The Messenger

The Temple of the Elder Gods had been carved dirrectly into stone. Aside from the shrine, which was a giant cavern, the other chambers, once inhabited by priests and monks, were rather small and interconnected by a twisted tunnel network. Torches were set up everywhere, and a thin smoke rested in the air, making it harder to breathe for someone who wasn't used to it. Overall, the place had a slight medieval air, which most people would have found attractive.

Then again, Johnny Cage wasn't 'most people'.

Over all, the movie star was having a terrible week. It had all started with a bunch of masked ninjas barging into his residence in Bel-Air and trashing everything, including some very valuable paintings, two Venetian crystals, and - this is what disturbed him the most - his awards shrine. He managed to beat them in the end - there were only five or six of them - but the villa that had once been his pride was ruined. Next off, his agent announced him that his part in a well-known TV series had been given to someone else, a fresmhan just arrived from Seattle that apparently had some connections with the director's daughter, he was to marry her or something. That really made him loose it, and he trashed his agent's office - and the agent himself - without thinking twice. He wanted to that in a long time. Afterwards, he stormed out of the building and, not looking where he was going, bumped into someone, lost his ballance and fell face-first in a puddle.

But that was only the beginning of things. Slowly climbing to his feet and cursing all the way, he looked up, ready to beat whoever he had bumped into senseless. Much to his surprise - and his unnerving - he found a very amused Rayden looking down on him. Without any other explaination, the god had teleported them to this temple.

The meeting with Sonya and Jax was a cold one: Jax said a vague 'Hello', instead of his usual 'Hey, man! What's shakin'?', and Sonya just shook his hand. There was no sign of Liu Kang or Kitana though.

The reason the god had brought them all there - as he was to find out later - was to announce the capture and death of princess Kitana, and the capture of Liu Kang. Also, the god known as Shinnok was preparing an invasion against the Earth Realm, and as far as the god could tell, things didn't look good at all. In conclusion, the warriors of Earth were to attend 'extensive training', so that they would be prepared if the invasion came.

Later that day, after a brief training session, Johnny met other fighters he didn't know of: Kai, about which he couldn't find out anything apart from the fact that he was - or had been, Johnny couldn't tell for sure - a member of the White Lotus society, Kung Lao, whom he had seen before in the Mortal Kombat tournaments, but never had a chance to speak to, and Fujin, Rayden's younger, skinnier brother, God of Winds. They were the Chosen Ones. Together, they had to defend the Earth Realm.

Defending the Earth had never been a problem with Johnny. On the contrary, the movie star was glad to be one of the Chosen Ones. The thing that bothered him in all this business was the Temple itself. In Johnny's oppinion, the only thing worse than this Temple was a cheap motel; but, whereas he could get out of a cheap hotel any time he wanted, this time he was stuck here. And that was not all.

There were lots of things Johnny didn't like. For instance, there weren't enough rooms for everyone. The term 'room', however, was used here in a more general meaning, as each 'room' was a small cavern, and there were no doors, no windows, no furniture etc. Sure, there were plenty of caverns, but according to Rayden they were 'booked', as the god had stated with a cherish smile, for various deities. Over and all, Johnny had ended up buned up with Jax, and that was definately a good thing,

Sure, Johnny had nothing against Jax. On the contrary, over the time he had come to like the major. But being bunked with someone, and in a cavern that was barely big enough for one man to stand, was not something the movie star was used to. And Jax had changed a great deal; before, he used to pass over everything with a joke and a smile; now, he hardly ever spoke at all. In fact, nobody had been very talkative lately, and Johnny suspected it was simply because of Kitana's death and Liu's capture, which was perfectly understandable. Still, Johnny was feeling more and more lonely every day.

And then there was the training. Johnny had never felt more exhaused in his entire life like he did after the first day of training. Before this he had thought himself to be really good; this time, nearly everyone had beaten him, and this made Rayden put him through twice more training than the others. At the end of a day, Johnny would practivally collapse on the sleeping bag in his 'room' and fall asleep almost instantly, not minding the rocky spikes that went through the old sleeping bag here and there.

Right now, for once, Johnny was doing serious efforts to go to sleep. He felt dead-tired; still, the load of events that had happened over the day was filling his mind with tons of questions, and for more than half of them he couldn't find an answer at all.

Johnny heard Jax turn around in his sleeping bag and sigh. "Jax? You awake?" he inquired in a low voice.

"Yeah, man", came the answer, just as faint. "Can't sleep."

"Me neither." Johnny turned to glare at Jax. "Hey. Don't you think Rayden has been hiding a little bit too many things lately?"

Jax glared back. "Whaddya mean?"

"Well-" Johnny rose on one elbow and sought a more confortable position "-first of all, he forgot to tell us how come, all of the sudden, he just teleported away, according to Fujin, and got back a few hours after with a half-dead Liu Kang and a killer-looking babe. Second, he didn't tell us why the girl had on the back of her outfit the very same symbol general Reiko does."

"A prisoner?" Jax hazarded.

"Yeah, I'll bet. A prisoner doesn't receive that kind of treatment."

Jax obviously wasn't in his best mental shape. "What kind?"

"Well, Rayden gave her a private 'cave'-" Jax grinned a bit at this "-and asked Fujin to watch over her."

"Maybe she's a special prisoner", Jax tried again. "I mean, a deity of some sort."

"You'd think a deity requires more attention", Johnny muttered.

"Yeah, but I've seen her, too, though it was just barely. She was just a kid, no more than seventeen or eighteen."

"Looks can be deceiving", Johnny stated, matter-of-factly. "Remember Kitana..."

Suddenly, Johnny trailed off, and Jax's face darkened.

"Sorry..." Johnny had no idea what else he could say, but just then, a movement caught his eye, and he turned around just in time to see a shadow pass in front of the entrance to their 'room'. He was going to say something, but Jax shushed precautiosly.

"Itt was the girl", the major whispered. "I'm sure of it."

Johnny glanced at his fluorescent watch. "What the heck is she doing awake at this time of night?"

"Needed some fresh air?" Jax tried.

"Fresh air my foot. I'm going after her."

"Don't do anything stupid", Jax warned him. "Remember, she may be one of Rayden's guests or whatever, and then you'd be in serious trouble."

"Don't worry". With that, Johnny got up and silently left the room. Jax sighed, then took a magazine out of the rucksack he was using as a pillow and turned the first page. Affairs of the immortals were one thing he wasn't interested in.

~

Diva smiled to herself. Moments before, she had easily managed to sneak past Kai, who was on guard at a turn. She was slowly recalling the way to the entrance, and muttering to herself as she did so, "Okay. So, I must turn left here... then left again... then there was this statue... ah, there it is..." Suddenly, she heard the noise of approaching footsteps, and she drew herself closer to the wall. Sonya Blade came out of a lateral corridor and looked around. Diva's heart froze. She could tell that the liutenant wasn't very found of her, and an encounter in such circumstances would do nothing to get things better. Fortunately, Sonya didn't seem to notice her, and after a few seconds, she moved on. Diva heaved a little sigh and went on.

~

Johnny was seriously starting to think that going after Diva hadn't been such a good idea. He was wearing only his pijamas, and he was beginning to feel chilly. Stepping on something sharp, he whimpered a little, then cursed in a low voice. This had definately not been a good idea. With thoughts like this, he went on, careful not to loose trace of the deity. Taking a turn, he all but bumped into Sonya. The liutenant gave him a sharp look.

"What are you doing awake at this hour, Cage?"

Johnny forced out a little smile. "What's it to you? Do you finally admit that you're interested in me?"

Sonya rolled her eyes. "You are so immature. I wonder whether you will ever grow up."

"Well, in that case, I'll be going." Johnny thought that if he hurried he could still catch up with Diva, and he started down the corridor again, when Sonya placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"What are you up to?" she asked in a cold voice.

"If you must know-" Johnny quickly looked for a way out of this situation. The solution popped into his mind almost instantly, and he chuckled mentally as he assumed a serious expression "-I'm just going to watch the stars."

Sonya raised an eyebrow. "Really."

"Yeah. I've always had this thing for astronomy and all. But don't tell, okay?" The movie star put on an 'irresistible' smile, and, for once, the figure seemed to work.

"Okay, Johnny. If you say so."

There was a moment of silence, then Sonya's shoulders straightened up. "Gotta go. Be seeing you."

"Yeah. Bye."

Johnny waited until she was out of sight, then raced down the corridor, hoping he hadn't missed anything. A few minutes after, he had to stop and lean against a wall, panting for breath. The effects of the rough training were starting to show.

A cold breeze reached him, and he realized that he had reached the exit. There was no sign of Diva. Sighing, he started towards the exit. He hadn't lied to Sonya after all; he did have a passion for watching the stars, so, if he was there, he might as well have gone out a bit.

The tunnel lead to a gigantic rock platform, from which the endless desert could be seen stretching in all directions. It was cold, and Johnny shivered as he advanced towards the steep ending of the platform. There was a rock there - not too big, but enough for him to sit on. He had been there a few times, and he had come to like it. He approached the place where he knew the rock was, but came to a sudden stop and squinted. Someone else was already sitting there.

~

Diva sighed and buried her face in her hands. The events had taken a very unexpected turn, and she did her best to shake off the increasing feeling of insecurity that was creeping over her. Not more than a fortnight ago, she considered the Earth realm warriors her enemies - and now, she was one of them.

But was she? This question came into her mind again, and again she couldn't find an answer to it. She had no idea if the other fighters saw her for a friend or for an enemy. Come to think of it, she hadn't have much time to know them yet, but she could tell, by the looks they gave her, that they were at least suspicious about her, and all this didn't go well with the thought that these were the people alongside she was going to fight from now on.

After all, she was really short of alternatives. She had thought for a moment of going back to Eccelsia - after all, it was her home Realm - but then realised that her presence there would only have put the realm in danger. And, besides that, she no longer had her powers. It had taken her a while to get used to the thought, and even now she wasn't accustomed to this. How else could she get there? By asking Rayden? Faint hopes. After all, even though he had been friendly to her, he still showed a slight lack of trust. It probably had something to do with the fact that Liu hadn't been able to utter anything coherent as in to explain what had happened, yet Rayden was starting to put things together.

Suddenly, Diva felt a presence behind her, and instantly jumped to her feet and took a defensive stance. "Who's there?" she demanded in a harsh voice, and only now she realised that she had tears running down her face. "Damnit", she cursed under her breath.

"Uhm, it's... Johnny."

"Johnny...?"

"Johnny Cage", the movie star tried again. "One of Liu's best pals."

"Oh... Yeah, I recall him telling me about you." Diva frowned a bit. "What are you doing here at this time of night?"

Johnny smiled irresistibly. "Well, what are you doing here at this time of night?"

"I asked you first."

Johnny was taken aback. "Well, I was... following you."

"Oh." Diva frowned even more. "You don't trust me."

"No, it's not that, it's-it's... just... that..." Johnny swore under his breath. "Look. It's my business what I'm doing here, and you're standing on my rock."

"Oh yeah? I don't see your name on it!"

Johnny spread his arms wide in a gesture of mocking despairation. "All right, I can see Liu taught you some stuff. In that case, I'll just--"

The rest of Johnny's phrase was cut off by a sudden scream which emerged from the corridor. Both Diva and Johnny started up.

"That doesn't sound too good", Johnny said as he rushed off, with Diva hot on his heels.

~

Sonya grabbed the masked ninja's arm and twisted it until she heard a scream. Reacting with surprising speed, the ninja spun around and swept Sonya's knee, sending them both crashing down. But Sonya knew how to deal with this, and the ninja seemed to be a freshman, so the liutenent just applied a classic manouver: she quickly rolled over the ninja, grabbed his other arm and pinned him down. In a glimpse, she noticed he had the same sign on his back as Diva and Reiko.

"Who sent you?" Sonya inquired. "Talk!"

The ninja gasped. "I'm... I'm here to... to see... princess... Diva!"

Sonya thought she had misheard. "What?"

"You... heard what I said! I come... on behalf of General Reiko! Let... let me go!"

"In your dreams", Sonya muttered. She yanked the ninja to his feet and pushed him against a wall. "Look. I don't buy a thing you're saying. You're just a spy, and you'll get just what you--"

"Sonya!"

The liutenant turned her head a bit and saw Diva and Johnny, who were rushing towards her.

"Let him go!"

Sonya chuckled ironically. "Yeah, sure I will. Not."

Diva flared. "I command you!"

"Well , you're in no position to command anyone around here. Traitor."

"What?" Diva remembered all too late that she had no powers. She raised her hands in a common gesture, but nothing happened. Sighing in frustration, she started to walk towards the liutenant, but Sonya promptly placed a gun to the ninja's head.

"Take one more step", she dared, "and this guy's history."

"You don't understand--"

"Shut up." Everyone could hear the distinct click of a bullet being loaded into the barrel, and the ninja stopped in mid-sentence.

"At least let's listen to what he has to say", Johnny tried. It was the fist time he got to say something, but only a moment after he wished he didn't.

"What are you talking about, Cage? This man is a living proof that this Diva has been lying to us, and she's nothing but one of Shinnok's spies!"

This was the last straw. With a fierce cry, Diva lunged forward and, in a swift move, kicked Sonya's hand which was holding the gun. Sonya pulled the trigger, and Diva pulled back abruptly, a thin trail of blood running down her left arm. The same instant, the ninja kicked Sonya in the face, sending her on the floor. She was about to react to this, when all of the sudden, Fujin appeared between her and the deity.

"What's going on here?" the god demanded.

"I'll tell you what's going on! She's a traitor!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"I have a message--"

"Stop!" Fujin shook his head. "You're not making any sense at all, let's try it one at a time. Sonya?"

Sonya growled. "I caught him-" she pointed to the ninja "-snooping around here, saying that he has a message for her-" she made a gesture towards Diva. "Which is proof enough that she has been working for Shinnok all along."

"Let's not jump to conclusions." Fujin made an inviting gesture. "Diva?"

"I have no idea what she's talking about." Diva was talking through gritted teeth, trying to hold back the pain from her arm. "He doesn't work for Shinnok", she said, pointing towards the ninja. "He's part of Reiko's clan."

"I knew it! You admit it!"

"It's not the same thing!"

"Yes it is! Reiko is working for Shinnok, so this guy here is working for Shinnok as well!"

"Enough!" Fujin shouted. "Diva, what do you mean? Doesn't Reiko work for Shinnok?"

Diva frowned. "Well, he's... I... I can't tell you."

"Great", Sonya muttered.

"And why is that?" Fujin inquired, shooting a look towards Sonya.

"It's a long story. Look. Isn't the fact that I helped Liu Kang escape - and risked an entire realm for it - evidence enough that I'm not against you?"

"How do we know that wasn't one of Shinnok's plans?" Sonya inquired.

"Oh yeah? Well how do we know you're not working for Shinnok then?"

"That's preposterous!"

"See? That's what I mean!"

Once again, Fujin restored silence. "All right. I think it's fair we give him a chance to speak, too."

The ninja straightened up. "Princess Diva, Shinnok has attacked the Realm of Eccelsia."

Diva's face went pale in an instant. "What?"

"I just learned it the other day. Nobody saw it coming. Shinnok took as many souls as he could. The survivors fled to the caves, but they don't stand a chance."

Diva leaned against a wall, and Johnny rushed to support her. A tense moment of silence followed, until Fujin finally spoke.

"I don't understand a thing in all this," he confessed. "Sonya, Johnny, you can go back to your duties. Diva, you and him are coming with me."

"But-" Sonya started. Fujin frowned. "Okay. But I still think you're making a mistake."

Fujin nodded absently, and then, with a gesture, teleported all three of them away.

~

Fujin's 'room' was just slightly bigger than the one Johnny and Jax had. The god motioned for the two to sit down on a wide fur settled on the floor, then he sat down as well. He noticed that Diva was yet paler and he frowned.

"You better let me take a look at that", he suggested.

"I'm fine", Diva replied harshly.

"No you're not." The god sighed. "Look, we trust you, all right? Sounds fair that you trust us as well."

Diva started to get up, but Fujin shook his head and he approached her. "I can heal it", he stated, placing a hand over the wound. "All right..."

His hand began to glow, and the wound slowly closed. The god smiled, pleased with himself, and he took back his seat. "Feeling better?" he inquired.

"Yes, slightly." Diva rubbed her forehead. "Um, thanks."

"You're welcome." Suddenly, Fujin assumed a stern expression. "I know a few facts of the Realm of Eccelsia. What's your connection with it?"

"I-"

"You have to trust us", Fujin repeated. "The only way we can help you is if you let us know what's going on."

Diva heaved a great sigh. "All right, Fujin. It's like this..."

~

The more Fujin learned, the more confused he was. He waited patiently until Diva finished her story, then he spoke. "So Reiko is the Protector of Eccelsia. Should've known", he muttered under his breath. "But I thought Xcimiti was the deity of Eccelsia", he continued loudly.

"So it appears, yes. But Reiko is the true God."

"Yes, I understood that." Fujin turned to the ninja. "How many survivors are there left?"

"A few thousands, at most", he replied.

Diva gasped. A few thousands, out of the few millions there were in her Realm!

Fujin's face was grim. "Eccelsia is a great Realm", he stated. "And a friend to the realm of Earth. We will join forces with the Eccelsians - that, if you wish to", he said, turning to Diva.

Diva sighed, as if a great weight had just been lifted off her shoulders. "I am grateful, Lord Fujin. Thank you."

"Just call me Fujin", the god said, forcing out a smile. "As for you-" he turned to the ninja "-what will you do?"

"I must go back to the General with the Princess' answer."

Diva straightened up. "Tell Reiko-" Her voice shook a little, but she regained composure "-that the gods of Earth will help us. And..." Suddenly, a thought dawned on her. "Now that Shinnok is attacking, he could... join us now, right?"

The ninja shook his head. "I don't know."

Diva gritted his teeth. "All right then. You must leave now?"

"The sooner, the better."

Diva stood up, and the ninja did as well. "Tell Reiko that I will defend Eccelsia myself. Shinnok will not win."

The ninja bowed, and then opened a portal and stepped through it.

Diva leaned against a wall abruptly and sobbed once, then regained composure at once. "Excuse me, I..."

"It's all right. You go get some rest now." Fujin was talking now in a protective, almost parental tone. "You've had a rough day. I'll take you to your room."

Diva was ready to say, 'I can manage', but thought better of it and nodded. Fujin took her arm, and both teleported to Diva's 'room'.

"Try to sleep", Fujin suggested. "You'll feel better in the morning."

Then, he turned and exited. "I can't wait until Rayden heard the news", he mused to himself. "Boy, will he be surprised."

"Be surprised of what?" Fujin started up as his older brother suddenly appeared in front of him. "Why do I get the feeling that I just missed something big?"

Fujin sighed. "You won't believe this..."

Rayden smiled, and his eyes glowed with electricity. "Try me."

~

All fighters were gathered together outside the Temple. Rayden looked around and smiled to himself; then, his voice echoed all across the stone platform.

"Hear me, Chosen Ones. The forces of darkness have striken a fellow Realm. We must come to the aid of it, and thus gain another ally in our war. If we remain idle, Shinnok will gather even more souls, and his powers will grow yet stronger. If there is anyone who feels differend, speak now."

There was a brief moment of silence. Rayden smiled to himself.

"All right then. Let's get them!"

Behind the god, a portal began to swirl. One by one, the warriors steppted though.

The war had begun.