Upon leaving the Living Forest, we entered what appeared to be a ghost town.

I saw the bones of so many rotted corpses, I literally lost count after seeing about ten of them. The sky looked purple and a few shades of reddish orange. The air appeared to be VERY polluted. I couldn't stand the smell of the air.

"This must be the Wastelands of Outworld," Liu pointed out.

There's no way Liu could be wrong. The damn place even looked like a wasteland.

In the distance, I heard what sounded like horse sounds, as well as earth-shattering roars.

"I wonder what that could be," I spoke under my breath. I had no idea I'd be overheard.

"What you are hearing is a dispute...a rather fierce one, at that," Raiden spoke. Now I began catching onto his behavior.

"Care to fill us in?", I asked, this time, without turning around.

"Proceed forward, and see for yourself. I'll fill you in then."

We continued onward, but Raiden interrupted, "Also, these Wastelands are native ground of the Tarkata."

"Then why did some of them live in the forest we camped at, and the Living Forest," asked Cage.

"The Tarkata are a very nomadic race. They travel quite often. And you all are fortunate there are no Tarkata in the Wastelands right now," was Raiden's response, holding his staff firmly as usual.

With that, we proceeded, but as we did, the sounds we heard in the distance got louder and louder. Apparently, we were approaching whatever bickering was going on that Raiden talked about.

Suddenly, we stop, and see about four of the "Centaurians" Raiden told us about. They had the upper body of a human, but their body from the waist down is that of a horse from the neck down. They had the horns of rams, and they had claws coming out of their elbows.

Right in front of them are about four muscular men, who have four arms, three fingers on each hand, and two toes on each foot. Their eyes are red, and they each have black hair. Some of them had goatees.

"YOU KEEP YOUR DIRTY HOOVES OFF OUR LAND, HORSIES!", shouted one of the four-armed guys.

"THEN YOU GET YOUR FOUR-ARMED ASSES OFF OF OURS!", shouted one of the Centaurians.

"WE'RE ON YOUR LAND BECAUSE YOUR GLUE-FACTORY-BOUND ASSES ARE ON OURS!", spat another of the four-armed guys.

"YOU SHOKAN ARE ALL THE SAME; JUST SO DAMN PROUD OF YOURSELVES AND YOUR BRUTE STRENGTH! YOU KNOW DAMN WELL THAT'S WHY YOUR PRINCE DIED!", another Centaurian rebutted.

"DO NOT SPEAK OF THE PRINCE OF THE SHOKAN RACE LIKE THAT, HORSIE!", shouted another of the "Shokan", as they were called.

"And I thought for one second all Outworld natives were on the same side," I whispered to Liu.

"Apparently not," he whispered back.

"The Shokan and the Centaur," Raiden spoke once again. "Two races who have been dueling for centuries over which race is superior."

"What caused it," I asked the Thunder God.

"Not even I know that one. My only possible conclusion I can come up with is that both races are natural enemies to each other," Raiden explained. "However, the Centaur did revere Goro as a hero of Outworld, as did every other person on this realm, which tamed the rivalry of the two races. When Goro was defeated, he was believed dead. His body was never found, and the Centaur blamed it on the Shokan, which only fueled their rivalry more."

"I overheard the two races saying something about 'taking control of the others' land'. Has this rivalry escalated to war?", I asked Raiden.

"Not yet, but it's only a matter of time before it does," he pointed out.

"So it's no different from our realm after all," Liu said. "People still fight wars against each other on Outworld."

"And I don't think any of us are good at diplomacy...so it's best that we continue onward."

Before I knew it, one of the Shokan punched one of the Centaur right in the face with BOTH right fists. A bloody fight ensued.

The Centaur who was punched responded by turning on his front hooves, and kicking the Shokan that punched him in the face with his rear hooves.

Suddenly, all the Centaur and all the Shokan present jumped in and started beating the crap out of each other. I don't even remember the details of the the rest of the fight. All I remember is the blood that spilled during the fight.

Suddenly, all parties involved were zapped by Raiden's lightning. Both races were about ready to charge at Raiden, but the Thunder God gave had that look in his eyes that was enough to intimidate even them.

"I thought so...War has ravaged this realm for thousands of years, and your races are only continuing it!" The Shokan and Centaur instantly retreated. It's obvious that Raiden didn't need to say any more.

"When Raiden speaks...," Liu said, "...people listen."

"I have a bad feeling about this place."

"Indeed, you should, Cage," Raiden replied. "Just a bit further down that way," he said, pointing his staff in the direction we've been traveling, "is when we enter civilization. Liu, expect enemies...as well as admirers. Not everyone in Outworld is on Shao Kahn's side."

From this point on, I had a strange feeling we were being followed. We continued onward. Out of Outworld's wastelands.