Choose your Destiny (Raiden x OC) Part 2 : Where It all collides

Chapter 9 : Missing

- Twenty Years Later -

Raiden and Sakuya teleported on Earthrealm, where Sonya Blade had been expecting them after she contacted the two gods for an emergency : there had been a coup against Kotal Kahn in Outworld led by Mileena and now Outworlders desperate to flee the civil war were asking for Earthrealm's hospitality. The two gods found themselves in a crowded and busy refugee camp full of armed militaries guiding Outworlders coming from a big dark portal towards the registration desks where people were queuing. They were surprised to see the amount of Outworlders that were seeking asylum, making them believe that the situation was far worse than they had imagined.
As he glanced around, Raiden finally spotted Sonya Blade talking to Kenshi. "The general is over there." he remarked out loud so Sakuya would notice her as well.
The two gods then approached them and Sonya soon saw the new arrivants once they were close enough. "Raiden, Sakuya." she called them. "I was waiting for you." Kenshi turned his head towards them too.
"We came as soon as we got your message." Sakuya said. "Since when is the portal open ?"
"It has been a few hours now." Kenshi replied. "Nearly five thousand refugees in all."
Then, everyone's attention was caught by the military vessel that was landing inside the camp, from which Johnny Cage came out with his daughter Cassie, Jacqui, Takeda and Kung Jin. They led towards the rest of group and, after she saw them coming, Sonya Blade spoke up : "The Outworlders have been guided here by a woman named Li Mei. She wants to speak with you."
Raiden and Sakuya shared a quick glance before they followed the general Blade towards wherever that woman was, whereas Kenshi waited for Johnny Cage and his team to update them on the current situation. Once they entered the main tent pitched in a corner of the camp, they saw a young brown-haired woman sitting at the table, drinking a hot beverage in a cup she was holding with both hands. She then noticed the two gods she had been waiting for and put her cup on the table as they approached.
"This is Li Mei." Sonya presented her.
"I wanted to ask your help." Li Mei said to both gods. "The situation in Outworld is critical."
The rest of the group joined them finally and Sonya Blade turned at them. "Thanks Kenshi. Could you and Mr. Cage join us ?" When she saw that Cassie Cage was also approaching, she demanded : "Sergeant Cage. You and your team as you were."
The young soldier frowned before she glanced at her father who nodded slightly to make her understand that she should do as her general says. Cassie then took her place next to her partners, in the back.
"What happened ?" Sakuya asked to Li Mei.
"Our village, Sun Do, was the epicenter of a fierce battle." she explained. "We barely escaped with our lives."
"Such is war." Johnny said in a joking tone, making everyone stare at him. He then defensively raised his hands. "I mean, no offense but... You Outworldwers kinda live for that, right ?"
"This was different." she responded. "The rebels, Mileena, had a weapon unlike anything... Entire battalions, erased. It was not honorable. Not kombat."
"Tell us more about the weapon." Raiden asked with his arms crossed on his chest.
"A talisman. Gold, with a center jewel." To these words, Sakuya shared a worried glance with Raiden since they both easily recognized the described item. "Mileena wields its crimson energy without precision."
Cassie tried to joke : "Well that's good then."
"Not now, Sergeant Cage." The general quickly stopped her.
"It is enough that she possesses it." Li Mei continued. "It turns the tide in her favor. The emperor grows desperate. And those caught in the middle pay the price."
"If this talisman is what I suspect it to be, we may all pay a price." Raiden remarked, and it was enough for Sakuya to feel a sudden weight on her chest.
"We're talking about Shinnok's amulet ?" Kung Jin broke his silence.
"Can't be." Sonya Blade denied as she looked at the Thunder God. "The base, the vault, you and Sakuya's wardings, S.F., Shaolin and Bo' Rai Cho', no way anyone can get past all that."
"We have to be certain." Raiden replied before he and Sakuya started to leave the tent.
Once they did, the Nature Goddess broke her silence in a worried tone. "Do you really think that Shinnok's amulet could have been stolen once again ?"
The Thunder God turned his eyes at her. "If Li Mei's description of the talisman is accurate, I am afraid we must prepare ourselves for the worst."
"It will never end." Sakuya sighed as she looked down. "We just have entrapped him and now he might escape again." She could not help but feel desperate and powerless about the whole situation. She was tired of putting all of her efforts into something vain all the time, of being the one who always loses.
"Do not fall into hopelessness yet, Sakuya." Raiden softly said to her. "We are still unsure about whether Shinnok's amulet was robbed. Let us head to Fort Charles and see if it is still there."
Sakuya nodded and let Raiden teleport both of them to where the amulet was heavily guarded.
Fort Charles had been constructed on a little island at the south of the Indian Ocean, a few thousand miles away from Bali. Sakuya had casted a protective ward that made the fortress invisible to the human eye. Inside, Shaolin Monks were supposed to survey the entrance and the iron gates that were protecting the room where the amulet was hidden and kept by the Special Forces inside a vault. Raiden had casted another warding to make that same vault impossible to unlock for anyone but him, Sakuya and Bo' Rai Cho', who eventually planned to come from time to time to make sure that the artifact remained intact.
But the place wherein the two gods arrived was nothing like they remembered. It looked much more like a battlefield : all the Shaolin Monks had been massacred and were lying in their own blood. Sakuya and Raiden both stood petrified and speechless.
"By the Elder Gods !" Raiden exclaimed.
"This cannot be..." Sakuya whispered with shock.
The iron gates were wide open and the pair could see the corpses of the Special Forces dispersed all around the vault. As they were walking past the dead shaolins, they analyzed their bodies : they had not died peacefully, their bodies were mostly covered with bullet holes. Some of them even had become unrecognizable. Sakuya felt both disgust and sadness as she looked around her.
"Help..." a weak voice called them from inside the vault's room which instantly caught Raiden and Sakuya's attention as they both recognized who it was.
"Bo' Rai Cho' !" Sakuya exclaimed as she spotted the master sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall surrounding the vault. She ran towards him as fast as she could, closely followed by Raiden. She knelt down next to the half-conscious man and cupped his face to raise it towards her. Bo' Rai Cho' looked weakened althought there were no visible injuries on his body, he struggled to open his eyes. "Are you hurt ?"
"The... amulet..." the man muttered and the two gods both turned at the vault's door that was wide open and empty, even though Raiden's warding still remained. Sakuya shook her head with frustration as she realized that her worst fear actually came true.
Raiden neared his longtime friend and put a hand on his shoulder. "Who is behind this ?"
Seeing that Bo' Rai Cho' was slowly losing consciousness, Sakuya decided to put her hand on his chest and focus on the Jinsei energy running inside her veins, progressively transferring it to Bo' Rai Cho's body in order to strenghten the weakened man. But she quickly understood that it was not going to be enough when she struggled to heal him. She tried to gather all the force she had as she closed her eyes and grimaced.
"Sakuya, do not push yourself." Raiden calmly advised her.
To these words, the goddess stopped and breathed. "The energy that I have will not suffice. We need to take him to the Jinsei Chamber."
"Let us go, then. There is nothing left here for us." he replied.
But before he had the time to teleport, a human-sized machine with four metallic legs and an antenna on its top came out of the vault, catching everyone's attention when it started beeping repetitively. It then rushed towards the Thunder God who reflexively threw a lightning at the machine but it did not seem to stop it. On the contrary, it became even more unstoppable as its antenna was spinning furiously and pointing at Raiden who was unsure about what he should do.
"What kind of creation is this ?" he rhetorically asked.
"Raiden, watch out !" Sakuya yelled as she quickly got on her feet again. At that same moment, the machine jumped on the Thunder God and tightly wrapped its legs around him. Raiden hardened to escape its grip and lightnings started to flash from the machine as it seemed to suck the god's electric energy. Raiden screamed in pain which alerted Sakuya who instantly raised her hands towards them, making thick roots violently come out from the ground and grab the machine in order to free the Thunder God. Once the roots finally held the threatening object tight enough for it to let go of Raiden, Sakuya tried to keep it steady with her roots but, each second that passed, it became harder for her to fight back. Raiden, who noticed it, hurried to grab one of Bo' Rai Cho's arms to put it around his shoulder and lift the man up, then teleported the group to the Sky Temple.
Once they were in safety, Sakuya let her arms drop and sighed in exhaustion as she turned at Raiden who was still holding the unconscious master. She then neared them to help the Thunder God as she grabbed Bo' Rai' Cho's free arm and imitated Raiden. "Are you injured ?" she asked him at the same time.
"No, I do not think so." he replied. "Are you ?"
"No." They then did not wait any longer to bring the weakened master inside the Jinsei Chamber who failed to stand on his feet on his own, forcing the gods to carry the heavy man the whole way.
Once they finally arrived in front of the Jinsei that was enlightening the entire room with its sky blue light, they let Bo' Rai Cho' enter in completely and float inside the source of power in order to progressively restore the master's energy.
As they were both observing Bo' Rai Cho', Sakuya broke her silence first. "So Mileena indeed has Shinnok's amulet."
Raiden nodded, not taking his gaze away from his old friend. "And she is using it to defeat Kotal Kahn and become Outworld's new empress."
"We have to find her before she succeeds."
"We will." Raiden firmly responded. "We should inform General Blade."
As Sakuya agreed, the Thunder God took out a piece of technology that the general had given to them in order to communicate from a far distance at any moment. Raiden activated it and a little hologram of Sonya Blade appeared inside the palm of his hand. "Raiden, Sakuya, what did you find ?"
"Shinnok's amulet has been stolen." the Thunder God responded. "A snare has been placed inside the vault and it attacked us, but we managed to teleport to the Sky Temple."
"Do you know who's behind this ?" Sonya asked.
"Bo' Rai Cho' is the only survivor, but he was barely conscious when we found him." Sakuya said in a sad tone. "We will know more once he will fully regain his strength."
To these words, the two gods' attention was caught by a familiar sound coming from the other side of the Chamber's closed doors. They barely had the time to share a glance before the doors opened brutally and the machine from earlier made its appearance once again.
"How did it follow us ?!" Sakuya exclaimed.
"We have to keep it outside the Jinsei Chamber." Raiden replied as he jumped towards the machine in order to grab it. They then flew outside of the room, and Sakuya hurried to join them in case Raiden needed her help. She then saw the Thunder God standing at the entrance of the temple, starting to create a ball of lightning inside of his hands as he stared at the machine on the ground, trying to get back on its feet. But before it could do so, Raiden threw the ball towards the unwanted object that surprisingly absorbed the integrity of the electric energy and became uncontrollable. The Thunder God hardened to hide his surprise.
"It seems that your electricity is feeding it more than it is weakening it." Sakuya remarked from behind. "That might be the reason why it is always coming for you."
The antenna at the top of the machine's head turned once again towards Raiden and, before it had the time to near him, Sakuya created a protective green dome covering the Thunder God and herself. As the machine tried to jump through it, it instantly bumped into the dome and fell to the ground.
"You must be right." Raiden answered as he locked his eyes on the snare. "I have to deactivate it, but first, I need to attract it somewhere far from here."
As the machine tried to pass through the protection again — in vain, Sakuya turned her gaze at Raiden. "Where ?"
"In another realm. Somewhere far from here so neither of you or Bo' Rai Cho' get hurt."
The goddess frowned. "You are planning to defeat it on your own ?" These words made the Thunder God turn his head at his partner, who added : "Raiden, it is you that it is after, I cannot leave you fight it on your own. What if--"
"Bo' Rai Cho' needs your help more than I do, Sakuya." the Thunder God softly cut her off. She knew she could not argue with that, so she slowly closed her mouth and lightly pouted as she glanced away. This look on her face softened Raiden's expression who neared the goddess and gently grabbed her arm, making her glance back at him. "I will not be long. Do not worry. You keep an eye on Bo' Rai Cho'."
Sakuya remained silent for a moment, and the Thunder God could swear that her eyes were imploring him to stay. The goddess then took a deep breath. "Be careful." she sighed.
Raiden softly smiled as he nodded at Sakuya before he let go of her and raised his hand, disappearing from the goddess' sight in the blink of an eye. As soon as he did, the machine froze for a few seconds before it instantly flew away towards wherever it had localized the Thunder God. The goddess thoughtfully looked at the sky for a moment, remaining safely inside her dome, before she removed it and returned inside the temple.