We'd welcome your character's arrival.

Serenity walks up to Khaali as she says her last sentence.

"That.. uhhh... Sounds tasty?"

Looking down she sees guards all over the floor.

"You are a formidable warrior indeed Khaali. I am thankful that we are friends."

Serenity looks toward the cheering crowd.

"Deon's fight is on right now. Would you like to watch it with me?"

In a burst of light, a scarred man dressed only in hakama,wraps and a scarf appeared. On his arrival he thought to himself "That should put great distance between me and those minions." The man's name was Akari and he was on the run from Kahn's men.

He then looked around the area and noticed the bodies of several mangled Outworld soldiers and said quietly to himself "Where in Argus name have I teleported and what caused this?"

Annette smiles at Akari, then nods in Khaali's direction.

"The naked shokan."

Akari looks over to where he heard the woman's voice and sees two people: A young woman who looked as if she did not belong in this realm and a large, nude female shokan who seemed much more fierce than most of her race.

Akari then headed over to the strange young woman and said "Excuse me, do you know what location this is? Also are you and that fearsome shokan with a group?"

Serenity turns to see a scarred warrior, clearly confused and dazed.

"Well, this is Shao Kahn's Coliseum in Outworld. And. " Serenity looks at Khaali, " Yes yes we are. who are you?"

As Akari looks over to the mysterious woman and the group with her he replies "My name is Akari and what are your names? Also would you like to hear my story?"

"Annette. Khaali's the naked one, and I believe her name is Serenity", pointing in Serenity's direction.

"As for your story, that depends. Would you like to hear your story?"

Annette chuckles at her own bad joke, then continues.

"Do share."

"This match does give some interesting info but we must gather more info on our enemies. Skyward will copy this match," said Okorik. Skyward turned back into his regular human form and sat in an empty seat. Skyward looked at the duo and said, "I will watch the match master, do try to avoid detection by the warriors." Okorik looked at Krimson and asked if she had anything that would help him. Krimson opened a pouch on her belt and removed a tiny dart with the symbol of the Black Dragon on it. "This is a very potent drug. It increases aggression in the target but the effects are so subtle that no one will think they are affected by anything," replied Krimson. Okorik took the drug, knowing it would be useful. He walked down the steps and looked at a new warrior talking to Serenity. Before he could act, he thought to himself and knew direct confrontation would be a bad idea, so he hid among the crowd and shot the pillar at the new warrior's foot. The drug was injected and Okorik laughed while saying, "Excellent. That outfit resembles an Edenian resistance uniform so he is sure to be an enemy. Regardless of who fights who, their new ally will appear distrustful and sow suspicion among them." Upon leaving the area, Okorik walked through a dark tunnel were he saw the figure of a woman dressed in purple growl at him. Okorik looked at the woman and bowed while saying, "Quan Chi has told me about you. You are Princess Mileena, the heir to the throne. I am Okorik, a humble servant of the Netherrealm. How may I serve you?"

Before Akari could continue to speak he felt a prick at his foot. He then screamed "WHO THE HELL DID THAT!" in a rather infuriated tone. He looked down and noticed a small dart shaped object sticking out, as he pulled it out he said to himself "Great, this must be poison"

Annette lowers her head, eyes darting back and forth for fear of being 'darted'. She looks down at Akari's foot and sighs, "I see no one wastes time around here."

She places a hand on Akari's shoulder and looks him in the eye.

"Are you alright?"

She looks cautiously over her shoulder, making a rather 'cranky' expression.

"Evidently there's no rest to be had in this hell hole....."

Akari begins to examine the dart and notices an odd dragon insignia, one he has never seen before.

As he looks over to Annette and the others he says "I'm fine but word of warning please keep an eye on me for I don't know what the effects of this poison will be."

"And I might well tell my story before another interruption. In short I have a large bounty on my head, because Kahn's daughter Mileena considers me her pet."

Annette snarls.

"Crafty little bitch, isn't she? You and I have a friend in common it seems... "

Annette stops and raises her hand, reminded of what she wanted to say to Serenity and Khaali.

"One moment, Akari, I'd just like to get something out of my head before I'm forced to forget... Uh, what is it exactly the two of you are doing? Are you opposed to Shao Kahn? Perhaps there is a common interest to, you know... Not destroy Earthrealm? Though I doubt it affects you either way, my four armed friend," she smirks at Khaali, "Before I came here, I was tasked by Mileena to do a little dirty work. Apparently, the princess isn't happy with her father. She's an idiot, to be clear, but she has friends. A small army of rebellious Tarkatans have allied themselves with the brat, my 'friend' agreed to lead them into battle... Directionless little bastards, always looking for someone to follow. Anyway, she plans to overthrow Kahn, however foolishly, but if we were to add our power to hers.... There's a chance. She can't face Kahn directly, she wants to hide her intentions as long as possible. I don't know what your motives are Akari, but if Mileena trusts us... There are a number of ways you could free yourself from her. I won't stand in your way... She bit me.... Just a thought. The Tarkatans are meat as far as I know, they can take the bulk of Kahn's wrath...."

She shrugs and smiles... "Pardon me, Akari... But I've been trying to speak for ages and something always seems to go wrong!"

As he listens to Annette's story he says "You are from Earthrealm? No wonder you didn't fit in. Anyways my people have nothing against Earthrealm, in fact we would like to fight alongside them. I am part of a resistance to a fallen realm called Edenia. I have been tasked with finding the whereabouts of our princess Kitana and apprehending a traitor named Rain. If you have a plan to get in on that wench Mileena and her father, I'd be happy to help."

Annette beams a huge grin at Akari.

"You, sir, are a godsend, hahaha!"

She clasps her hands together excitedly.

"Are you Edenian!? I'm Edenian! Well... My ancestors were, supposedly. A man from Edenia came to Earthrealm and started a family... Mine. I'm not sure if the source should be trusted... But Mileena claims the princess is dead. That's how she convinced me to help her. She claims to be able to at least partially restore Edenia, IF she takes the throne of Outworld with my help. Though, if we go through with this, we may find the princess alive and well... Sorry, I must seem frantic... I just really hate it here, heh."

Annette is flustered... Her hope restored ever slightly, she fumbles her words for a moment.

"We would need to return to the Tarkatan camp... Mileena visits nightly. She trusts my 'friend', Etienne, though after my escape she will not welcome me... So we'll need to involve him. If we can rally her little army, they can at least distract while we search for the princess and go after Shao Kahn. Mileena is all yours after that, if you'd like."

Annette turns to face Serenity and Khaali.

"What about you two? What are your plans?"

Khaali, both pairs of hands on her hips, nods in a greeting to Akari. Not particularly friendly, but close enough. She smirks in response to Annette's comment, her whiskers arching.

"I hold no allegiances anymore. Do unto others as others do unto you. I have been forgotten and betrayed. Should I encounter the emperor again, I shall leave him with scars he could never forget."

She stretches an arm out and brushes back her mane of dreadlocks.

"As for the princess Mileena, I couldn't possibly make her uglier than she already is"

Deon and Rain battle intensely exchanging blows, both opponents are battered and bruised as they attempt to evade each other's attacks. Claws, lightning, Neuron blasts, and and water cannons fill the arena as rain pelts the crowd and ground, washing the blood of previously dispatched opponents away.

"Not too bad for a human, but you're too weak to keep dodging my attacks at this rate." Rain laughs, almost couginh as he begins harnessing his lightning.

Deon smirks, "From where I'm standing, you're not sitting too pretty yourself."


"The only difference is, I have enough power to send you to your grave, you on the other hand....are dead..."

Deon begins chanting as his body glows purple with energy.

Rain is amused by Deon's display, "the amount of energy you're generating is pathetic, even for you, good bye swine!"


Rain launches a giant bolt of lightning at Deon, who raises his arms to meet the blast as his chant completes.

Rain yells in astonishment" I thought you were drained where are you getting all this power!?"

Deon absorbs the energy from Rain's lightning and then launches the rest back at Rain, electrocuting him and causing him to violently spasm and fall to the floor.

Shao Kahn says loudly, "FINISH HIM!"

Rain groans in pain as his body spasms from being electrocuted ,"Before you kill me.....how...how did you do that...?"

Deon shakes his head, "I have no intention of killing you, but to answer your question, I'm known in my order as a defensive specialist, all I did was use my mastery of reflection defensive magic to turn your attack into my own and recover a great deal of my own energy."

Deon walks away

Rain blurts out almost an inaudible whisper, "Why... did ....you.... spare me...?

Deon frowns."Perhaps there is some good in you, despite your treason against Edenia, but I'm not keen on murdering a defenseless warrior no matter how pretentious."

Shao Kahn spits in disgust, "Deon wins!"

Deon leaves the inner structure of the Coliseum, returning to Serenity.

" So you are a descendant of an Edenian? No wonder I felt I could trust you. Anyhow, I don't believe the princess is dead either, Mileena probably crafted that lie to keep you by her side. From the sounds of her plan, she seems rather desperate."

"And it is, making it perfectly suited to meet our ends... Mileena's like flan... With teeth.... Malleable and scrumptious. Funny texture, though..."

Deon is greeted by Raiden who thanks him and compliments him on his victory. Deon bows to the God of Thunder and greets Johnny Cage warmly, remarking on how amusing he found Time Smashers and Ninja Mime.

Raiden and Johnny Cage, accompanied by Smoke bid farewell to Deon and they follow Raiden as he teleports away.


Deon continues walking to Serenity when he notices a new man standing near Annette. "Who would that be?"

Mileena snarls and says, "I was looking for new toys. It seems you are part of my father's friends so you won't get some playtime. Do you know where I can find some toys?" Okorik thinks to himself, "She acts like a child but is still the Princess. If I can appease her, I may be able to gain favor with the Emperor. That Edenian may prove troublesome. If I give him to the Princess, I'll kill two birds with one stone." He turns to Mileena, smile on his face, and says, "I indeed know where you can find some toys," pointing to the Edenian, "there he is. Would he be suitable?" Mileena looks in awe then silently unsheathes a sai and stealthily walks towards him. "Guess these two have some history. Better follow her to ensure she isn't hurt."

As Akari was speaking to Annette and Serenity, a random Sai flies past the group and hits a wall. He looks behind to see an unfortunately all too familiar face. The Princess of Outworld glares towards him with a rather perverse look. Akari says to her "Oh of course I would run into you here, how did you find me?" Mileena responds "A rather kind gentleman, helped me find my lost little toy." Akari looks past her and sees a demonic figure walking over. Akari casually says "Oh I suppose you want the bounty too? And I believe you were the one who tossed this dart?"

Okorik looks at the Edenian talking to him and says, "The Princess wants a new plaything and what the Princess wants, she gets. As for the dart, I myself didn't shoot it but some of my associates here have the technology for it. Be careful as not all your allies may be who they say they are. As for me, I've got the help of Outworld against you." Okorik silently talks to his coat to Krimson about the bounty. "Now will go quietly or will I have to use force?"

Akari calmly retorts "Hmm, no I'd rather drop dead from whatever poison I was struck with than get dragged back to that false princess' torture chamber by some Netherrealm thug. And I trust these new acquaintances quite well already so no I'm not coming quietly." Akari readies himself into a fighting stance and his hands begin to glow.

"Tell me, do you truly wish it is a good idea to attack the Emperor's daughter in the middle of an Outworld arena full of his most loyal fighters and with the Emperor himself standing right outside? But if you want to die, try it," said Okorik who saw the rage in the Edenian's eyes. He thought to himself, "The drug must be working. His eyes of full of nothing but pure hate and rage. He must not like the Princess." He saw Akiru preparing a blast. Okorik unsheathed his blade, preparing to block it.