(I wake up with a pulsing headache)
Me: Ugh! Talk about a wild one.
Chase: (walks in) Are you alright?
Me: Yeah. Are you and Skye feeling okay after what happened last month?
Chase: We're a bit shaken, but yeah.
Me: Alright. Do you think you could help me find the others? If you find Rocky, could you ask him and help me clean up?
Chase: Don't worry, Chase is on the case.
(Chase and I begin searching for the others)
Project MV Zone
Hero Chapter 2: Spirit of the Tiger
Tiger's Lair
Day of the Dimensional Convergence
(Jago's POV)
"Months have passed since I, along with several other fighters, have defeated the malevolent Shadow Lord Gargos and brought peace to Earth. But something tells me that though the Earth is saved, there is still danger roaming about, waiting for the chance to strike." My thoughts began to process as I meditate alone. "Even now, I meet potential allies from far away." I stand up and turn around before I notice a lone ninja, clad in blue. His forearms are coated in a thin layer of ice so it is safe to assume that he is a cryomancer, much like Glacius. With a stoic look in his eyes, he spoke to me.
"You are the one called Jago, correct?" The ninja asks.
"What is it that you want from me?" I question his intentions.
"I am Sub-Zero, Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei and I bring grave news." This ninja, named Sub-Zero, told me. "A fallen Elder God known as Shinnok has risen from the Netherrealm and he has gathered allies from your realm among others. He has also obtained six stones of unfathomable power. The Thunder God Raiden has deduced that to stop Shinnok, we must gather as many allies as we could." He explains. "The question is would you be willing to save your realm and several others?"
"How do I know I can trust you, Sub-Zero?" I asked.
"I would be lying if I said I will not save your life." He tells me, leaving me puzzled as to why he'd say that. My answer came when Sub-Zero pushed me aside and blocked a fireball that was aimed for me with an ice shield. I turn around and noticed an ancient bronze war golem covered in stone, vines and bushes, as well as a being made entirely of super-heated plasma and flames. I recognized them right away.
"Aganos and Cinder!" I identified the intruders.
"You know these two?" Sub-Zero asks me.
"Yes. I fought alongside those two against the Shadow Lord." I clarified.
"Long time no fight, Jago." Cinder spoke before noticing Sub-Zero. "And I see you already made a new friend."
"What gives you the right to come here unannounced?!" I questioned.
"Rights? Who needs rights when I've got power?" Cinder states.
"Your flames will not save you." Sub-Zero challenged as he fires an icy projectile from his palms. Cinder counters with a flame ball as they engage in combat, leaving me standing face-to-face with Aganos. The golem roars, challenging me.
"You're making a grave mistake, Aganos. But if you wish to fight me, so be it." I spoke as I began to fight Aganos.
Aganos tucks into a ball and rolls forwards, but I break his maneuver with a swift strike of my kora sword. I deal a flurry of kicks to the legs and knock him into the air and follow up with an Endokuken. Aganos attempts a right hook but I ducked and countered with another kora swing and finished this fight mercifully with an aerial kick.
"We'll deal with this dispute later." I told the downed golem before looking over to Sub-Zero and Cinder still battling. Sub-Zero fires another ice ball, but Cinder dodges and tackles the cryomancer to the ground. He prepares a fireball to kill Sub-Zero, but I was able to rescue him by firing an Endokuken.
"You've got some nerve coming here and attacking us." I told Cinder.
"Says the monk who followed Gargos through most of his life." Cinder taunted me.
"He was deceiving me!" I yelled. "You may have been created by Ultratech, but even they can't save you now!" The two of us assume a fighting stance.
Cinder charges at me, but I deal a sweep attack to counter and deal a Wind Kick. I fire another Endokuken, which was blocked, but once Cinder jumped up, I dealt a powerful Tiger Fury. I blocked a couple of fire blasts with my kora sword and counter with another Wind Kick. Blows are exchanged, but one more Endokuken was enough to knock Cinder out.
"Gargos is the real enemy, Cinder, not me." I told the downed Cinder. I soon approached Sub-Zero and offered a hand. "Can you move?"
Sub-Zero takes my hand as I pull him up to his feet. "I'll be okay. The question is, are they?"
"Don't worry. It'll take more than that to kill them." I noted. "I understand Aganos and Cinder coming here, but why? And what were they doing?"
"We can ponder on that matter another day. For now, we should leave before anyone else comes here." Sub-Zero suggested, but we were suddenly cut off.
I turn to a dark purple portal opening and there he was. The Shadow Lord Gargos. With his demonic gargoyle-like appearance, he stares down at me and Sub-Zero with his diabolical green eyes.
"Gargos!" I scowled under my metal mask.
"I knew you would not stray far from this temple, Jago." Gargos deduced.
"But why return now? I was certain I defeated you in the Astral Plane!" Jago informed the Shadow Lord.
"This Shadow Lord isn't so easily killed, you know." Gargos clarifies. "And to answer your question, I work for my new master now."
"Master?" Gargos working under a master left me puzzled until Sub-Zero cleared the air.
"It is safe to assume that Shinnok convinced you to join his ranks, didn't he?" Sub-Zero asks.
"How perceptive of you, Grandmaster." Gargos spoke as he punches into a portal. Another portal opens near Sub-Zero and Gargos' punch knocks him down.
"Sub-Zero!" I yelled.
"Do not worry, Jago. He will live, but I can't say the same for you!" Gargos challenged me to battle, to which I accept.
Gargos immediately leapt into a portal above him, but with a well-timed Tiger Fury was able to knock him out of the air. I dealt a flurry of slashes to the Shadow Lord. Gargos' presence caused my Shadow Energy to surge. With it, I dealt a more devastating Wind Kick. Our battle went back and forth, but ultimately, with one Tiger Fury, Gargos was defeated. Gargos got to stand up, but collapsed onto one knee thanks to his injuries.
"Your evil ends here!" I spoke to the Shadow Lord. I prepared to finish him off, but I heard footsteps. They got louder as something approached the temple. I noticed a walking behemoth with a rocket launcher in hand. It looked like its skin was decayed and looked like it was stitched together down the middle. One of its eyes was yellow while the stitched skin concealed the other. Its teeth and gums show that it lacks any lips. "W-What is that thing?"
"My most loyal ally. Nemesis, meet Jago. Jago, meet your death!" Gargos laughs as he escapes through a purple portal.
Nemesis growls lowly, glancing at me with its one eye. If I am to defeat this monstrosity called Nemesis, then I must not hold back.
"I do not care if you follow Gargos' orders. You will fall!" I yelled before engaging in combat with Nemesis.
I dealt a strong Wind Kick, but Nemesis didn't even flinch to that. Nemesis responds by dealing a backhand with that rocket launcher. I got back up and began using my sword along with a flurry of kicks and palm strikes. Though the behemoth did not flinch, Nemesis must have felt the effects. This was my chance to finish this fight. I dealt a Wind Kick, which actually dealt some damage. I deal a devastating combination of sword slashes, roundhouse kicks, palm strikes and I finish with a giant fireball that is almost twice the size of my opponent. I unleash that fireball upon him, scorching him.
"My death does not come today." I spoke before turning to the Lin Kuei Grandmaster, who was able to get up from that attack from Gargos. He looks towards Nemesis.
"Is he…?" Sub-Zero asked; feeling a bit concerned about my battle with Nemesis.
"My attack was not fatal. He'll survive." I informed him. "You were right. A crisis is looming, far worse than Gargos himself."
"Correct, Jago. It is best you come with me to the Sky Temple in Earthrealm." Sub-Zero suggested. "Raiden will explain everything to you."
"But my allies…" I spoke, worried about my allies.
"Do not worry; my allies have informed them of the situation. We will meet with them at the Temple." Sub-Zero told me.
"Of course…" I said as we left the Tiger's Lair, hoping that the Grandmaster would be speaking the truth.
Sky Temple – Jinsei Chamber
Day of the Dimensional Convergence
After arriving to this Temple, the one called Raiden explained to me and my allies of what is transpiring. Once we were told of this unexpected news, I was surprised. At first, Gargos and Shinnok working together sounded impossible since Gargos is only loyal to himself, but hearing about Gargos aligning with Shinnok from Sub-Zero proved me wrong.
"So my intel was right. Gargos has teamed up with this Shinnok." Orchid, my half-sister, confirmed.
"And he has gathered allies from worlds much different from ours." Raiden informs us. "And he intends to merge those realms into one. But how, I do not know." Before the Thunder God can explain more, the chamber began to shake.
"What is going on?! What's happening?!" Tusk, the immortal warrior asked.
"It is as I feared. The realms are beginning to merge!" Raiden informed us. Soon, the quaking ceased completely.
"That's it?" Cage asked.
"I'll go check outside." Orchid said before leaving the chamber.
"Raiden, is this sudden event what your vision warned you about?" Kim Wu, guardian of the astral Dragon spirit asked.
"Indeed it is, Kim Wu. I envisioned it occurring just like it has now." Raiden told us. "But it's strange. Though the realms have just merged, this Chamber is not affected."
"Everyone! You might want to take a look at this!" Orchid shouts from outside the temple. Everyone, including myself, sped towards the temple courtyard and noticed a giant metal sphere in the sky. It sported a face none of us know of or has ever seen before.
"Is it me or does that moon up there look very strange?" Jacqui asked, completely puzzled by that weird moon's appearance.
"That is no moon…" I whispered. Suddenly, Tusk noticed a bat-shaped jet approaching the temple.
"We have a visitor." Tusk reports. The jet starts hovering in front of us as the cockpit opens, revealing the pilot to be a masked man garbed in black and silver. The cowl appears to have a bit of a bat motif as well as the bat-shaped symbol on the chest. But what I heard next surprised me.
"We meet again, Batman." Raiden greeted the masked man.
"You know this man?" I asked.
"Raiden, Scorpion and I were unexpectedly transported to his universe at some point in our lives." Sub-Zero explains.
"Yes, but now is not the time to explain. We need to look into this. Come with me to Gotham. There is something I must show you." Batman tells us. A dropship came and picked us up.
Gotham City
Day of the Dimensional Convergence
The dropship followed the jet all the way to Gotham City. I noticed a type of prison from within the dropship. We found ourselves inside a type of underground cave, but it looked more like a subway station that has been converted into a base of operations.
"This place was once the original Gotham Underground, built by Kenneth Wayne, but these days…" Batman began before we enter his base of operations. "…It's the Batcave."
"I always imagined the Batcave being built under a mansion." Kitana stated.
"Appearances can be deceiving." Batman told her before he led us to a type of hub. "Now then, I'd like all of you to meet Brother Eye."
"More like the Eye of Sauron. Surveillance hub?" Kung Jin asks.
"More than that. A communications hub linked to every satellite and server on the planet. It warns us when trouble's coming, and guides us when trouble's here." Batman explains.
"I've never seen such amazing technology, especially this far away from Paris." Bentley said, awestruck at the sight of Brother Eye.
"It must take a real genius to operate tech like this…" Jacqui comments before we hear another voice.
"I don't know about "genius," but I do have a PhD." A chair swivels around, revealing a young woman with blonde hair tied in pigtails with dyed tendrils on each side, one side red and the other blue. She's wearing a leather outfit that is one-half red and one half black with four diamonds on the red side of her pants. Two gun holsters are strapped to her thighs. She greets us as she is chewing some bubble gum.
"Hanzo! Kuai Liang! Raiden! I haven't seen you in ages. You sure came a long way." She greeted us. "And I see you brought some friends."
"I'm surprised that you of all people brought us here. Things seem to be going well for you. So what happened?" Sonya asked.
"Long story short, some wizard in red opened a gateway to the Phantom Zone and freed Superman. And it appears that what's left of the Regime joined the wizard's ranks." Batman informs us. It didn't take long for Raiden to figure out who opened the Phantom Zone and freed the dictatorial Man of Steel.
"Shinnok."
"So you heard of this guy." Batman said to the Thunder God.
"Shinnok was a former Elder God that was involved in a seemingly endless war with Earthrealm." Raiden explains. "Three months ago, he was incarcerated and sent to the Netherrealm. But now, he is free."
"But why now? For what reason would he break Superman out of the Phantom Zone?" Sub-Zero asks.
"The reason he freed him for is why I brought you here." Batman told us. "Since our worlds have merged with several others, it created gaps in global security. My affiliates are covering them where we can, but we're stretched thin; vulnerable. I can assume this Shinnok has allies working in the dark. Harleen, show them what you found."
"Right-o, Bats." Harley Quinn, often referred to as "Harleen", replies before typing in some details. The screen reveals a being made entirely of a dark energy, along with portraits of several others, one of which was of a familiar stone golem.
"Blackheart, everyone's favorite spawn of Mephisto… He's got himself a band of cronies, calls them the "New Society"." She reports her findings.
"Thankfully, my mole in South America informed me that Blackheart is planning something big." Maya states. "But what, where, when, we don't know."
"Speaking of which, I do remember overhearing something about them testing some kind of biological weapon: a gas. I believe they called it the Revenant Virus." Boxer TJ Combo piped. "They intend to ship it to Blackheart from a shoddy little hideaway in Christ's Crown."
"I want five of you head to Christ's Crown, find that hideout and stop that gas from reaching Blackheart." Batman recommended.
"Not joining us for the party?" Takeda asks.
"As much as I'd be willing to assist you, Gotham needs my full attention." Batman tells us.
"And besides, there are still allies that we must find in this newly combined world." Raiden adds.
"Exactly. We must find whoever we can and convince them to help us." Batman states.
"Don't worry, Bats. With this crew on the job, what could go wrong?" Harley quips before leaving with Cassie, Maya, TJ Combo and Sub-Zero.
"Batman, I know we just met, but do you really trust someone like her fighting alongside you?" I asked.
"She's a much different person since Joker died. Mostly." Batman tells me. I contemplate on how four of my allies can trust a woman like Harley. But though it wracks my mind, I have a mission to complete.
(With Rocky's help, we got the place cleaned in record time)
Me: Whew! All clean.
Rocky: I'll be honest. We had a lot of fun.
Me: Especially with Skye and Zuma playing Pup-Pup Boogie like it's a competition.
Rocky: (Laughs) Yeah. They can be pretty competitive when it comes to Pup-Pup Boogie. I enjoy New Year's Eve.
Me: So do I. Well, I better get started as soon as I can. You readers may leave a review. Archer out!