Chapter 9: All in the family

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The camera pans round to the boat's bow, where Jax walks up to Jacqui, who is looking out to the horizon "How's the view?" Jax asks "No sign yet of the mystical barrier you mentioned" Jacqui says "Oh, you'll know it when it comes" He places his hands on the side railing of the boat, also looking to the distance.

"How you feeling?" Jacqui ask while Jax looks at the water "For the first time in a while, in control. I got tossed into the deep end of this world of gods and monsters. But now, knowing my future, I feel like I've finally come up for air. Those bad things that happened to me... I mean, what will happen to me? Like Raiden said, it's gonna be different" Jax Replies. He looks to Jacqui "Isn't this gonna be good news?"

Jacqui looks almost crushed at his words "The things that happened to my dad. That trauma he suffered? It's why my parents met. They fell in love while he was in recovery" she says as she turns away and walks across the ship's bow "If they don't happen, you and Mom may not meet. I may never be born"

Jax walks up to her "Jacqui, I-I can't pretend I get all this cosmic time stuff..." He places his hand on her shoulder "...but I do know you are here for a reason. You're not just some random accident" he tries to reasure her.

She looks back at him, uncertainty still etched on her face "I hope so" she says

The camera pans away from them and back out to the ship's exterior. On the far horizon, an island surrounded by what appears to be a green mist is visible.

A cutback to Jax and Jacqui shows the boat approaching the mist. Derelict ships lay broken against the rocks they smashed upon, their sails rotted and almost gone. Gigantic stone statues of samurai warriors are submerged up to their necks in the waters of the sea.

The navy ship passes by all of this, with Jax and Jacqui looking overhead as the ship pass under a decaying entrance way. They both look ahead of them, taking in the sight of the iconic Mortal Kombat dragon symbol - depicted here as a weathered and crumbling gigantic metallic statue.

"Shang Tsung's island!" Jacqui exclaims "Here we go again" Jax says in reponse

The scene cuts to the entrance to the warrior's shrine. Jax and Jacqui walk in alone, taking in the decay before them. There is no roof to speak off, and the concrete pillars that held it up are broken and decaying. The statues of warriors past and present show varying signs of disrepair. There are no sounds or signs of life, save from the howls of the wind.

Jax and Jacqui pass through the shrine into a passage leading into the courtyard. While there is a roof here, it is worn and rotting, with only a colony of sleeping bats being the only living beings present.

As they approach the end of the passage, they pause to gaze upon the grisly sight of 5 corpses hanging from the rafters. The corpses are Shaolin monks, hanged by their necks. Their skin is horrifically decayed, but has not yet completely rotted away, leaving their eyes intact but a dull yellow-gray in colour.

Jax and Jacqui walk out into the courtyard itself. Like the rest of the island, it is barren and devoid of life.

"When I was here for the tournament, there were people everywhere" Jax said as he looks to a line of Shaolin monks, rotted away to skeletons wearing torn clothing "These guys looked a lot younger. Seems like only yesterday..." "then he has a wistful look over his face as he points to a the stairs they walked up "and right there was were (Name) made her entrance. she was just a kid all wide eyed and confused...she...she was just 18 when she showed up...." Jax smile slowly turns into a frown remembering how Jacqui told him (Name) would die in his time soon.

Jacqui pulls out a PDA on her hip and starts to examine it "Guess after Shang Tsung died, this place did, too" she said trying to change the subject

Her PDA, acting as some form of mobile radar, shows no signs of life on its scans "Nobody's home. So much for needing stealth. Should've brought the whole squad" she said "Kinda hoping Raiden's wrong about the Well of Souls. I don't wanna be here longer than we--" Jax is interrupted by a warning beep on Jacqui's PDA. She glances down at it "Multiple contacts!" Jacqui exclaims. Jax gets himself into a fighting stance "How many?" he asks

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