A Place for Us

Mortal Kombat has always been and always will be. For a millennia, the forces of good and evil have been locked in an eternal battle for control of the Realms. Some use the tournaments to destroy all that good. Others seek vengeance, power, or immortality. Time after time, our enemies have fail, and the Realms have retained their relative peace for centuries. However, the realms are once again in peril. This time, the threat of evil has two faces.

"Only two?" Johnny questioned. "If the second is anything like Anomaly, we might not be enough."

"The Elder Lords have yet to disclose who the other threat is," Raiden clarified. "However, your concerns are equally felt."

"We could not sit idly by and watch these two evils consume what's left of the realms," Cetrion said. "We have released the restrictions places on us to allow ourselves to lead the mortals and protector lords of the realms against our adversaries. Together, we will stop this deadly alliance."

"How can we be so sure that the two will align together?" Junas asked.

"We cannot," Cetrion said.

"Why so secretive about the name of the second person?" Kenshi asked.

"What is in a name?" Junas asked him.

"What does that even mean?" Johnny asked. "Nevermind, I don't want to know."

"If we were to disclose the individual's name, it would change the tide of the war for the worse," Anguine said. "Therefore, we must keep it among the six of us."

"There's only five of you," Sonya said. "Let me guess, you can't disclose their name either?"

"The sixth Elder Lord is none of your concern, Sonya Blade," Inerva said.

"And this is your second chance, miss Blade."

"I don't need a second chance," she responded.

"You killed-"

"I killed the Black Dragon, Jax!" she snapped. "Did you forget what they've done to us? I haven't."

"Was it worth the lives of others on Earthrealm?" Junas asked. Sonya openned her mouth, but nothing come out. She huffed and leaned against a distant tree. She rubbed her hand along the bark, tracing it to the leaves. She pulls one off and smells it.

"This tree," she said to herself.

"We shall resume this discussion as time permits. For now, we will leave you all to prepare yourselves." Junas and the other vanished as the departed the Earthrealm Warriors. Cetrion, however, chose to stay.

"I've gathered who I could," Shujinko said. He approach the group along with Ashrah, Lui Kang, and Kung Lao.

"Master Raiden?" Lui Kang called. Raiden raised a brow.

"Lui Kang? Kung Lao? The two of you...survived?" he asked.

"You could say that," Kung Lao said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Any further explanation would mean their deaths," Ashrah said. "But these two are very alive."

"Didn't ask, don't tell," Johnny joked. "But, aren't you Chan's brother?"

"You must be the actor," Lui Kang said.

"Well, not so much anymore," he faintly chuckles. "Wait! Didn't you die at the tournament?" Johnny said, pointing to Ashrah.

"That wasn't…," she paused before releasing a huge sigh. "Ah, Tesla." She smiled, thinking about her now deceased sister. "That wasn't enough to take me out, obviously."

"I thought you were gathering warriors of light." Sonya said sarcastically.

"Asha—She is no longer the evil you once remembered. If her heart were not pure, she would not be standing before us as she is now."

"She is right," Ashrah agrees. "However, we cannot be so certain that loopholes may exist to allow the impure to reside in this realm."

"Certainly, no such thing exists," Cetrion responded calmly. However, she squints toward the magic circle around the sorceress's feet. She swiftly turns to reach out toward the opposite direction. Immediately, the circle spreads itself across the entire realm. Golden sparks of light flared in many parts of the realm. The warriors of Earthrealm watched as the Elder Lord, Shinnok, was cast out of the realm as the golden spark appeared from his location.

"Our realm," Cetrion said blankly, "it's already been compromised."

"Which means she's here!" Ashrah yelled as she drew her Kris. The others raised their guard as she watched their surroundings. As the lights began to fade, Cetrion knew it was only a matter of time before those who've bypassed the spell would begin their assault.

"You mustn't stay here," Raiden plead.

"That's doesn't sound like a wise chose, Thunder Lord," Johnny responded anxiously.

"He's right," Jax agreed, "we're outnumbered and outmatched without her."

"The Elder Gods should focus on keeping those who can't defend themselves safe. The enemy is our priority now." Fujin said.

"As much as I hate to say it, he's right," Lui Kang said. "The Temple of Light and White Lotus Society have a duty to protect Earthrealm. In our case, that would require us to stop Anomaly's Konquest."

"Earthrealm's gone," Johnny said.

"No, Earthrealm is part of Outworld now," Shujinko says. "And soon every realm will merge into one. We must be prepared for that moment."

"I've stalled it as best as I could. Onaga's still trapped in the NetherRealm with the remaining Kamidogu. I'd like to keep it that way, but Onaga's going to be the trigger she's waiting for to begin the mass mergers." Cetrion raises her hands. She looks around, using the aura of the realm to find the invaders.

"I detect four suspicious individuals approaching," she points to her right, "from there." They look at the large wall Cetrion pointed at.

"The...wall?" Johnny questioned.

"Beyond the wall," Jax says as he charges his fist back with a dark purple aura. As he pushes his fist toward the wall, a large wave of energy slices through the wall before exploding. The group was stunned by the shockwave—even more so by the wall's debris being pulled back together.

"Kenshi, that better be you," Sonya comments.

"It's not," he says as he senses numerous individuals behind the wall. "I thought you said there was only four of them."

"There are," Cetrion says. The wall flies directly toward Jax. Shujinko dashes toward Jax, channeling dark purple energy into his palm. With a quick push, he shatters the wall. The others dive out of the way of the additional debris. Shujinko uses his deep breathing to relax his now tender ligaments. As the dust clears, the four individuals become clear to the group.

"Siro? Taja?" Raiden questioned.

"Commander Locke," Ashrah muttered. She looks at the fourth warrior. Their red attire and black bandages wrapped around his head. His skins was a cold and dry as a corpse.

"Who are they?" Johnny asked.

"Kung Lao's friends," Kung Lao responded. "Which means—"

"He's busy right now," Siro said. "How did you let this happen, Lord Raiden?"

"We've done this routine before," Lui Kang says. "Anomaly has clouded their judgment by manipulating the truth. Don't feed into their frustrations."

"So Earthrealm hasn't been merged with Outworld?" Taja asked.

"Who he?" Ashrah asked, still looking at the fourth man.

"We are the souls of those who've perished in Earthrealm. We are the culmination of their anger. Their fears. Their desires. We. Are. Ermac."

"The souls of...Earthrealm?" Sonya stuttered.

"It's as he says," Kenshi responded. "I can't predict his movement like this."

"You won't have to," Rayne said as she and her sister drew their blades.

"We'll handle him," Wynd said. Sparks of blue lightning appeared from the girls' feet. The two of them zip around the four individuals, bring them to their defensive stances. They cross each other in front of Ermac and take a swipe, only to be forced to a halt.

"What is this?" Rayne questioned. Sonya raises her gun, only to have it knocked from her hand by an apple Raja had been holding. She looks at the woman, who wags her finger toward her.

"I guess I'll take the other idiot," Siro says as he walks to Johnny Cage.

"You two won't be enough for us," Johnny says as she throws a force ball at the man. Siro drops to the ground, narrow avoiding it. However, Ermac uses his power to break Wynd's arm, causing her to drop her weapon. Siro quickly grabs it as he raises himself up and wildly swings the blade toward Johnny. The actor uses his red energy to guard against the sword. On impact, the blade snaps.

"Ha," he laughed. He finds himself face first on the ground as Siro's flips and connects his heel to the top of the actor's skull. Jax comes behind him and grabs the man. Siro channels his chi to increase his own strength and break free from the warrior. The twins soar over the two men, bring their eyes back to Ermac.

"If we rush them—"

"No!" Ashrah interrupted the actor. "This...Ermac is beyond your scope of combat. Leave him to to."

"And we will join you," Lui Kang said.

"Cetrion!" Raiden called. The woman looked at him with remorse before teleporting away. Ermac reaches toward the woman, but Lui Kang intervenes with a flying kick. Ermac catches the Shaolin in time before he could reach the being. Though a struggle, Lui Kang forces himself free, landing on his feet.

"Impossible," Ermac said. "No, very much possible with this one," he responded to himself.

"Of course we'd forget," Wynd said.

"Stay down children, the adults will handle this one," Ashrah boasts as she conjures a ball of light. She pitches the projectile toward Ermac, who swiftly dodges it. Lokke moves from behind Ermac and grabs Lui Kang by the neck. The Special Forces rush in to help, but are immediately forced back by Ermac.

"Raiden, NOW!" Lui Kang yelled. Kung Lao rushed to tackle Siro before a bolt of lightning crashes atop of them. The same occurs with Ermac and Locke, whom was holding Lui Kang. Ashrah uses his magic to travel using Raiden's bolt. The warriors found themselves being casted from the heavens to the great unknown below.

"We forgot one," Johnny groaned as he rose to his feet.

"This isn't good," Taja muttered. "Where is she?"

Chan stares into the night sky along with Reptile and Goro as they watched numerous warriors soar like shooting stars. The sounds of the warriors crashing into the ground spooked the citizens of the unified realms, as they did not know where the invading forces were coming from.

"Just as we planned," Chan muttered to himself. Goro and Reptile turned their attention to him.

"What is happening?" Goro questioned.

"Anomaly exposed Heaven's location," Chan said.

"I thought Heaven was a realm of its own," Reptile said.

"We all did," Chan agreed. "All of us except one."

"Anomaly," Reptile hissed.

"I've learned that she's been using Earthrealm's talent to pave a way for her conquest," Chan explained. "And through one, Belinda Carlisle, she discovered that Heaven is a place on Earth."

"But where?" Reptile wondered.

"Not far from where we're standing, actually," Chan said. "When we ascended from the NetherRealm, our souls returned to where we last perished. However, the Chaos Realm is no more, so I can only return to Earthrealm. That's when I began to realize Anomaly was telling the truth."

"If Sheeva's life is in jeopardy, we must take her away from here immediately," Goro said.

"Do what you must, and trust no one. Not even us," Chan said.

"Agreed," Goro responded as he walked off. Chan placed his hand on Reptile's shoulder.

"The realm is counting on us, Reptile," Chan boasted. "Don't let them down."

Reptile nods.

End of Chapter 37

To put things as bluntly as possible, this chapter took so long because overall, it was BORING. I've tried my best to fill the middle of the chapter with...more than what is currently there. Had I known the difficulties I would have writing the chapter, I would've scrapped it altogether and jumped straight into what will be the next chapter. On a positive note, I have been writing scenes within the next few chapters throughout the months, despite this chapter being the major roadblock. Hopefully I'll be able to catch issues like this one much better in the future. For now, treat this as more of an interlude chapter.

(Upcoming-The War of Light and Darkness Pt. 1)