In the outskirts of Japan, the moon shined brightly along with the billions of stars around it. A lone corporate warehouse stood in the middle of nowhere. Within the walls, one would be amazed to find that there was a hotel-like pool area. A large pool covered most of the ground, which was made out of bricks. Countless of lawn chairs surrounded the edges with little tables in between each one. Fake palm trees were placed in various area and nearby were a few Jacuzzis ready to be used.

On one of the lawn chairs, an older man laid there, enjoying the peace and quiet that surrounded the area. He wore a single black speedo and was well built for a man his age. His hair was a light gray, nearly white, which was styled in an odd way. He was bald on top, and what was left of his hair was gelled sideways giving it almost a devil look.

The older man was in deep thought, almost forgetting where he was. ‘My son is dead,’ he thought blankly. ‘But Kazuya was always worthless.’

This man was known as Heihachi Mishima, the current leader of the financial group, The Mishima Zaibatsu. He was a type of man who thirst for power and most people were afraid of him. Very few have stood up against him, but all it ended with was the same fate. That included his only son Kazuya Mishima, whom he had killed a while back during a tournament they both attended. Kazuya was out to destroy the organization in order to free himself from the ‘devil gene,’ in which he had sold his soul to the Devil years ago. Heihachi believed that he had merely defended the Zaibatsu by killing his own son.

Most parents would grieve in the aftermath…but for many years, it was known that Heihachi had no heart for anyone but himself, unless you were a pet bear named Kuma.

Heihachi’s mind then drifted to his own grandson…Jin Kazama. He too was beginning to possess the devil gene. Heihachi saw it in the last tournament they attended. ‘If I got my hands on him,’ the older man thought. ‘The power he possesses will be good use to the Mishima Zaibatsu. The world will fear us.’

He only had one problem…he had no idea where Jin was. Jin disappeared right after the tournament. Heihachi had sent his personal intelligence to search for him, even if they died doing it. For now, all the leader could do was wait for word on the location of his grandson.

Just as he finished that thought, Heihachi heard footsteps coming towards him. He didn’t bother to turn around when he said, “What is it?”

The figured stopped in his tracks. Heihachi could sense a little fear in him, but the man regained his composure. “My lord, intelligence has located Jin Kazama.”

If it was physically possible, Heihachi’s ears would be perking upwards excitedly. Of course, he kept his seriousness within his face to show his minions that he meant business. Heihachi finally turned his head to face one of his guards who was dressed in a brown security uniform. “Go on, “ the leader encouraged him.

The guard quietly sighed of relief. “Intelligence discovered that Jin is heading to Hong Kong. We didn’t know why he was interested in the city until we looked into it.”

Heihachi stood up then. He grabbed a dark cherry silk robe and wrapped it around himself. “Do not stop speaking unless that’s all the information you are going to give me…but you know what will happen if that was the case.”

The guard swallowed. “Of course my lord, my apologies. In Hong Kong, they are setting up ships for this Saturday. The ships will be heading to another realm in which we later discovered that it was Outworld. There, The Blood Tournament will be taking place there. All the best fighters in the universe will be there.”

With that statement, a sadistic grin appeared on Heihachi’s face. “A tournament with the best fighters in the world. If my grandson is participating in this tournament, then it is true of what they said. Is that all?”

“Yes my lord.”

Heihachi placed his feet into his black slippers. “Good. Set up the Mishima Portal for me. I’m highly interested in what this tournament holds. If it’s in another world, then the prize is more than just money. You are dismissed.”

The guard bowed to him before leaving. Heihachi then picked up a glass of strawberry margarita in which he only half finished and took a sip from it. “The Blood Tournament,” he thought out loud. “Taking place in Outworld where the best fighters in the realm will participate…this will indeed be quite interesting. And there, I will possess the power Jin holds.”

It was then at that moment that the same guard came back into the pool area. A bit of rage filled the older man. “What is it?” he demanded.

The guard looked at him nervously now. “Um, my lord, I came to tell you that your issue of Mishima Magazine: Bikini Edition just came in.”

“Good,” Heihachi replied with a laugh. “Very good.”

“All right everyone, that’s enough for today,” said a middle-aged man as he bowed to a small group of people. “We will be going over more of this lesson in the morning.”

The small group grumbled a bit as they dispersed into their own separate ways. The leader sat down on a small bench and wiped a small sweat off his face.

“You’re never usually get that warm, Sifu Sub-Zero,” said a voice coming from a young female.

Sub-Zero looked up and saw the small-framed, blue haired figure standing before him. “It’s actually cold sweat, Frost,” he replied.

Frost rolled her eyes a bit. “Yeah right, whatever you say.”

Sub-Zero shook his head a bit. Not that long ago, he managed to get the title of Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei. A year ago, they were a group of assassins and were a threat to society. Now, Sub-Zero hoped to turn the clan for the better, isolated in a colder region of China in a large cave. He recruited new students who believed in his cause, including the only female in the clan, Frost.

Sub-Zero smirked at his young student a little. “Sometimes, I think you turned my hair gray overnight.”

Frost cocked up an eyebrow. “Sure sure.”

The Grandmaster stood up then, and scratched the right side of his face, which contained a very large purplish scar that went down from his forehead to his chin, running right through his ice blue eyes. He was a tall man with a well-built body for someone who was aging quite quicker than normal speed.

“Come on,” Sub-Zero said. “You still need to learn to make weapons with your kori powers.”

The young woman sighed a bit. “Didn’t you just try to teach me that?”

“Yes,” Sub-Zero replied. “But you still lack control.” He then thought to himself, ‘If only I could teach this girl humility.’

It was then that another member of the Lin Kuei came up to the Grandmaster with a piece of paper in his hand. “Sifu, a message has come to you…a message from the Tekunin leader himself…”

‘Sektor,’ Sub-Zero thought. He immediately grabbed the paper, opened it up, and read the letter quickly;

Sub-Zero-

Enclosed is an invitation to the Blood Tournament which will be taking place in Outworld. There, I will be challenging you there for the future of the Lin Kuei Clan. Go there alone.

-Sektor.

A grim looked appeared on the Grandmaster’s face. When he fought for the right to be the leader of the clan, Sektor tried to fight for the same title. In the aftermath, Sektor ran off and no one had heard about him since other than the fact that he formed the Tekunin clan…at least until now.

Sub-Zero then proceeded to look at the invitation to the tournament that came with it. He had just finished reading when Frost spoke. “Sifu, what’s going on?”

The older man shook his head. “It’s Sektor. He invited me to a tournament in Outworld so that he can challenge me for the right to be grandmaster.”

“But I thought that was over with.”

“I thought so as well…but with his own growing clan, who knows what he can do. Something also tells me that this may all be a trick since this is him sending me all of this.”

The messenger looked at Sub-Zero. “What will you be doing from this point?” he asked.

Sub-Zero slightly shook his head again. “I’m going to have to take a chance. Sektor poses a threat to our clan we worked hard to turn for the better. Be on guard for anything while I am away.”

The two nodded.

From there, the Grandmaster proceeded with his plans. He appointed a long time member of the clan to take over until his return. He then pack his gear and then began his journey to Hong Kong. Frost was the only one who bid him farewell. Unknown to him, a sadistic look appeared in her eyes…

“I’M THE BEST IN THE UNIVERSE!” cried out an angry voice that was much louder than the music being played (which was on max).

Both the voice and the music came from a small broken down martial arts school, which stood out amongst many of the more beautiful buildings in Sacramento. People nearby cringed at the male voice and the hardcore rock music that was being played extremely loud.

Inside the small building, a blond-haired man dressed in a worn out red karate gi kicked and punched at a large gray punching bag in the middle of the one-room building. The large amount of dust on the ground was picked up by his movements and flew around the room aimlessly.

This man was Paul Phoenix, a well-known Judo fighter with his ego as big as his strive to be ‘the number one in the world.’ He had just returned from a tournament in Japan after being beaten…by a bear. Since his return, Paul, who is not employed, spent his waking hours training for the next tournament…

The Blood Tournament.

Paul heard about this from a conversation that took place in a local Chinese restaurant. The best fighters received invitations to the tournament and will be departing in a couple of days on ships that will be leaving from the docks of San Francisco, which was an hour-in-a-half drive from Sacramento. Paul was enraged that he didn’t get an invitation and felt insulted because of it.

“I’ll show them!” Paul screamed out. “I’m not only going to be the best in the world…I’m going to be the best in the universe!”

“Shut up!” cried a pedestrian who was passing the building.

Paul stopped what he was doing and turned towards the single, brown-stained window. Sweat from his workout covered his body. “How about you shut up loser!” He quickly took a rock and threw it out the window only piercing a hole in it. The pedestrian saw this just in time and ran away in fear.

The older man grunted a bit after, then gave a hard kick to the punching bag sending it off it’s hinge and flying across the room. It hit the ground causing it to rip. From there, the sand immediately poured out of the large pouch.

That finally managed to calm Paul down. He took a moment to catch his breath before sitting down on the wooden bench. He reached into his backpack, took out a bottled water, opened it, and chugged half of it down.

Paul leaned back and brushed up his blonde hair, which was gelled up in a standing position about a feet high from his head. He then brought his hand to his chin, which was covered with an ingrown beard along with the rest of his face.

“The Blood Tournament,” Paul said much quieter than before. “If the best are going to be there…then I’m sure to win. I’ll show the leaders that they nearly missed out on a guy like me.”

Suddenly, after that statement, the bench broke off from the wall and fell sideways sending Paul sliding down the bench and onto the floor. He let out an ‘oof!’ as more dust was disturbed and began flying in the air.

Paul coughed. “I should really get this place fixed up…”

“This was a fabulous brunch your highness,” said a young dark-skinned woman dressed in green garments as she took a bite from her food.

An older woman dressed in purple smiled at her. “Thank you Jade. It’s rare when I cook, but since my daughter Kitana mentioned that she will be making an announcement, I just couldn’t resist.”

“You’re a very good cook my Queen.”

“Please, I’ve told you before, call me Sindel. Royalty doesn’t matter when one has been an ally of us for such a long time.”

“My apologies,” Jade said as she pushed back her black hair, which was done in two braided pigtails. “What do you suppose the Princess will be announcing?”

Sindel also pushed back her hair, which was all white aside from the large black streak which went down through the middle of her hair. “I’m not quite sure, but I look forward to knowing. A part of me wants to believe that she finally found a soul mate, but who knows.”

Jade shook her head. “Me either. After Liu Kang, she hasn’t been the same.”

“It’s sad indeed,” the Queen sighed.

The two fell silent then with thoughts of their own. Liu Kang was an Earthrealm fighter who met Kitana at a tournament in Outworld years ago. Edenia then was merged with Outworld for 10,000 years and along with other allies, they managed to free it. Not long ago, Liu Kang was mysteriously murdered at his home causing grief for Kitana. Sindel knew how she felt for that she had lost her husband just after Kitana’s birth. That was a story to be saved for later for that Sindel could not bear to think about it.

The thoughts of the two women were interrupted when a servant came in. “Your highness…Princess Kitana.”

Sindel nodded and the servant immediately left. A woman the same age as Jade entered with an envelope in her hand. Her long brown hair was done in a low ponytail and she wore blue swimsuit-like garments, a common fashion amongst the women of Edenia.

“Mother, Jade,” Kitana began. “This morning, I received an invitation to a tournament in another realm.”

Sindel stared at her. “You mean to tell me that your announcement was another tournament?”

“Well,” Kitana continued. “Take a look.” She handed her mother the invitation.

Sindel immediately opened it and read the contents before looking up. “This does sound strange indeed.”

“I have the feeling that it’s in Outworld. There may be a possibility that Shao Kahn is planning something.”

“Maybe,” Sindel replied. “Whether or not that is true, we have to take a chance if it means defending our world.” She looked at Jade. “Would you mind accompanying my daughter to the tournament?”

“Of course,” Jade replied.

“I will come along as well,” Sindel announced.

The two younger woman looked at her with a bit of shock. “Mother, are you sure?”

“I’m sure. I’ll leave our leading knight in charge of things until our return.”

The younger woman slowly nodded.

Sindel looked at her daughter. “Pancakes?”

“Of course mother.”

The three continued with brunch…

It was a place of pain and suffering…it was a place where tainted souls spend all eternity of torture and despair. Many in other realms knew this place as Hell. Those living in this realm know it as The Netherealm.

Some souls who pass on into this particular world embrace it. Many fall to their knees. But there are some who originally fell to their knees who force themselves to rise against the agony. Only very few have made it through.

In an empty region, three figures were seen with two of them facing each other and one down on his knees surrounded by blue electricity. The figure on his knees was a dark gray cyborg by the name of Smoke. He felt himself weaken and forced to the ground. As evil as he now was, there was still some good left inside of him. He was once a member of the Lin Kuei clan…but he now serves a well-known wraith of the region…

That figure was Noob. Noob was an all-black demon, even his skin was a dark charcoal color. The only real color on him was the blue covering every part of his eyes. He was one of the few who embraced the Netherealm.

In front of him was a young female demon in human form clad in all white with some gold trims. She wore a mushroom-like hat with a gold strap on her chin, the hat itself contain various designs and kanji writing on the front. In her right hand was a Kriss sword.

“Ashrah,” Noob said looking at the woman before him. “You are a disgrace to the Brotherhood of Shadows and must be eliminated.”

Ashrah narrowed her eyes at him. “No…it is you who must be eliminated. I will no longer be bound to this region of suffering. I will be free from this place.”

Noob let out a sadistic laugh as he pulled out his own sword. “The kriss sword you possess…it has been purifying your tainted soul…I see now. You believe that if you eliminate me that you will be free from this place. If that is what you want, so be it, but I must warn you that you will not win.”

The female demon only narrowed her hazel eyes a bit and got into a fighting stance. Her sword glowed a bit in a white aura reflecting it’s ability of purification. Ashrah had slain many strong demons to purify her soul. She longed to be free from this place in order to receive a second chance. Her past life meant nothing to her anymore, even though she only vaguely remembered it. Noob himself was one of the strongest wraiths there was and if she could only defeat him in battle, she had a bigger chance of leaving this place.

Noob looked down at his only minion Smoke, who was beginning to malfunction. ‘Damn!’ he thought. ‘He had to do that now. I guess I’m on my own with taking down this bitch.’ After that thought, Noob got into a fighting stance as well.

The two of them stared down at each other for a moment. Noob’s patience quickly wore out and he immediately attacked Ashrah. However, Ashrah was prepared for Noob’s attack. She brought her sword upwards and managed to block the incoming blow from Noob’s own sword.

The battle lasted for sometime, their swords colliding loudly with one another. Despite the fact that he was currently malfunctioning, Smoke looked on at the battle. He looked on towards his master and felt the malfunctioning processing beginning to decrease a bit. He thought of nothing as this was going on.

The two seemed to be even as their swords continued to collide with one another. The amount of heat in the region didn’t finch either of them.

Then, Noob lost his grip on his sword when Ashrah managed to kick it away. This caused a quick hesitance in the wraith. Ashrah took that opportunity and managed to stab Noob right through the stomach. Noob was caught by surprise and though it wasn’t seen too well, he looked at her in horror.

Then, just as fast, a yellow light beamed down on Ashrah and she was immediately taken into the air with a quick shriek. Because of how quick that happened, Ashrah lost her grip on her sword which glowed brighter than before. Ashrah came to realize that she had achieved her goal. Wherever she was heading, she didn’t care as long as it wasn’t in the Netherealm. Noob and Smoke watched as Ashrah disappeared into the swirling black hole above them. The second she entered it, it closed. Afterwards, all became silent.

Noob reached his hand and wrapped it around the hilt of the kriss. “You may have earned your freedom by wounding me, but you have made one grave mistake.” He took out the sword from his stomach, black blood oozing from it. Then, bug-like organisms quickly covered the hole in Noob’s stomach healing him right away. “I am a wraith.”

Elsewhere, Ashrah arrived in another realm. When the winds died down, she took a moment to look around. The entire land was purple, which matched the sky. ‘Where am I?’ she thought as she stood up. The area was quiet, much to her relief for that she wanted to take the time to explore this new world.

‘Perhaps this is where I will start my new life.’ Then, she began to walk forward.

Little did Ashrah realize was that she had just arrived in Outworld, where a tournament will soon be taking place…