As the Dragonfly decreased in altitude, in the distance, I could see what appeared to be a fire burning in the middle of the forest.

"That's our camp," Liu told me.

Moments later, the Dragonfly landed right where the fire was. Surrounding it were five tents made from what appeared to be the hides of various Outworld wildlife. Sitting right by it were Johnny Cage, who I instantly recognized. I've seen some of his movies, and unlike Cyrax, I think they're pretty decent, but could be better if he wasn't such a show-off. He wore black pants with a blue trim and blue waistline, blue shinguards, blue wristbands, and a pair of sunglasses. What the hell was he thinking wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night? The fire is nowhere near bright enough to blind his sight by just looking at it.

The other two, I did not recognize. One of them wore traditional chinese garb, only the shirt was short-sleeved, and he wore a hat with a chinstrap on it. His hat had a steel-bladed brim on it. He had short black hair. The other is an African-American man with a crew cut, a pair of steel wristbands, black pants with a red and white trim on it, a belt with pouches on it, and a pair of military combat boots. He had an extremely muscular build.

"That," Liu Kang said, pointing to the black man, "is Major Jackson Briggs, otherwise known as 'Jax'." Liu then shifted his finger to the man in the bladed hat. "That is Kung Lao."

"And I recognize him," I broke in, pointing to the third man. "Johnny Cage. I've seen a few of his movies. They're okay, but could be better." I turned to face Kung Lao. "I heard you're the decendant of the warrior of the same name who defeated Shang Tsung centuries ago. You must have quite a legacy to carry."

"And your uniform looks like that of someone I know!" Jax cut in.

"Speak his name," is all I told him.

"Tremor!"

"So I take it you've dealt with either the Lin Kuei or the Black Dragon before," I told Jax.

"The latter!", was his response.

"He was once in my clan before he joined that horrible Black Dragon. Care to hear it?", I asked.

"AWWW, YEAH!", Jax said with excitement.

First, I told how he betrayed the Lin Kuei and joined the Black Dragon. Long story short, what happened was, about fifteen years ago, we caught wind of a drug trade going from Afghanistan to Japan, and the route crossed through Lin Kuei territory. We sent Tremor and a few other Lin Kuei to stop them in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal. It was my brother's very first mission with the Lin Kuei. We did succeed in stopping their vehicle. However, as soon as they started opening fire upon us, Tremor betrayed us. He literally stabbed one Lin Kuei in the back with a knife, in both kidneys. As soon as the rest of the Lin Kuei began to attack him, he caused a massive avalanche that crushed the all of them...all but one, that is.

The only Lin Kuei to witness Tremor's betrayal and live to tell about it...was my brother. It still pisses me off to no end! I lost my older brother to an undead Shirai Ryu, who simply returned from the pits of Hell to seek vengeance for his own death. That, I can understand. Now that I think about it, at least it's better than losing him to a fellow Lin Kuei who LITERALLY stabbed one of our own in the back, and figuratively did the same to the rest of our clan by doing so! And had my brother died, we would've falsely thought Tremor to be DEAD! But we were fortunate, myself especially, that he survived, and we know the truth about him because of it. And he joined the Black Dragon.

Next, Jax told his story. His story explained why we suddenly had no clues as to Tremor's wherabouts. He had been arrested, tried, and convicted of drug trafficking and murder. He told me he made the bust off-duty, which got him promoted to Major. He also explained the jailbreak six months after his arrest, which explained the sudden rise in new info about his wherabouts, which was quickly halted within about a week.

As soon as he told me about an empty jail cell one morning, as well as blood staining the cell, I explained what happened. We had suddenly found that he was in jail, our perfect opportunity to punish him for his betrayal. And it was my brother who killed him.

"I can pretty much guess why Kung Lao, Liu Kang, and Jax are here...but what about Cage?"

"Well, I received an invitation to compete in a martial arts tournament called 'Mortal Kombat'. And even though I welcomed the Paparazzi unlike most other celebrities, I started to become fed up with them, not because of unwelcome photography, but because they were simply dumbasses. They were reporting to these tabloids that I was a fake, and my martial arts were all the result of 'special effects'. I entered the tournament to prove those dumbasses wrong. If only I had any clue what I was getting myself into...but I wouldn't have given a flying fuck anyway."

"Cocky bastard! No wonder someone in my clan thinks your movies suck so damn much!"

"Then send him my regards," he said with his usual cocky smile on his face.

"Your martial arts skills are genuine. I'll give you that. That's the pro of your movies, but the con is that you try so damn hard to look cool and shit, and it's no wonder the press thinks you're a fake! Take my advice, and just tell the press that they can write whatever the hell they want to about you, and to fuck right off! Also, stop showing off so damn much! Your skills are genuine, but the way they look onscreen is fake." Cage just sat down and didn't say another word about it. Apparently, he knew I was right, but he was in denial. Typical movie star attitude right there.

"And Jax, I suppose your reason for being here involves the Special Forces and the Black Dragon, particularly Sonya and Kano. Am I right?"

"HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GUESS?!" he shouted.

"Who told me about that, you'll find out soon enough," is all I said before dead silence filled our camp.

"So all of Earthrealm's warriors chosen to represent their realm are finally here now," Raiden spoke out of nowhere. We all turned to face him.

"ALL of us? There's only five of us, Raiden!", I protested.

"SIX of us representing Earthrealm, Sub-Zero!", Raiden corrected me. "Six of us...including myself!" Raiden's competing in Shao Kahn's tournament? Why didn't I even take that possibility into consideration? "And there's a possibility of more help coming to us from this very realm!", the Thunder God added.

"More help? They must really be bold to assist us, knowing that Shao Kahn would execute them, whoever they are...or maybe, whoever he or she is," Cage cut in.

"She knows that, but she has a more...personal grudge against the Emperor."

"She? Who is it?", Cage asked.

"I'm not telling. You'll find out when it happens." Sometimes, the Thunder God can be so vague. "And stop worrying about who this "help from this realm" is, and start worrying about the coming tournament, itself!"

Cage said nothing more. He knows that Raiden is right, and so do the rest of us.

"Now get to your tents! I must remind you that you are all still in the Outworld wilderness, so I will stand guard here, in case our camp gets attacked, so don't even try anything funny!" I watched as everyone else got into their tents.

Looks like the one between Jax's and Johnny Cage's is mine, I thought.

And I swear, these were the worst of sleeping conditions. We're sleeping here inside tents made from the skins of Outworld animals, which are pretty rough on our own skins. These blankets we have to use, according to Liu, are from the hides of some species called the Centaurians...I felt so itchy sleeping in that. We had to sleep on solid ground, and we had to make our own pillows out of leaves, and they were not comfortable at all.

The next morning, I was the first one up. As soon as I left my tent, I saw the bodies that weren't there earlier. Their faces had weird wrinkles to them. Their teeth were like claws made of cold hard steel. And some of them even had blades coming from out of their forearms. All of which were dead.

"Remember when I told you, 'Beware the Tarkata'?", Raiden asked out of nowhere. I turned behind me and saw him standing there.

"God dammit, Raiden, you ALWAYS sneak up on me like that! And yes, I remember your warning as clear as glass!"

"The bodies that litter this campsite are the bodies I warned you about. This is why I said I'd stand guard. This forest is home to hordes of Tarkata. They are a vicious race of mutants, a hybrid of Netherealm demons and Outworld humans." They sure looked like demons to me. I scratched my head.

Liu was the next one up. "Looks like you had your work cut out for you, Lord Raiden." The Thunder God nodded.

"Liu..."

He turned to me.

"You're not the only one worried. Just remain focused," he told me.

Next one up was Kung Lao. "Another morning, another horde of Tarkata we have to bury," he said as he came out of his tent, putting his hat on.

"This happened every night since you guys came to Outworld?", I asked. He nodded.

"Unfortunately, we don't have time to bury them this time," Raiden pointed out.

Jax got up next, and Cage soon followed, putting on his sunglasses as he left his tent.

"So, looks like everyone's up?", Raiden asked. We all nodded. "Good. We leave right now. This time, however, we leave by foot. We will first cross the Living Forest. Beware the trees there."

"Living Forest," I said under my breath. This doesn't look good. I put my mask on at that point.

"There's no turning back now," Liu told us. "Just stay focused at all times."

"And don't get cocky this time!", Kung Lao cut in, looking to Cage's direction. "Last time, your cockiness almost cost us the battle with those God damn Tarkatans!", Jax added.

"This coming from a man who just LOVES to show off his muscles in battle," Cage rebutted.

"'Least I know how to USE my muscles in battle! That's the difference!"

Next thing I know, I see Johnny Cage and Jax getting in each other's faces, exchanging words.

Raiden blasted both of them with a small streak of lightning, pushing both of them back.

"This is no time to start picking fights with each other! In fact, the Emperor may very well pit us against each other, so you two need to just grow up!" Both of them looked to Raiden, then to each other.

"Sorry, dude," Cage apologized.

"It's cool, man." The two shook hands with their right hands and embraced with their left arms during the handshake. "But you really do need to keep your ego in check. Take my advice: If you're gonna talk a bunch of shit before or during a fight, then you need to back it up, sucka, or your words don't mean shit! This ain't Hollywood no more!"

"I'll keep that in mind, Major!"

Raiden took a step forward. "Then we leave now. No time to disassemble our tents. Shao Kahn's palace awaits us. It's really not far from here, but be prepared to fight along the way." All of us nodded.

And so began our trek through the treacherous plains of Outworld. I had a feeling we'd be attacked along the way.