"You don't actually believe in this stuff, do you?"
"It's my boss's job to believe or not believe, I'm just here to give him information."
"You know what I mean."
Y/N shrugged off the COS's question and continued reviewing her notes prior to the briefing. Word had it an important Commander from the newly created Joint Force Command would be attending. And it was true, the reporting that had begun pouring in since the previous day indeed beggared belief, but to begin making claims one way or another as to the efficacy of the ground troops caught in what was described as a "Demon fuck-fest from Hell" would not have been considered professional.
"Come on!" COS had gestured to a half-blurred image of what appeared to be a lizard ninja, and another of... what could only be described as a 4-armed tiger-man. "There's no way those are real."
Y/N looked upon the reporting with an even expression and then responded, "They were real enough for Officer Stryker to submit this report."
"Guy's a kook," he commented, specifically referring to the Revelations chapter included in his write-up: And I looked, and beheld a pale horse. And his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.
And this is precisely why Y/N didn't want to give her honest-to-goodness on the situation. Truth be told, she was in full agreement with this "Kurtis Stryker" fellow, wherever he hailed from. Devils had been turned loose upon the Earth, and she had a feeling it was only a matter of time before the sun blacked out, the seas turned to blood, and Gabriel began his warm-ups.
"Ready Attention..."
Y/N along with everyone else in the room ended their sidebars and put away their notepads.
"Attention!"
Members of the military are expected to show proper bearing when superior officers entered the room, but the rapt silence and intensity of the crowd's perfect attentive posture were not to be attributed to this reason exclusively. Instead, all eyes locked on, and followed, the person that was being directly addressed and led by the Admiral.
So this was the new Joint Commander... They were wearing the strangest garb that any sailor had ever seen within those secure facility walls.
This man was large, well over a foot above their own commander, who was already known for being one of the tallest officers on base. Clad completely in white and blue with a few gold fineries and black lacquered accoutrements. He also was the only person in the room still wearing his cover, a Chinese coolie affair that seemed to be made out of genuine woven straw. Y/N noted that the Chinese characters "雷" and "電" bedecked his shoulders. But strangest of all were the man's eyes; stark white with no visible pupil, instead they seemed to glow from within.
"If you please, Lieutenant."
"Yes, Admiral." Y/N nodded, turning to the guest Commander, "And Commander..."
"Lord Raiden, god of thunder and Protector of Earthrealm."
"Lord Raiden."
"Lord Raiden..."
"...Lord Raiden!?"
Y/N bolted upright with a shock, the image of Lord Raiden clear as day in her mind as she recalled that event so many years prior. With a keen, and a groan, body still baring the injuries from her ordeal on Shang Tsung's island, she settled back into the futon, only able to glean a cursory observation of her surroundings before sleep once again claimed her.
Soon she would realize this was decidedly not her hotel room, nor was she even in her own night clothes. Everything smelled of stone earth, the damp of cave water, and a general sandalwood incense that seemed ubiquitous, as if part of the very atmosphere of the quarters.
Elsewhere in the Temple of the Elements, one of the monks informed Fujin of her brief awakening, and while he looked relieved, there was a grave expression that would not leave his features.
Having ensured she had at least survived the night, Fujin then allowed himself to depart as a dissipating gale, for Sky Temple. Upon coalescing there, he was met with the infuriating calm of his brother mid-meditation atop the Temple's highest floor; the outdoor kombat arena.
"Y/N has awakened, no thanks to you."
Raiden did not respond, and to all external observation, seemed not to even hear Fujin's accusation. But he had, and Fujin knew it.
"What have you to say for yourself, brother? Why continue this farce when your heart even now thrums faster at the mention of her name?"
Raiden's eyebrow twitched, but he remained adamantly still and silent.
"The shapeshifter's words are poison! You know this and yet you allow his command to dictate your very spirit! Tell me I was not hewn from the same body as one so cowardly-"
In a flash Raiden was delivering a flurry of palm strikes, each parried easily by the wind god, who returned with his own volley of savage blows.
"A nerve is struck! You cannot deny the truth of your heart, brother-"
"Be SILENT!"
Each deity representing the greatest aspects of the storm matched the other strike for strike, blow for blow, such that every student, monk, and caretaker in Sky Temple gathered to observe this incredible display atop the lofty structure.
The winds whipped and howled their accusations, and the lightning rebuked each in turn with furious light and sound. A mighty storm roiled and rumbled atop the temple structure, torrential rains raking in sheets along the kombat ring's surface.
"You would have left her to die on that forsaken island just to spite Shang Tsung's accusations!"
This insult, Raiden refused to abide, and with newfound strength he caught Fujin by surprise, lightning sparking with each core strike that landed in succession, until Raiden's staff thrice struck him and smote him upon the floor, pressing with distinct warning against Fujin's throat.
"Once again, you must learn your place, brother..." Raiden growled, and for the first time since his arrival, Fujin did not spit in defiant tones. Instead, his expression was one of genuine shock, which then turned to empathetic pain.
"You knew I would not abandon her...!"
Raiden allowed his staff to disappear into motes of light as he turned from Fujin.
"Then why, brother? Why not go to her now? She rests within the Temple of the Elements as we stand here bickering!"
"Is this all the great Fujin is capable of? Have you regressed to childhood once more? Teasing and mocking your superiors with your bag of winds in hand?"
"I am simply begging you to see reason, brother-"
"Reason!?" Raiden rounded on Fujin with renewed fury in his eyes, this time, directed inwards.
"Had reason touched my thoughts months ago, she never would have been taken! Had I acted reasonably, Shang Tsung would be a smoking mote of ash upon the stones of his Well of Souls! Reason has come far too late, Fujin. In its absence, I have allowed our greatest enemy an open door through Earthrealm's defenses. I never should have allowed the life of a single mortal to eclipse the safety of the realm!"
Fujin watched sorrowfully as his brothers fists trembled at his side, his shoulders hunched in frustration, and his voice shook with rage.
"You misunderstand, Fujin... Reason is what brought me to this conclusion. It is what has bound my heart... And I... am powerless against it..."
Deep within the bowels of Quan Chi's Netherrealm fortress, dark incantations seeped from the very walls. A spell of such insidious deception was being conjured that even the sorcerer's most loyal servants were made to feel unsure of their own quarter.
As Quan Chi's words echoed with dark purpose, his red eyes remained dutifully closed while billowing green and purple magics emanated from his fingertips with each deliberate gesture and sweeping hand-symbol. In a pillar of black obsidian before him, Y/N's sleeping form slowly began to coalesce.
And as he concluded, his red eyes snapping open with his final uttered phrase, so too did Y/N's.