"It doesn't surprise me. He is not one of Shao Kahn's most deadly of assassins for nothing. He won't be of any concern. Now, let us go to Lord Raiden, there is much to discuss."

"Impressive,you had just missed Raiden,I'll see if i can call him."

"Raiden get your butt over here!!!"

Suddenly Raiden appeared before the trio.

"A little respect would be nice you know" mentioned Raiden.
"Sure whatever,this is the man who wished to see you"

"Alright. But I need a moment of rest and to wrap up my wounds." Serenity hadn't notice all of her cuts before now, her adrenaline has finally passed away and the stings of pain are now becoming noticeable. As Raiden appeared, Serenity stepped back and sat down to clean her wounds.

Marek walks over to Serenity and kneels next to her. extending his hands toward her, which begin to glow a dark blue. Serenity instinctively edges away from the Shadow Priest. "I told you before, I mean you no harm." Before Serenity can respond, Marek release the energy from his hands, which covers Serenity's entire body. To her astonishment, the cuts she sustained from her earlier battle healed.

"I never thought a mortal can help a goddess, thank you Merek. I might control time but i can not heal myself. I need to work on that i assume." Getting up she and Merek walk up to the thunder God. Hesitation filled Serenity. Every time she nears Raiden, she flashes back on that day where the Elder Gods summoned her and gave her her task.. "Serenity, Raiden has altered the destiny of the realms. It is your job as goddess of time to make sure DESTINIES ARE MET! Armageddon MUST happen. IT. IS. OUR. WILL." Chills went through Serenity as her memory ended. Echoing through her head. IT. IS. OUR. WILL.

Raiden observed their conversation.

" A goddess why was i not informed,what is your purpose"

Ekibyogami quickly went into damage control mode

"Uhhhhh she isn't a goddess,just very vain,anyways this Marek is a former shadow priest of Shang Tsung,who has something to warn you about"

"The Gods may be all powerful and all knowing, but they are just as vulnerable as any mere mortal, Lady Serenity. It would be....Terrible, if anything were to bring harm of any kind to one such as you." Marek steps forward and bows respectfully toward Raiden.

"Oh yes, i tend to be vain, i am NO goddess Lord Raiden."

Serenity puts her head near Marek and whispers: "do not allow Raiden to know i am a goddess Merek it is of the utmost importance. and... thank you"

Marek inclines his head to stare at Serenity and gives her a reassuring look.
"You have my word, Lady Serenity." Marek removes a green gemstone from the darkness within his robes and hands it to the Goddess. "If you are to fight again, this gemstone will protect you from all injury. Use the gemstone wisely, they are very rarely found in the mines of Outworld, and their protective ability can only be used once. You're welcome." Marek turns back around to face Raiden. "Lord Raiden, my sincerest apologies, but there is something we must talk about."

She takes the gem and smiles. "Thank you Marek." (Mortals. How they care for each other.) She thought. It touched Serenity. She steps back and lets Marek talk to the thunder god. She stands there thinking in her own world again.
"Yes? what is it?" Raiden asked the former priest

"Lord Raiden, my name is Marek, former high Shadow Priest to the sorcerer, Shang Tsung. Recently, I was visited by visions of Armageddon, the end of all life. Worse, I saw your death at the hands of Shao Kahn. Absorbing the power of a fire being, he slaughtered you and, with you and your chosen warriors slain and no one left to oppose him, went on to merge all of the realms together, bringing about the..." Marek stops himself, pondering whether to tell the truth of what he truly saw.

Annette smiles, glad she could find a sense of humor among the battle hardened silent types.

"Four men? I like your style, haha! ... So... You collect them? Like charms? I've yet to kill a man... But it is true, they will come for you. Some of them won't wait so long."

Annette's iris' briefly shimmer a vibrant emerald green, as opposed to her usual deep blue. She is uncomfortable again, it is quite evident. She is distracted as if listening to an inner monologue. Within her a slumbering presence yawns, speaking softly to her, intrigued by the subject of their conversation. It whispers to her its desires, its longing. After a moment of silence, Annette returns her attention to the four armed woman.

"Um.... I.... Sorry, can't think clearly... What were you saying? Oh yes! Dead men.... Let's speak of something else, yes? You're here for the tournament? I must say I do not look forward to meeting you in the arena... Though apparently everyone's picked a side... I've yet to understand exactly what we're fighting for here."

"I know this" said Raiden " Steps are being taken to stop shao kahn and end the threat of armageddon,right now we hope to keep him out by winning the tournament,Liu Kang being particularly promising. Speaking of which i must meet up with him. You have earned my trust,give Ekibyogami all the info you know of Shang Tsung."

As Raiden walked away,Ekibyogami addressed the party. " You managed that well Serenity, Marek do you have an intel on Shang Tsung?"

"I'm afraid that I do not have much, but I do know that recently he created a powerful warrior for Shao Kahn, fused from the souls of many warriors who fell to Outworld in tournaments past. The warrior is named Ermac, and he is not to be taken lightly. Knowing the emperor, he will have all of his best warriors present for the tenth tourney. If Ermac is here, he may tip the tournament in Tsung and Kahn's hands. As we returned from the Pit, I sensed something from the Warrior Shrine. I shall investigate it now." Marek lays his hand gently on Serenity's shoulder, surprising her ever so slightly. "Be careful, Lady Serenity". With that, Marek leaves for the Shrine.

(Off topic if this was an action movie I would be yelling at the screen that Marek was going to die in the next seen,the dialogue just gives me that vibe,thankfully it isn't a movie)

"We shall look into this Ermac,the manufacturing of fighters is indeed a disturbing prospect."

(Yeah, I can see how the dialogue would give off that vibe, haha)

Shortly after his talk with the three Gods, Marek arrives at the Warrior Shrine.
Several statues line the area, oddly enough resembling the Kombatants of the current tournament. "Shang Tsung is amost mysterious man, indeed." Observing a statue of the current Champion Prince Goro, Marek walks past a statue of a ninjalike warrior when he stops dead in his tracks, his eyes gleaming bright blue. Something emanating great power is nearby. at that moment, the ninja statue explodes, revealing a red and black clad warrior covered in multiple gemstones, who then levitates in the air above Marek. "It would appear I just found Ermac..."

Ire waited...and waited....and waited, "Very well then boy, I suggest you find someone to fight more on your level if you wish not to speak up. As for me I have my mission to attend to." In a flash of hellfire, Ire teleported away, continuing to observe the kombatants of the tournament in secrecy. His mission being simple: Watch the realms fighters tare each other apart, and when the great battles of mortal kombat have ended, emerge from the darkness and slaughter all survivors, to prepare for Shinnok's impending invasion.

Shiku's patience paid off once again. Waiting in the trees in Shang Tsungs garden, he only had one purpose, and that was to find out what had happened to his hometown, by any means necessary. He had a feeling that someone involved would be at this tournament, as it was the biggest in all the realms, and their were many skilled warriors, and he could still sense the ghosts that were present in his town, somehow, he did not know how yet as his abilities were so new.

Shiku had been followed once already this tournament, and he decided it was time to do some of his own tracking. This Kano character knew more than he would admit. Kano passed through with two other beings, one a very strange masked green creature and another warrior clad in red with what looked like a jet pack on his back. Shiku dropped from the tall tree down onto Kano and pinned him to the ground.

"How many times do I have to drop you before you tell me what I want to know?" said Shiku. Kano spit on him, and then said:

"There's your answer," As Sektor clobbered him over the head. Kano walked slowly backwards into the shadows, without saying anything. Reptile and Sektor then squared off against the foreign soldier.

After easily defeating the two kombatants (lol), he found out much sooner than he thought about what happened in his hometown. Sektor respected the "technology" of Shiku's staff and its changing abilities, able to function as many weapons in one. He asked Shiku to join a new clan that was coming to rise, the Lin-Dragon (? cant think of a better name for merging Lin Kuei with Black Dragon) clan, an alliance of deadly warriors from different realms who would automate an entire army to rival Shao Kahns, and anyone elses. He also told Shiku they had abducted entire towns in order to automate them.

Shiku had learned what he needed. He jabbed his staff into Sektors throat and walked away without saying a word. He was in deeper than he thought...

The Tarkatan lunges blades first at Yaray. The flag makes another appearance, this time right through the beastly skull.

Yaray grabs the pointed metal hilt of the flag and pulls it out of the downed enemy. A centaur gallops past. He is now in the fray of the battle.

A figure dances on a pole while Tarkatans cheer and jeer and growl. This is the primary source of the 'Kombat' chanting. Centaurs and the blade warriors all seem to be circling this one spot.

The object of worship in the middle, the swaying form begins to reveal itself. It is crude, made from mud and twigs and looks like what Yaray can only describe as a unlit effigy. However, the most notable feature is the giant helmet that sits atop the scarecrow. Made from the skull of a very large monster, the spherical object is hollowed out and adorned with broken Tarkatan blades and sharpened bones from an unknown creature.

This helmet... Yaray can place this helmet even though he's never seen anything like it. He knows that it's tied to the Mortal Kombat tournament, and that the one who wears it is the initiator of the tournament. It is worn by the Emperor himself; the Emperor of Outworld.

Yaray gets his bearing just as a pair of Tarkatans approach from the north. They leap over the centaur they just eviscerated and charge forward.

One falls as his attack is sidestepped. The other finds his blades deflected by the post of a small, metal flag. The first gets up again resumes his attack only to find a white ball underfoot. The projectile sears his leg as he struggles to find his balance. The other screams in agony; the first barely has time to realize what has happened before his life is terminated.

The two speared Tarkatans fall to the ground. The one that is still alive struggles to break free but will not be able to. The nomadic creatures can only retract their blades when they have full control over their arms, that is to say when they aren't broken. And the blade from the bent back appendage skewered the owner's leg and then pierced the other Tarkatan's throat as the first one was grabbed and thrown.

Yaray surveys the chaos. He is now on the outskirts of the skirmish and only now are the two factions noticing his arrival. This chaos however, is rudimentary. It lacks the utter confusion of a stained glass window shattered from within. The Tarkatans and centaurs are too primitive for grand disorder.

On the opposite end, the strategy of the centaur attack was extremely sloppy, with very few coordinated attacks and no flanking opportunities. Yaray thinks more of this as he mounts one of the half-men, half-horse. A wicked energy forms from within and the centaur suddenly stops based on Yaray's whim. He jumps off as the force of the halt of momentum breaks both the front legs of his enemy.

An odd site greets him as he fends off a few more Tarkatans. 50 paces in front, by the evergoing ceremony by the unlit effigy, a warrior rides one of the horse-men consentually. This warrior is female, and surprisingly enough, of Tarkatan descent.

In that moment of distraction, Yaray feels a piercing sensation right through his chest. A blade now lies beneath his gaze and the brazen Tarkatan stands behing him.

Shiku goes to the Pit Bridge and lites up a fat "cigar" :P and wonders what he should do next. Seeming a bit overwhelmed, his emotions take over and he will rampage on whoever shows their face next, just to blow off some steam.

A fiery figure in armor of red appears on the other side of the pit and notices the lone warrior enjoying the....recreational drug....

"you there!, it isn't wise to travel alone. Are you a kombatant?"

"I travel alone through no choice of my own. I will show you how much of a kombatant I am. And Im really sorry for you if you are Lin Kuei, orr Black Dragon..

Just then a portal opens up behind the warrior, white blade pointed just behind his neck. "We are not Lin Kuei or Black Dragon. We are something far greater. We are the servants of Lord Shinnok and will serve as the harbingers of his coming. Do you wish to die? If so, continue your failed attack BOY!" yells Okorik, "However, I may decide to let your unpleasant insult go if you tell me one thing: what do you know of the one called Nirvana?"

"Die?" Says Shiku, "I could not be any more dead than I am now. I sense a phantom," Shiku says as he turns towards the warrior, letting the blade still touch his adams apple. "Death does not scare me, and I am a servant to no one. I know nothing of this Nirvana either ghost, so make your move...