A/N: I do not own Mortal Kombat, and I did not creat this story. This is part of the Mortal Kombat comic series created by Malibu Comics and written by Charles Marshall.
His is a legacy of failure. And now you may add to his charge the of those who would offer hope to this desolate land.
To this place called Outworld.
Call him Kung Lao. Throughout his lineage, father has pass on to son, a sense of futility as though it were some sacred heirloom. But Kung Lao's inadequacies have now eclisped even those of his forefathers. And it appears there will be no further decendants to bear his shame.
This is...
MORTAL KOMBAT.
He was part of a movement to bring change to this impoverished land. There were others who shared his dream of revolution. The Lin Kuei warrior called Sub-Zero. The maniacal mutant named Baraka. Their well-laid plans proved to be lesss than sufficient...against the cunning and cruelty of the emperor Shao Kahn.
Now, the winds of change have died, and the fires of rebellion grow cold. As the agents of misrule parade triumphantly through the ashen streets--the plans of the past have been laid to waste. Kano. Mileena. Shang Tsung. Scorpion. Goro. Kintaro. Reptile. And evil has inherited a most perilous future. All because he could not see..
...could not see...
"What should have been obvious is now plain to see." Kung Lao whispered to himself as he sat indian style in front of a small fire. "It was folly to believe our actions would go unnoticed by the dark emperor. It should have not taken a visionquest to realize the truth." Kung Lao's eyes opened. "Our plans have been compromised from the start." He got up and grabbed his bladed hat which had been on the ground next to him. "And I must quickly pass along what I have learned."
When Kung Lao turned around, he layed eyes on someone he did not expect to see. "Ah, cold warrior," the monk said. "I do not usually hear your approach."
"You have uncommonly keen ears, Kung Lao." the blue-clad ninja said. "Others would not have heard Sub-Zero. Until it was too late."
"It may be too late already, my friend." Kung Lao said. "The dark emperor knows of our plans."
"Yes, I know." Sub-Zero replied flatly.
"What?" Kung Lao said. "Why did you say nothing?"
"In the past, the Lin Kuei were allies with the dark emperor," Sub-Zero said. "Given the current state of affairs, perhaps it is time to renew those ties!" the Lin Kuei said as he flash-froze Kung Lao with a blast of cold energy.
"Ugggghhh!" Kung Lao yelled as Sub-Zero delivered a flying kick to his jaw.
"Do not beilieve that Sub-Zero is a traitor to your cause." the ninja said. "In truth, Kitana's grand schemes were nothing but the petty dealings of a spoiled child."
Sub-Zero launched Kung Lao off the hill side with an uppercut. There is something in the Lin Kuei warrior's voice, a chill Kung Lao has never heard before. Once the monk recovered, he was met with another cold jab to his jaw. Kung Lao jumped, his hand on a nearby rock to lift his body upward in order to avoid a beam of deadly ice shards Sub-Zero launched at him.
"I do not know what inspired such treachery..." Kung Lao caught Sub-Zero with a forceful uppercut. "But I shall make certain that it does not go unpunished!"
"Noooo...!" Sub-Zero bellowed as he landed in a nearby pond.
"I can spare no more time with this senseless conflict." Kung Lao said. "I must find the other who have not abandoned the cause."
Baraka then suddenly burst out of the water, blades unsheathed and poised to strike. "Hat man talk too much." the mutant snarled. "But now him stop talking. Start screaming!" He lunged at Kung Lao, who caught the mutant arms before the blades could do any harm.
"Baraka!? I don't understand." Kung Lao said, shocked. "I thought you were fighting with us"
"I am fighting with you. Right now!" Baraka answered.
"Has the world gone mad around me?" Kung Lao asked.
"Baraka show you madness." Baraka said. "Madness and mayhem!!"
Kung Lao hopped and kicked the mutant in the jaw. "You have always been rash, mutant." he said. "But I sensed a certain nobility in you before. Have you lost it completely?"
"Much been lost, mortal." Baraka grumbled as he wipped blood off his mouth. Eerie fog began to collect around him.
"Stop! Where are you going?" Kung Lao shouted.
"Much been lost." the mutant's voice repeated as the fog concealed his figure completely.
"The emperor is aware of our plans, Baraka." Kung Lao said as he groped about in the fog. "We must find lady Kitana...warn her..." This fog has an unnatural feel to it, Kung Lao thought. Must clear my sense. Reach out and...
"...You!!" the monk shouted when he made out the opaque figure of a woman.
"Kung Lao, I knew that you would come" a loving voice echoed. "Come in my hour of need."
"Of all those who have plotted with me against the dark emperor..." Kitana said as she strode out of the fog. "...None has been more loyal than Kung Lao." she said. "More loyal to me."
"The emperor..." Kung Lao started.
"He is aware of us. Yes, I understand." Kitana said with a sorrow face.
"Then we must act!" Kung Lao said.
"Yes, my friend. It is time for us to act." Kitana said. She stepped up in Kung Lao's face, so close that their noses were almost touching. "Act upon our desires." she whispered. "Act upon our passions."
In one swift motion, Kung Lao backhanded Kitana, sending her crashing onto the ground behind him. "There may be fog in Outworld, but my mind is finally clear." the monk said. "Get back treacherous one."
"Ummmmpphhh!" Kitana yelled as she slammed onto the rocky surface.
"Your plan was bold and brazen one, to be sure." Kung Lao said as he watched "Kitana's" face and figure shift and change. "When I focused my senses and cleared my head..." Kung Lao said. "...It became evident exactly with whom I was dealing."
"Well done, warrior. Well done." a deep voice said. But I would've expected no less of one from the Order of Light. But let all the false pretenses be dropped and the diguises cast away." the eerie green haze around "Kitana" finally cleared. "Gaze upon me in all my renewed vigor and youth. Gaze upon the visage of Shang Tsung." the demon sorcerer said as he stood before Kung Lao, wearing a arrogant smirk.
"I would have thought the emperor would be displeasd with you after Mortal Kombat." Kung Lao said.
"Shao Kahn as his own purposes. I am but a tool." Shang Tsung replied. "A tool for destruction. Shao Kahn laughed at his daughter's weak plot against him."
"I must warn her of the danger." the monk said.
"It is too late, mortal. Kung Lao shall will fall this day, and Kitana shall die ignorant." the sorcerer said. "The only question that remains..." his body began to glow in green. "...is what form I shall use to destroy you." Liu Kang. Too weak. Scorpion. Too dead. Kitana. Too soft. Reptile. Too cold. Kano. Too cruel. Raiden. Too hot. Mileena. Too pitiful. Johhny cage. Too flashy. Sonya Blade. Too frail. "Ah, I believe this is most fitting." Shang said as he took on the form of his opponent. Of Kung Lao. "You should face death at your own hands." the sorcerer grinned evilly. "At the hands of Kung Lao."
"This is unwise. You know me sorcerer." Kung Lao said.
"Yes, but do you know yourself?" his evil duplicate said.
"All too well." Kung Lao said before fetched the sorcerer a kick to the side of his head. "One of the first lessons they teach in the Order of Light...is control over one's self."
"Excellent, Kung Lao. Some have less success in the mirror match." the sorcerer said. "But do not worry. Shang Tsung is nothing if not versatile. I shall find a form in which you are vulnerable." his figure began to glow green and change again.
"No, it cannot be...cannot..." Kung Lao said as his jaw dropped and his eyes widened.
"Is that trepidation I see in your eyes, my friend? Do not be afraid." A deep voice called out. "We are family are we not?" A tall and bald man in black pants with a red sash stood before Kung Lao. "So you recognize the form of the original Kung Lao?" the sorcerer asked. Then, swift as lightning, he suddenly struck Kung Lao's throat with his index and middle fingers. "He fought well, I must say. Made it to the final round as I recall. There he faced my monstrous servant Goro and met defeat evelasting. Of all the souls I have consumed in his lifetime...Kung Lao's was by far the most satisfying."
He has vowed that he would not fail again, but words cannot bridge the gap between desperation and despair. All his life he walked along the edged of doom, knowing full well the depths to which he could plunge. It is a truth he has always known: we may stop ourselves as we rise.
Never as we fall.
The sorcerer beat Kung Lao down in form of his very own ancestor. He know stood over the floored and weak monk. "We come full circle now." he grinned. "Prepare yourself, Kung Lao. Prepare yourself for...for..." he trailed off before suddenly clutching his head with one hand. "No...you...must not do this...you muss..." there was a brief silence. "Rise, my son. It is not the voice of the sorcerer you hear." the original Kung Lao said.
"I do not understand..." the wounded descendant replied.
"It is the voice of your family, your heritage." the monk said. "The voice of Kung Lao."
"How? How can you...?" Kung Lao asked.
"It is taking...all my will...to hold the sorcerer back...my son." The original Kung Lao said behind closed eyes. "It is within your power to grant me a release from torment. Do...what you must..."
"I will. For you and for all those who have borne the name Kung Lao. HYYYAAAAAHH!" Kung Lao shouted as he delivered the form of his ancestor a kick to the jaw with all the power he could muster.
When his ancestor's body fell, his soul emerged and shot off heavenwards. He watches as the sould of his forefather climbs toward the heavens. Whatever else transpires during the dark days, this cannot be taken away from him.
The road ahead is filled with peril and hardship, but Kung Lao shall walk it with his head held high. He realizes now that he has spent so much of his life worrying about how he might fall...that he never stopped to consider how high...
...he might rise.