Part 6:
Charred Mountain
You emerge from the portal under the shadow of a large mountain surrounded by a brazen forest. Taven is immediately approached by a number of Red Dragon, from whom he must defend himself. Use your Ground Pound ability to spread them out, and focus your main attention on the Red Dragon Mystic who carries an odd looking wand. With this weapon in hand, you can easily vanquish the remainder of your foes using a single button tap to release a powerful bolt of light. As with the Ice Scepter in the Lin Kuei Temple it will eventually shatter, leaving you with nothing but your bare fists.
| During your battle with the Red Dragon head on over to the entrance of the caves to find Sindel's Brush. |
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Kill off the remaining Red Dragon Ops to reveal a chest close to your starting position. Kick it open to obtain Fujin's Alternate Costume, then about face and approach the green aura ahead. As you move closer Taven notices Fujin, who immediately asks him to return to Edenia. Taven tells Fujin that he would like some information about the Red Dragon first, and reinforces the fact that he will not leave until he obtains some answers. Fujin tells Taven that he leaves him with no choice but to remove him with force.
| Fujin relies heavily on his dangerous wind attacks to hurt you from a distance, so stick close to him and unleash a mixture of special moves and long combos. If you find yourself heavily overcome, block one of his attacks and then move in quickly to counter attack. With these tactics in mind you should have no issues defeating him in two rounds. |
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After the battle Taven towers above Fujin's battered body, claiming that fighting him was the last thing he wanted to do as he had been a strong ally of his family for many ages. With no one blocking his path, he steps onward into the dark opening.
| Upon entering the dimly lit caverns, turn to your immediate left to find Fujin's Cape next to a large chest. |
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With another relic in hand, open the chest closeby to obtain 300  koins, then turn around and collect the koin bag behind you for 110 koins. Follow the pathway uphill gathering all of the koinage until you reach a fork. Proceed to take the tunnel to your left, ignoring the chest up ahead which only contains poison. Collect the koin bag for a further 130 koins, then break away the blue barrels blocking your path. Grab the orb to extend your health meter, before picking up the dragon token worth 25 koins at the foot of the marked door.
| Turn around and creep forward to reveal your thirty-seventh relic to your right. |
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Turn to your left and head over to the wall to find a hidden chest containing 300 koins, then backtrack down the path until you reach the fork. Arch around the wall to your left, collecting the dragon tokens and koin bag for a further 245 koins. Kick open the chest closeby for 300 koins, then follow the winding pathway until you reach a large computer room.
As you approach the green aura Taven will obtain the Time Stop Supermove. With no time to rest, a number of Red Dragon Stalkers, Bombers and Chemists will jump down from a ledge and attack you. Defeat them, making sure to avoid the poisonous green clouds that burst from the bombs thrown at you. For easy kills, throw enemies into the red explosive barrels that outline the room.
When the area is clear Taven is approached from behind by a man who calls out to him by name. Upon turning around, Taven immediately recognises the man to be his brother, Daegon. He notices that his brother has aged somewhat, indicating that he has indeed been awakened for a long time. Daegon reveals that this facility is his stronghold, and that he formed the Red Dragon clan many ages ago. He also tells his brother that he had ordered the Red Dragon to kill him in order to obtain the prize.
Mavado soon enters the room and interrupts the conversation, informing Daegon that Blaze has been found. Satisfied, Daegon excuses himself and orders Mavado to make sure that his brother does not leave the stronghold alive.
| Mavado is very quick, so you must outsmart him rather than rely on brute force to defeat him. He is very dangerous up close should he use his Hookswords, so keep your distance and use your special moves to weaken him. Should he get close, wait for the right moment and counterattack as quickly as possible. After he has been defeated in two rounds he will retreat, leaving the room for you to explore. |
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| Once in control of Taven, about face and collect Daegon's Belt which will be hovering close to the computer monitors. |
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Turn left and head over to the far wall close to the fire where you will find a musical note; collect it to unlock The Lost Pyramid Tune. To your left you will find a gold chest containing Elder Gods Female Armor: Torso. Finally, another chest sits a little further to your left hidden in the corner, so kick it open to unlock Mavado's Alternate Costume.
| Turn to face the green aura, then make your way toward it. You will find Mavado's Hooks in the shadow of the ledge above. |
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Head on over to the green aura where Taven will pull a large lever, opening the marked door you saw earlier. With the way now clear, turn to your left and backtrack down the winding path, where you will encounter the brazen warrior Kano. He tells you that the Red Dragon are trying to create real red dragons, hybrids of man and lizard. Before Taven can ask anymore questions of him Kano retreats down a dark pathway.
With Kano gone, make your way down the path behind you and through the newly opened doorway toward the green aura. A number of strong reptilian creatures will soon surround you, which are fairly difficult and have an unpleasant acid spit move. Dispose of them quickly by throwing them over the railing on either side of you. With the area cleared, a chest will appear containing Reptile's Alternate Costume. Kick it open, then head back to the doorway from which you entered the room to find a hidden chest to your left. Open it for 300 koins, then turn to your left and head through the open doorway a long stretch ahead of you, collecting the koin bag worth 200 koins.
| To the left of the koin bag you will find Kenshi's Blindfold. If you have collected all relics up until this point you will also unlock The Pyramid of Argus arena. |
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Continue up the walkway ahead, collecting the two dragon tokens for 100 koins. You will notice a large rat running around the area; step on it to reveal a chest behind you containing Quan Chi's Alternate Costume. Pick up the koin bag to the left of the chest for a hefty 400 koins, before continuing up the path toward the green aura.
As Taven approaches the top of the path he witnesses a conversation between Quan Chi and one of his servants, who tells him that he has memorised everything he had asked for to avoid detection. Quan Chi rips off the servant's head in anger, before ordering the three women standing near him to kill Taven.
You must now face Jataaka, Sareena and Kia all at once. They have quite a bit of health and are rather difficult to face all at once, so use your Ground Pound special move to spread them apart, and focus on defeating Kia first. With Kia and her healing abilities gone, defeat Jataaka and Sareena, remembering that your health will not be replenished much as you fight them. If you find yourself low on health, venture to the outer walls and smash one of the four blue barrels for a helping hand. Also, throw them into the explosive red barrels if possible as they deal large amounts of damage.
With the room cleared, a chest will appear containing Sareena's Alternate Costume. The red force-field to your right will have faded, so head down the pathway until you find two blue barrels to your left.
| Smash the leftmost barrel to reveal relic number forty-one, Sareena's Sash. |
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Continue down the dim path, collecting the koin bag for 150 koins. Kick open the chest a little further down for 300 koins, then walk a short distance until you find three barrels surrounding a musical note. Smash them and collect the note which will unlock Reptile's Lair Fight Tune.
Pick up the dragon token at the entrance to the new room for 30 koins, then collect the koin bags on either side of the bridge to add a further 425 koins to your collection.
| On the other side of the bridge you will notice two blue barrels. Destroy the barrel to your left to reveal Reptile's Medal. |
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Approach the centre of the room where you will find Reptile demanding Caro close the portal immediately. Taven orders Reptile to get away from Caro which infuriates him, and a fight ensues.
| Reptile's savage and wild personality is shown in battle, making him a very dangerous foe. His strong techniques and quick handling of his weapon make him treacherous up close, so keep your distance from him and use only your special moves. Should he get close block his attacks and throw him to create distance between the two of you. |
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With the Zatterian warrior defeated, Taven focuses his attention on the weakened dragon Caro. He smashes the computers in front of him, before a thunderous crash echoes through the facility. Caro tells Taven of how he has been enslaved in these caves by Daegon, and how he uses him to teleport members of his clan between the realms. He continues to tell Taven that his brother is not the man he once was, and that it is all his own fault.
Long ago he lost mental contact with Blaze, and mistakenly took it as the signal to awaken Daegon. Infuriated, Daegon had demanded to know the true purpose of the quest from his parents and soon thereafter killed them both. Nevertheless, Caro expresses his desire to atone for his mistakes by helping Taven put a stop his brother. He looks to a large portal to his right that he has just opened for Daegon, and asks Taven to use it quickly to travel to the Netherrealm as he cannot hold it open for much longer.
Leaving Caro behind to destroy the remainder of the Red Dragon clan, Taven steps through the portal and into the Netherrealm in pursuit of his brother.
Continue to Part 7: Netherrealm Cliffs |
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| After this year's E3 2010 Expo, what are your thoughts on Mortal Kombat (2011)? |
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