Disclaimer: Mortal Kombat is a comic and video game series created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. I claim no ownership of any intellectual rights that gave birth to this particular universe, their characters or future projects. My attempt with this story is just to tribute the world that has given me so much joy, and has made me smile uncountable times. I dare warn you for things that will undoubtedly impact the development of this story, in hope that it will help you discern whether or not it will fulfill your expectations.
First of all, English is not my first language. I try very hard to make my texts understandable, but I excuse myself in advance if there is something that is not clear. I am very receptive to feedback of every nature, meaning that you can send me constructive comments and be assured that I will repeat them in my mind one thousand times until they get tattooed in my soul, and you can send me destructive comments as well, I do not mind.
Now, another thing to take into account is that I am not a fevered fan of the series, so there are many things that I might be ignorant about. My view of the universe is not that accurate, but I will try to maintain coherence with the original universe along my story. If there are facts that conflict or that it would be nice to consider for future chapters, do not hesitate to tell me.
Three. This story is OC heavy. It also involves a single canon/OC pairing, though romantic themes are not the central plot. The main reason why there will be many OC's is because this story involves a radical turn of events following the establishment of the Mortal Kombat, and so canon characters do not fill this particular antagonistic role. Don't worry though, the canon characters will still be the protagonists.
Four. This story follows the alternate timeline, a year after the end of MKX.
Well, not wanting the introductory paragraph to be longer than the chapter itself, let us begin!
Chapter One: The Seeds
"We will become the symbol of a new world
Light of wisdom and knowledge will bind our names
To the fate of kombat we will rebel
Protect our world from chaos and pain.
We will institute a society devoid of corruption
The meaning of peace will become our target
And for once the equilibrium of life will be respected.
We will become the foundation of a new world
We will be its seeds."
And once again the fragile sense of calmness dares to overwhelm the realms, and sink its inhabitants into a delusional state of peace. They all know that the way their world is made leaves no room for real tranquility, a fact that can be proven solely by recognizing how crucial it has become for children and adults alike to be trained in the arts of kombat, not by choice, but almost as an obligation. The institution of kombat transcends hundreds of earthrealms's lives, and the warlike nature of the world has made it so natural that most people resign themselves to what is necessary for earthrealm to survive the uncountable attacks from beings that try to tame it, and some of them actually enjoy the way their society is institutionalized.
There are others, though, that see the matter differently.
Word has started to spread of a secret, novel faction named "The Seeds". They are not a well defined group, with no particular alignment, no particular origin or currently known members save from its founder, an earthrealmer with no known face that goes by the pseudonym "The Illusionist". One thing about them is very clear though, their ideologies, and they are clear enough for awareness of the alleged organization to transcend to the other realms, leading to the quite alarming thought that their influence has widespread unnoticed for many years. If we consider the abstract faction for themselves and the things they pursue, we will find a particular difference between them and other groups; their complete reluctance to kombat. In fact, the main reason of the existence of the seeds is a manner of protest against it, and so in their agendas any form of violence is strictly forbidden. But even though they do not rely on force to be noticed, they manage to survive and rise awareness precisely because of that; because their modus operandi differs from the customs of their world, relying on a exaggerate concept of peace, cunning and conviction through feelings and sensations. And judging from their success at getting themselves known, we can conclude that their speeches do fulfill their objectives.
Another thing to take into account is that even though they have caused resentment between the inhabitants of the realms appealing to the "fallacies in a world institutionalized in kombat", it has been difficult to mitigate their influence, and that is because of two central aspects: the first one, because they are not an organization per se, but an abstract community of people following an ideology, searching to form a coherent group only as means of letting their presence be known. The other aspect is the fact that they are pacifists, people who do not rely in strength to make a statement, and thus they do not tend to break any regulation. Nevertheless, their recent operations are preoccupying since they behave passively, evading and molding rules and laws to their desires and thus causing discomfort and tension. They are becoming the foundation of a decentralized rebellion.
Now the heads of the realms, particularly earthrealm and the outworld, are facing themselves to a delicate predicament. Kotal Kahn for instance, just having succeeded at neutralizing the wick of a civil war, he is facing an outworld not fully recovered from its exposure to conflicting ideologies, and thus faces the difficulty of a world prone to reacting aggressively to any fault in their government. He, in particular, feels an intensified burden, a sense of anxiety surrounding the fact that until the last flames of the civil war cease to burn, he will have to be flawless; no mistakes, no doubts, no mercy, and certainly a group of pests putting wood to the fire does not help him at all. Of course, Kotal Kahn has not simply let them do as they please, every now and then he has cleverly captured some exponents of The Seeds and found ways to execute them for treason, but because even though he has led an investigation around them, their unorganized nature has made very difficult to localize their leaders, thus infuriating them each time the leader decides to harm their members and convictions directly. Also, he also bears the restrain of possibly helping to emphasize their points by leading a merciless world where freedom is prohibited. The line between security and tyranny slowly becomes very hard to differentiate.
In earthrealm things are not so different. With the recent bow of Raiden about protecting earthrealm and securing its safety at any cost, any attempt of disrupting his definition of order is certainly not welcome. Also, because earthrealm's society has been the target of most attacks that threaten the equilibrium of the realms, the people who live in there have the tendency of falling to extremes; either they devote their lives to the protection of their world through the ways of kombat, or they desperately search for ways to be completely alien to the relatively constant traces of conflict. In this case, The Seeds's targets are these vulnerable communities, people who are the most prone to supporting their cause.
Nobody knows the starting point of the organization, some say it was even before outworld's civil war, and it itself helped broaden their influence. Nevertheless, when they became noticeable for the public view their numbers had risen a lot, and thus eradicating them has become a important concern.
—I won't deny doing this leaves me with a bitter taste —and so, a small sigh is heard at earthrealm's special forces's barracks from one of their newest members, Jacqueline Briggs, while along her companion Cassandra Cage reviews the instructions for their next mission —. I mean, I know they threaten order with the things they do, but they are not bad people you know? I don't think they deserve punishment, they don't harm people.
—Think about it Jacqui —Cassandra intervenes, her voice clear and composed —. We don't know what they "attempt" to do. They just...lurk around and cause trouble wherever they're at, and while that itself should not be a problem, we have to consider the implications, being them the fact that they are causing other people to rebel and move towards something blurry and unorganized. In my opinion they are more trouble than they're worth. —
—Don't give me that Cassie, we try to force them to stop their operations because of "potential harm", and because they are supposedly an anarchist-like organization, okay, but my point is; they haven't DONE anything wrong. I mean, incarcerate them? Since when is a crime to think? At least they aren't wasting their lives getting wasted —immediately her companion turns her sight, interrupting Jacqueline's speech —Please spare me from the lecture Jacqui. You know, I also think this is too...severe, but we, and when I talk about we I mean you and me, don't really know about their political influence, and how it affects the realms according to their own laws. All I know is that Raiden considers them a threat to order, that disorder has risen and that we don't know about their power. I see that people are standing and beginning their own revolutionary associations, that the seeds promise freedom at the cost of security, and for myself that is reason enough to keep them between my eyes.
Before Jacqueline has the opportunity to counter her argument, the very well-known face of commander John Carlton, better known as Johnny Cage, appears before them, sporting his usual carefree expression —Ready for the next mission, ladies?
Immediately they both turn their attention to him, their faces focused and expectant —Sure dad. Bring it. —Answers a tranquil Cassandra, accustomed to sharing her workplace with her father and mother —Ok then —He promptly shortens his distance to the younger women, standing between them in order to present them a map with a few markings, probably describing the targets of the mission. Afterwards he continues, pointing his finger to each one of the marked places —As you probably know, the seed's influence has grown a lot in a short time. The markings that you see here are small communities that have started to follow and further spread their ideology. At the same time, these places have become the core of latent rebellion, so it's up to us to go there and avoid conflict. Your mission is precisely this, go there and find the members of the seeds, talk to them and state their intentions. Do your best not to shoot them in the process, we don't want a whole town turning against us. The main objective of this mission is to state two things; their intentions as a group and their influence in some small areas. There shouldn't be life-threatening trouble but I must ask, do you thing you're up to the task?
—Easy task, for all they do is talk. However, I ask your permission to bring Jin and Takeda along with us. We don't know when things could get ugly, or if there are other threats around.
—Of course, I wouldn't dare separate the elite team of fighters. After all, if it wasn't for you, instead of dealing with a group of pacifists we would be dealing with Shinnok. I prefer this turn of events, to be honest —Finished the commander before turning away from the girls, leading himself out of the room. That is, not before turning away one last time at its door —As soon as everything's ready, leave. If we finish this soon we can spare us all from Sonya's ramblings.
—Sure thing dad —Cassandra chuckles, just before seeing her father leave. —Thank me Jacqui, to this mission we could even allow you some quality time with Takeda. —Says while moving to organize some stuff, also turning communications on in an attempt to contact their companions on this and many missions before; Kung Jin and Takahashi Takeda. Her easygoing voice promptly brings a smile to her companion's face —Not the date I had in mind but... —Answers Jacqueline before being interrupted by Cassandra, whose face is now renewed with a concerned expression —Are you okay with this? We're not supposed to do anything to them, but...you know, with what you just told me... —
—Nah, don't worry, it's not that I don't get it. I understand the way Raiden is thinking, and we're not harming them, which is alright. Don't worry about me, let's go.
And so they do, leaving to face exponents from the seeds for the first time.