The ship had been sailing for 10 hours by now, and it had almost arrived at its destination. Liu Kang was by his lonesome on the deck of the ship, admiring the serene waves of the ocean water, meditating and preparing his mind for the grave task ahead of him. This moment of alone time was interrupted by approaching footsteps.

"You seem bothered about Liu Kang. May I ask what it is?" Lord Raiden asked.

"I...it's just..." Liu Kang paused for a few seconds to think. What if I fail you? If I fail Earthrealm? I just..." Raiden interrupts Liu Kang's worried trail of thought.

"You have been training for this moment since you were 8, Liu Kang. Do you believe Master Bo Rai Cho's teachings will fail you?" Raiden said as he placed his hand on Liu Kang's shoulder comfortingly.

"I was never under the threat of death during my training!." Liu Kang yelled in objection. "And even if I was...even if I knew which opponents I would be facing...and even If I trained against them beforehand and knew all they could do, that STILL would not guarantee victory for me. Kombat isn't such a binary thing!" Liu Kang trailed off on of his fears and worries.

"Do not think of such things, Liu Kang. Have faith in yourself and your allies."

"Optimism alone will not help us win, Lord Raiden!"

"And pessimism shall?"

Liu Kang could not think of a response. Neither broke the silence for a few seconds until Raiden felt he had to.

"Remember, you are not alone in Earthrealm's defense, Liu Kang." Raiden said. "Kung Lao, Sonya Blade, Jackson Briggs, Sub-Zero. Even if you do not like all of them personally, they still stand alongside you in the mission to save Earthrealm. I chose them for a reason. I have seen them fight. Their skills are the best this realm has to offer, just as yours are."

Liu Kang felt encouraged, and his faith for the coming days reignited. He turned to the direction the ship was going, and instead of thinking of the island he feared he would die in, he thought of the honor he would feel as he took down Earthrealm's opponents.

"Now." Raiden interrupted Liu Kang's daydream. "Please go back inside. It is cold here."

Liu Kang smiled. "I would rather stay, actually; I quite like watching the blue waves and the cold breeze."

Raiden nodded and went back inside.

"Man, you know, this whole boat going to a deserted island thing reminds me of this movie I did with Mikhail Bay a few months back. You see, we-" Johnny Cage's monologue was prevented by someone interrupting.

"For the sake of I and everyone else on this damn boat. Stop. Talking." Sub Zero said as if he was actively preventing himself from ripping Cage's head. "We do not need to hear any more of your abysmal filmography."

"Abysmal?! I'll have you know some of my films have won awards!"

Sonya smirked and corrected the actor hopefully bringing his ego down a peg. "Don't lie, Cage, the only films of yours that have won anything were the ones where you weren't the main character. You know, REAL movies?"

The room fell silent, and you could feel Cage's pure annoyance.

"THAT was cold. And I thought Mr. Blueberry Ice was the one with Ice Powers." Cage said.

Sub-Zero gave Cage an enraged look at the nickname he was just given.

"Alright, alright, let's settle down now." Jax calmed the atmosphere. "Now Cage, just to be sure... you DO know what's at stake here, right? You don't think this is just some movie or reality tv show?"

Cage threw Jax a look of indignation before proving the doubts false

"Yeah, yeah. Some other dimension is trying to conquer ours and now we have to do some Kung Fu tournament to save it. Raiden told me about it." Johnny said as he pulled out his Phone to check what Twitter was saying about him that week.

"I'm surprised you believed him." Kung Lao smugly.

"Hey, when Mr. Teleports Into Your House With Lightning tells you some wacky mystical shit is going down, you're inclined to believe him." Cage waved his phone around to emphasize a point.

Jax chuckled. "Funny, I basically said the same thing."

Raiden entered, and everyone turned their attention to him.

"We are almost at the island. I hope you are ready. The first fight will be on the same day that we arrive." He announces to the kombatants.

"Jeez, you'd think they'd give us a night to rest at least." Johnny Cage remarked.

"So how is this meant to work anyway? Is this like a usual martial artist tournament? We each fight an opponent, and whoever wins moves up the bracket? Wouldn't that mean we would have to fight each other?" Sonya Blade asked the Thunder God.

"It does not work that way, Sonya Blade." Raiden responded. "Both Earthrealm and Outworld have several kombatants on each side, 1 from each will be picked to fight. Whoever wins stays in the tournament while the other is eliminated."

Sonya Blade nodded.

Raiden looked at each of the kombatants in front of him. As much as he reassured Liu Kang by saying he put all his faith into them, he was not so confident truthfully. He was afraid their flaws would get in their way. Liu Kang was right, kombat is not a binary process. One could hold the advantage on paper and still come out as the loser.

"So, Raidude, tell me." Johnny Cage asked. "If this tournament is so important for Earth, why can't you help us win this? You could probably just zap em all and BOOM, Earthrealm wins!."

Everyone else braced for his question to be of nonsense, but to their surprise, it actually had substance and worth to it.

"That might be the first thing you have said that was actually worth saying." Jax quipped.

Sub-Zero looked at the major, seemingly disappointed for whatever reason.

"You consider that worthwhile, Jackson? And here I thought you were smarter than him." Sub-Zero said. "Is the answer not obvious from the name of the tournament alone? It is Mortal Kombat. Raiden is an immortal; that disqualifies him by default, you imbeciles."

Jax and Johnny were put off by this unwarranted display of hostility by their supposed ally.

"Jeez, does your piss come out frozen too? It was just a question." Cage replied.

Sub-Zero ignores him completely and turns his attention to the God of Lightning.

"I hope you did not just choose the first people who knew how to fight that you could find Raiden. I would have appreciated it if you had brought far more intelligent kombatants, preferably one with a spine." Sub-Zero menacingly faced Kung Lao as he said this.

"What do you mean by that, may I ask?" Kung Lao said as he got up as if preparing to fight Sub-Zero on the ship.

"You know, EXACTLY what I mean, White Lotus."

Before the argument could heat up any further, Liu Kang came inside the room, partially overhearing the last few seconds of the conversation.

"We have arrived at the island. May the Elder Gods guide us all." He said sincerely.