"What in Heaven's name…" Y/N unconsciously leaned away from Ken with the inherent curiosity of someone witnessing something truly remarkable, but before she was even one step away, her senses were accosted by a strong arm pinning her left side and catching her across the face – muffling her reflexive scream.
"Shang Tsung!" Raiden's eyes flashed as he saw the sorcerer's disguise smoke and burn away while he restrained Y/N through her struggles.
"Imagine my surprise, Lord Raiden. I didn't think you as bold-"
"Unhand her!"
Electricity engulfed Raiden as his hands clenched into fists. The sorcerer's eyes narrowed.
Suddenly, the scent of acid filled the thunder god's senses, something lashed him about the neck and pulled him back.
"Entertain him, Reptile-" commanded the sorcerer as he drew his face close to Y/N's, the seductive croon she'd come to know now sounding horrifically foreign against her ear. "-We have a date with destiny…"
Syzoth hauled Raiden back, the stench of burning skin a pleasing reward for the reptilian assassin as he tasted god-flesh. While not particularly keen on challenging the thunder deity outright in Earthrealm, Shang Tsung had assured his slave that Raiden would be an easy mark at the right moment. Surprisingly true to his word, the sorcerer had successfully predicted Raiden's complete distraction upon seeing his little mortal obsession in the fell clutches of circumstance.
Raiden had been completely caught off guard! Normally sharper on the uptake, he hadn't expected his appearance to tip Shang Tsung's hand to such an extreme measure. He'd completely misread the situation, and it was through this shocking realization he witnessed his accosted beloved, and his hated foe, both disappear within a swirling vortex of flame.
An acrid tongue, choking him and burning his flesh, the thunder god suddenly grounded his stance and surged with electricity. With a mighty cry, he felt the burning coil around his neck dissipate, and turned to see Reptile released from the rictus of his lightning. The creature fell with a groan, smoking from the electrocution before writhing in pain on the ground as the cauterized stump of his tongue retracted pathetically.
"Where has he taken her!?" Raiden bellowed above the felled creature, his stance poised to deliver another devastating electrical volley as his eyes burned a fierce blue.
The smell of damp, cold that seeped into the bones, and the distinct shudder brought about by the sound of a distant shriek met Y/N's senses as she came to. There had been a suffocating black smoke, ringed by flames and the stench of death and sulfur. Now, through the gloom and haze of slowly stirring consciousness, Y/N could see the results of that which couldn't be believed.
"Mr. Tagawa…?" Her voice cracked with dryness, and as she stirred in the darkness, her predicament began to solidify one sense at a time. Arms and legs leaden, every piece of exposed skin felt numb with chill, and slowly, surely, the faintest green light from a distant source allowed her to make out the space she found herself within.
Just as her sight was adjusted to the dark, a blinding portal opened directly before her, sending her reeling back against the stone slab she now realized she had been deposited upon.
"No time for pleasantries, my dear. Our guest is sure to arrive any moment now…"
The cool croon of the man she had come to know as Ken Tagawa felt welcome only for the brief moment of reactionary habit. As Y/N un-squinted her eyes only to see the flash-burn of her retinae coloring the low-lighting of the chamber, she felt something cool press against her bottom lip.
Though every limb ached, she was able to recoil from the intrusion, pushing the liquid-filled glass vial from her face. But before she was able to roll off of the slab, the same fingers that had so lovingly caressed her neck previously, now clamped down with confident force, and brought her face to face with the man who had broken her heart.
"Monster…" she spat, now staring into this stranger's eyes with fearful curiosity. "You're one of them, aren't you? From the invasion…"
Although it had been many years previously, the world had come to slowly accept the presence of an "other" in its midst. "Outworld" some people called it, still more insisted it was called the "Netherrealm", or likened it to another country and gave it the name "Edenia". There were many stories, but Y/N only knew that which she used to brief in her previous lifetime, for it had seemed that long ago to her now. It was a place full of demons and devils, ones that wished to subjugate and murder. With an inward flash of recognition, she suddenly recalled the familiar face of the man who had appeared within the lightning strike. She had known him…
The sorcerer smirked at her inquiry, and as her eyes averted momentarily in recollection, he suddenly pulled her close and stole a deep kiss through her shocked expression. Y/N felt something cold forced down her throat, and as her resistance renewed in desperation, Shang Tsung held her tightly, enjoying the silent struggle until it was done.
As the woman gasped and coughed, Shang Tsung wiped his lips, tossing the now empty glass vial with a triumphant flick. "As I said before, my dear… No time for pleasantries."
"…! You-…!" Y/N sputtered, fighting in desperation as she felt herself drowning from the rising chill that began to envelop her. As she fell back onto the slab, Shang Tsung began chanting arcaneries, his arms sweeping to and fro as the woman's final throes of defiance stilled, and she slipped into a death-like trance, eyes lidded and unfocused.
The ground surrounding the elevated stone altar glowed brightly in runic patterns for a brief moment, and without seconds to spare, Shang Tsung's spell seemed to complete with a furious gust of wind that tore through his chamber of souls.
The sorcerer's expression faltered for the barest moment as he recognized it had not been Raiden to first arrive, as he had predicted, but another troublesome entity he had not planned for…
"Raiden's errand boy…" Shang Tsung sneered as the furious gale coalesced into the form of a man, now standing opposite the sorcerer, Y/N's still form laid out upon the altar between them. So it hadn't always been Raiden's attentive stare upon his back, thought Shang Tsung with an amused hum.
"I must thank you, soul-stealer," Fujin articulated with thin temper, "your depravity has finally made clear my brother's warnings."
The wind god's eyes remained piercing and focused on the sorcerer before him, a silent threat that Shang Tsung understood, and acknowledged with an amused bow. As he stepped back from the still form of the woman between them, Fujin's eyes flicked the barest attentions upon her, wary of even a moment spared from monitoring for Shang Tsung's inevitable treacheries.
"Do not become attached to them, Fujin. Sentiment will impede the execution of your duty. Is that what you hoped to accomplish with this gambit, sorcerer?" Fujin approached the stone altar as Shang Tsung mirrored his movement in slow retreat from the slab. Fujin's eyes again spared a moment to observe the mortal woman in her pitiable state.
How cruel that he and Raiden's fiercest quarrel would now come to be forgiven with mutual understanding… at the cost of an innocent life. The wind god's expression flared with anger as he returned his glare to the shapeshifter.
Shang Tsung's expression did not falter, "You must be pleased, Lord Fujin. Standing in a hypocrite's shadow is far less tasking, I imagine…"
"You indeed imagine." Fujin rebuked as he moved to retrieve the woman's body from the altar. The moment his hands touched her, a sudden blast of hellish energies issued from below. The runes that had glowed around the altar before Fujin's arrival now ignited, becoming a ring of roiling flame that engulfed the unsuspecting demi-god.
The god of wind bellowed in agony, and Shang Tsung immediately stepped forward, conjuring a spell with measured haste. As multiple skeletal servants leapt up from the gashed earth and seized a surprised Fujin about the legs, he lashed out, pulverizing them into bone shrapnel. More replaced those that were obliterated, and all now worked to drag him into the hell-split ground.
Just as it seemed Fujin might be able to overpower this ambush, a massive serpent of flame leapt from Shang Tsung's outstretched palms as he completed his spell. The snake's jaws snapped around the god of wind's neck and face before coiling and driving him down into the roiling magma, his scream cut off as the ground sealed itself after them.
Just as quickly as the trap had been sprung, the room returned to an uneasy silence, punctuated only by the occasional chilled gasp of the constantly flowing wraiths from the well of souls.
Although having successfully subdued a demi-god, Shang Tsung's expression bore an incredibly uncharacteristic grimace as he felt the hairs raise on the back of his arms. He knew the tell-tale approach of Earthrealm's protector, and lamented his lack of time, and resources, to prepare another spell of ensnaring. His eyes then fell on the incapacitated mortal woman, and the sorcerer cracked a wry smile.
A loud crash of lightning rocked the underground chamber, the subtle green hues and shadows fleeing as Raiden appeared in a blinding flash.
"SHANG TSUNG!"