"Welcome." a voice greeted "to the Mortal Kombat tournament."

The voice came from the sorcerer Shang Tsung, the overseer and host of the tournament.

"You have each been chosen to participate in this tournament to defend your realm from being merged into Outworld by Emperor Shao Kahn." He explained, which everyone present was already aware of. "As the current Mortal Kombat champion Goro is on the verge of his tenth consecutive victory, Earthrrealm is on the verge of peril. I wish you all luck." Then more bitterly he said, "You will need it."

"Blah, blah, blah." Chimed the voice of the actor Johnny Cage. "You just don't stop talking do you old dude, I'm not interested in your role-playing." He said oblivious to the genuine danger of the tournament.

"How rich coming from the... obnoxious Mr. Cage." Shang Tsung stated, being careful about his choice of words. "I suppose we shall begin with you, Mr. Cage, versus the leader of Tarkata, Baraka!" He announced as Baraka emerged from the crowd.

The actor was still clueless that Baraka was genuinely a specimen of a race called Tarkatan, a crossbreed of both human and demon. Johnny Cage just believed his sharp and enormous teeth were makeup. Cage flinched as the Tarkatan suddenly drew a blade from each of his arms.

"Fight!" Yelled the sorcerer.

To no surprise, the actor quickly lost to Baraka. In fairness, Cage got the first hit which was a spinning heel kick to the jaw of the Tarkatan, however that only enraged Baraka. Cage quickly learnt that Baraka's blades were real, and Baraka now had intentions of showing him that his teeth were also real.

"Finish him!" Shang Tsung demanded.

Baraka didn't hesitate, he scooped up a stunned Johnny Cage and stabbed him with one of his blades, Baraka then went to sink his teeth into Johnny's 'money maker' before being interrupted by a member of the Special Forces military, Sonya Blade.

Sonya blasted a pair of pink coloured energy rings that knocked Baraka over. Sonya Blade was not actually a part of the tournament, or she at least had no intentions of doing so. She had made her appearance because her fellow Special Forces member Jackson Briggs had been imprisoned on Shang Tsung's island. "You can't just murder him!" Sonya shouted, enforcing the law despite being in the mix of this tournament.

Baraka got back to his feet and snarled at the girl, preparing to attack her, only for Shang Tsung to interrupt. "The fight has ended." Disappointed, Shang Tsung sighed "and the moment for a fatality has passed. The tournament must proceed, Baraka has advanced."

Baraka stormed off, irritated that he could not kill Cage. Johnny got to his feet and thanked Sonya and despite his embarrassing performance he still attempted to hit on Sonya by mustering the words "Nice uniform." which Sonya responded with a noise of disgust as she zipped up her jacket making sure she was completely covered up.

As a pair of masked guards were taking Sonya away from the courtyard Raiden, The Thunder God interrupted them "Sonya Blade." He said "May I inquire you about why you saved Johnny Cage from death?" He asked, clearly surprised as interference was against the rules of the tournament.

"Look I don't have the time for this, I have to find my friend." She responded angrily.

Raiden acknowledged that she had other intentions than participating in the tournament. He wanted to inquire more, but she was already being escorted out of the courtyard by a pair of masked guards.

Raiden then turned to his protégé Liu Kang whom The White Lotus had chosen to represent their clan in the tournament "I believe you will be competing next, Liu Kang." Raiden informed him after noticing an assassin being executed after losing to a woman with red hair who appeared to posses blood power. Liu Kang nodded, confident that he would win his upcoming battle.

"Shang Tsung, I demand another challenger!" The woman yelled. Shang Tsung knew that she was too dangerous to continue massacring opponents as her powers would grow upon every kill she obtained, every pint of blood she consumed. Tsung knew about her nature because Shao Kahn himself had in fact created her and had informed the sorcerer all about her. Shao Kahn called her Skarlet and her purpose was to assure Earthrealm's failure in this tournament.

"You will not have another challenger." He said "Not yet." He added. Shang Tsung had only made her fight to analyse if she was a reliable enforcer for him, she did in fact impress. Skarlet calmed herself and stepped back to join her fellow Kombatants. Liu Kang then eagerly stepped forward to face an opponent chosen by Shang Tsung.

Before Shang addressed Liu Kang, he gestured to a female assassin who stood to his left. "Liu Kang, your opponent will be the assassin princess, Kitana!" He announced.

The assassin wasted no time attacking Liu Kang, Shang Tsung hadn't even signalled for them to fight yet. She started throwing kicks, determined to defeat the Shaolin. Liu Kang staggered back before throwing some kicks of his own. Liu Kang leapt into the air and began throwing bicycle kicks into the chest of Kitana. Kitana fell but swiftly returned to her feet, only to suffer a diving kick from Liu Kang, his foot alit.

Kitana flew into a wall of the courtyard. She collapsed to the floor. She was becoming annoyed. Kitana once again climbed to her feet, and now she began wildly swinging her fan-shaped blades. However, these thoughtless attacks left her vulnerable and Liu Kang disarmed her with ease. Liu Kang then once again knocked her to the floor.

"Argh!" Kitana cried through her face mask, annoyed. However, this time Kitana didn't get back to her feet, instead she remained lying on her knees.

"Given up?" Liu Kang asked in which Kitana nodded in response, Liu Kang then offered her a hand which Kitana reluctantly accepted.

"You aren't... killing me?" She asked, confused.

"Of course not!" Liu Kang responded.

"Enough conversing!" The sorcerer chimed in, "You must fight!" He stated.

"We just did and the fight also just finished." Liu Kang explained.

Shang Tsung scoffed "You call that a finisher?!" He then turned to Kitana "Shao Kahn will not be pleased when I inform him of your performance princess." He said coldly. "You're all dismissed for now. The tournament will proceed tonight!" He announced before walking away.

As the crowd departed Raiden approached Liu Kang to congratulate him "Well done Liu Kang, your performance was flawless." He complimented.

"Thank you Lord Raiden, it means a lot coming from yourself." Liu Kang turned to Kitana. "You did great too." He said. Kitana appreciated the compliment however she didn't express gratitude, instead she turned away from Liu Kang.

"You must prepare for your next challenge, there is no doubt in my mind that Shang Tsung will do anything he can to prevent you from advancing further." He had Shang Tsung and Liu Kang's previous interaction analysed.

"I will not fail you Lord Raiden."