can level a whole city block with a stomp of his foot is running around loose." Nodding, Sonya pressed a button, allowing her to speak across all active Special Forces communication channels. "Attention all deployed SF forces, this is Commander Blade. Be on the lookout for the ex-Black Dragon known as Tremor. Target is extremely dangerous, he possesses power over rock, metal, and even magma. If found, try to subdue him and bring him in to the Special Forces Command Center for interrogation. Only kill him if absolutely necessary. I repeat, DO NOT kill him unless absolutely necessary."
SOMEWHERE IN NEW YORK CITY:
Kenshi Takahashi happened to be in New York when he received Sonya's message, sharpening his mystical sword Sento. "Big guy who looks like he's made of rocks and can manipulate the very earth? Well, at least he shouldn't be hard to miss..." It was at that moment Kenshi walked by a diner window, sensing the presence of a large man inside wearing a ratty brown hoodie, the parts of his skin that were visible had a rough, stone-like complexion. "Hmph, convenient." remarked Kenshi as he sheathed Sento and entered the diner, where the large man was helping himself to a large meatball sub. Kenshi walked over to the booth where the large man sat. "What do you want?" growled the man in the ratty hoodie, wiping marinara sauce from his mouth. "Kenshi Takahashi, Special Forces. You happen to match the description of a fugitive who Commander Blade wants brought in for questioning. I'll need you to come with me." A look of shock and urgency appeared on the man's stony face as he proceeded to grab Kenshi by the collar and throw him through the diner window, before leaping from his booth and running out the door.
Kenshi picked himself up off the glass-covered pavement, sensing that the man, most definitely Tremor, was making a run for it. "It's never simple, is it?" uttered Kenshi before sprinting after Tremor. Tremor ran like hell, turning to see the blind swordsman in hot pursuit. "Just leave me ALONE!" shouted Tremor, stomping the ground, causing several large chunks of rock to burst from the ground, hurtling towards Kenshi. Brow furrowed, Kenshi unsheathed Sento, slicing apart the rocks as they flew towards him. "You're making this WAY harder than it needs to be!" yelled Kenshi as he sprinted towards Tremor, using his telekinesis to throw some more chunks of rock out of his way as he continued his pursuit.
Tremor urgently sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him, only to eventually find himself at a dead end in an alley. "Alright, swordsman..." growled Tremor, his voice almost as gravelly as the rock covering his arms. "...you wanna fight? You got yourself a fight." He said as he cracked his knuckles, anticipating Kenshi's approach. The blind swordsman leapt at Tremor, Sento raised over his head as he prepared to strike. Kenshi swung, only for Tremor to catch the blade in his grip, Sento failing to cut through the stone that covered his hands. Tremor then grabbed Kenshi by the neck and chokeslammed him into the pavement with so much force it cracked and shattered as Kenshi landed. "I thought you Special Forces guys were supposed to be 'the best of the best' and whatnot. But here you are are trying to cut stone with that butter knife!" mocked Tremor, a smug look spreading on his face. Ever the opportunist, Kenshi used this moment to sweep Tremor's legs, causing the earth-shaper to fall to the ground, Kenshi grabbing Sento and leaping back to his feet. "I think you'll find that Sento is more than a butter knife." retorted Kenshi, entering an aggressive fighting stance with Sento raised, motioning for Tremor to come at him. Tremor was back on his feet, his brow furrowing with anger as he charged at Kenshi, forming a large stone hammer on one of his fists. "You won't be so cocky once your skull's caved in!" shouted Tremor as he swung the hammer, only for Kenshi to parry it and retaliate with a slash across Tremor's chest, leaving a bleeding wound. "Augh!" Tremor grunted in pain as he looked to see he was bleeding. Kenshi went in for another swing, only for Tremor to launch a mound of rocks at him, Sento being sent flying out of Kenshi's hands and into a nearby wall.
Seeing he was now without his sword, Kenshi readied his other weapons: his hands. Tremor and Kenshi ran at each other, engaging in a frankly impressive display of hand-to-hand combat. "Impressive moves for a blind man." remarked Tremor, with an air of simultaneous mockery and genuine admiration. "But I don't have time for this." with that, Tremor lifted another mound of stone from the ground and slammed it into Kenshi's face, sending the swordfighter reeling, his ears ringing and his brain throbbing, eventually falling onto his back. "Well, thanks for the exercise, but I've gotta be going, especially if the Special Forces know I've been around here..." uttered Tremor as he walked towards the writhing Kenshi, forming a sharp stalagmite in his hands and preparing to end this fight, only for something to go flying through the air and take out a nearby street lamp, darkening the area.
Tremor dropped the stalagmite and looked around in a panic. "Who's there!? Another one of you Special Forces guys!? Jax, even!?" Tremor clenched his fists and readied himself, anticipating a sneak attack, when he saw a mysterious figure walking down the street towards him. The figure appeared to be human, but that was questionable, given that his skin appeared to be purely translucent, his eyes glowing an unnatural white. The weird see-through man was wearing emerald-green ninja garb, a black headband around his head, a pair of swords on his back and knives lining his belt. "Who the hell are you?" asked Tremor, understandably confused. The translucent man spoke, with an almost reptilian hiss to his voice. "I am Chameleon...and you..." hissed the man, pointing menacingly at Tremor. "...you are the one my client wants dead." Tremor clenched his fists tighter, preparing for a fight. "Well, Zorro here couldn't beat me, what makes you think you stand a chance?" grunted Tremor, referring to the still incapacitated Kenshi. Wordlessly, Chameleon drew his swords and dashed at Tremor with uncanny speed. Tremor raised his stone-covered arms, managing to block Chameleon's rapid sword strikes, sparks flying as the blades clashed against the rock. Tremor then struck Chameleon with a massive boot to the face, causing the assassin to stumble backwards. Suddenly, Chameleon's outfit turned a bright yellow, and he threw out a kunai on a chain, which lodged itself into Tremor's midsection. "GET OVER HERE!!!" roared Chameleon with an almost demonic fury as he yanked the chain, dragging Tremor close enough to land a powerful uppercut, sending the earth-bender onto his back. Tremor leapt back onto his feet and raised yet even more mounds of rock from the ground and launched them at Chameleon. The assassin dodged, and to Tremor's shock, Chameleon's outfit turned a shade of brown similar to his, and Chameleon raised a stone pillar where Tremor was standing, launching him into the air. "HUH, WHAT!?" yelled Tremor, confused as to how this guy was suddenly doing what he could do, but the surprises didn't end there. Chameleon's outfit turned purple as he encased Tremor in a bubble of water, using it to slam Tremor against the ground, then shifting to red as he used telekinetic powers to slam Tremor against the alley's walls. "What...what are you?" grunted Tremor, bleeding and struggling to get back on his feet. "Think you're the only one with powers like yours? I've scoured the realms, stalking their mightiest warriors from the shadows, learning their techniques by watching them unnoticed..." hissed Chameleon as his outfit turned blue, a sharp icicle forming in his hand. "...and I must say, your abilities are an incredible addition to my arsenal. A shame I'll soon be the only one with them soon..."
Chameleon prepared to drive the icicle through Tremor's chest, only to get grabbed from behind. "This ain't your jurisdiction, peepin' Tom!" yelled Jax as he threw Chameleon out of the alley, as Kenshi had managed to recover. "Kenshi! You ok?" asked Jax as Kenshi propped himself back onto his feet with Sento. "I'm fine, Major Briggs. Thank God you got here when you did." Kenshi and Jax turned to face Chameleon, who was now standing at the edge of the alleyway. Jax's metal arms surged with energy as he and Kenshi readied themselves. Chameleon glared at the two Special Forces agents as he drew the swords from the back, also intent on continuing this fight, only to see an armored van carrying more SF operatives heading towards the alley. Likely realizing he was outnumbered at the moment, Chameleon sheathed his blades and went fully invisible, disappearing from the scene as the van pulled up, armored SF agents pouring out. "Hmmph, we'll worry about him later. For now let's focus on Rocky over here." said Jax as he began walking towards the weary Tremor with a pair of high-tech handcuffs designed to neutralize the powers of people like Tremor. "Rrrggh..." grunted Tremor as he clutched his head, his vision impaired from the earlier beatdown, though he was starting to recover as Jax became more clearer in his view. "...Jax? You robot-armed son of a-" Tremor was interrupted by Jax throwing the cuffs onto his wrists and then decking him across the face, fully knocking the earth-bender out cold. "You think that's a little unnecessary, Jax?" asked Kenshi as Jax lifted Tremor onto his shoulder and carried him over to the van. "Nothing's unnecessary when it comes to jackasses who worked for Kano. Besides, have you seen what this guy can do? He's brought down entire city blocks with minimal effort!" "Fair enough, I guess." replied Kenshi, sheathing Sento and entering the van alongside Jax, the agents closing the doors behind them.
As the armored van drove off into the night to the Special Forces Command Center, a pair of milky white eyes watched from the darkness. "You were lucky this time, earth-bender..." growled Chameleon under his breath. "...but mark my words, I will bring Master Tsung your head, and he will rejoice..." With that, Chameleon faded into the night, leaving nary a trace.