Apocalypse walks towards the fallen fighters who were severely hurt by his counter-attack. The eight-foot giant chuckles as he looks at them. The fighters moan in pain but none are dead. Tree stumps crunch under Apocalypse's feet.
The winged unicorn Pegasus, who wasn't hit by Apocalypse's attack, flies down to the ground. He stands in front the fighters and stares at Apocalypse as he's going to try to protect them from any more harm.
Apocalypse stops about a hundred feet away from Pegasus. They stare at each other. Pegasus shows that he isn't going to move, an easy target for Apocalypse. Apocalypse continues to chuckle quietly.
The stare down lasts for about half-a-minute. Some fighters watch still lying on the ground, some are frightened and some are angry. Everyone is exhausted.
Apocalypse turns his head to the side. "I have no time to deal with pathetic warriors like you."
Pegasus and everyone listen is surprised.
Apocalypse shrinks back to his original size. "You come fight me when you are stronger. Give me a challenge next time," Apocalypse says with a grin. A multi-colour, whirlpool-like portal opens behind him, he steps into in and the portal shrinks to nothing. His laughter slow fades.
Liu Kang, Ryu, and Goku slowly try to stand up. Pegasus turns and trots to Sailor Mini Moon to confront her. The area looks like a battle zone.
The NetherRealm
"Shinnok!" yells Xavier with a grin. "Our first victory."
"Raiden's forces have been defeated," says the dark figure on a dirt and bone throne. Xavier approaches Shinnok, the room is made out dirt, fire, skeletons, and souls burning within the fire. The room is almost in a shadow with the exception where the light from the fire hits. There is also a bald figure stands next to the throne.
"Yes," says Xavier. He stops near the base of the throne. "Our newest warrior has defeated each member that Raiden selected."
"Has he brought the souls of Raiden's dead for me to have?"
Xavier's grin disappears.
Shinnok's grin fades as well. He stands up from his throne in anger revealing his face to light. "HE LET THEM LIVE!!!"
"A minor setback."
"It's a setback! Apocalypse should have killed all of them, so we wouldn't have to worry about them and we can win this tournament."
"It can still be done."
"Now we have to try again."
"We now see their limitations. We can kill them all with one blow."
"'What does not kill them will only make them stronger'," says the bald figure. He steps out of the shadow. It's Quan Chi, Shinnok's lead sorcerer. "It is known that a saiyan can become much stronger in a near-death experience."
"There's two saiyans with Raiden," says Shinnok, "both are part of Raiden's best warriors. Don't you think that they might become more stronger because of this?"
Xavier is silent; he is slightly mad but more disappointed.
"Something is not right with Apocalypse," says Shinnok.
"Why do you say that about my strongest warrior?"
"He has never been under anyone's command. He's been always a loner except when he created his four horsemen."
"What's your point?" asks Xavier.
Shinnok's eyes flash for a quick second. Apocalypse's laugh echoes through the small room. "The mighty Apocalypse doesn't need to listen to leader of my enemies," says the echo of Apocalypse's voice. "I was told that Onslaught has been resurrected."
An echo of Onslaught's voice is then heard. "You should recognize someone who has surpassed your strength and ability in so many ways after your two failed attempts."
"I AM APOCALYPSE!"
"AND I AM ONSLAUGHT!"
"Why was I summoned when you claim you can do it yourself?"
The voices fade away. Quan Chi gives an evil half-smile to Xavier.
"I think he still has those feelings about you," says Shinnok to Xavier. "He can turn on you any minute."
"What do you think I should do?"
"One thing that Apocalypse had never had was loyalty to anyone," says Shinnok. He stills back down on his throne. "See if he had a change of life style."
Xavier turns in anger and begins to walk back through where he entered.
"Onslaught," adds Shinnok. "Do not disappoint."
Xavier continues out of the room.
MUGEN dimension
Pegasus nudges Sailor Mini Moon's head with his nose. She moans softly with each wobble of her head. With a few more nudges, she opens her eyes partial. She sits up and looks around. Others moan and get to their feet. She turns to Pegasus and gives a sigh with a kind smile.
"Is everyone alright?" yells Wolverine who was one of the first to stand up due to his rapid healing ability.
Ken staggers up. "I'll be fine."
One by one, each fighter stands up with a sign of injury. Goku and Gohan are both now just normal saiyans. Everyone's clothing is slightly torn. Piccolo growls quietly at his lose.
"Was Apocalypse that strong when you fought?" asks Kung Lao.
"No, not when I fought him with Cyclops," replies Ryu.
"He has been stronger before but he couldn't keep that much power for a long period of time," says Cyclops.
"And he has grown a lot bigger," adds Wolverine.
"Bigger?" asks Roll.
Liu Kang looks around, "Is everyone still breathing?"
"I think so," replies Spiderman.
Michaelangelo still lies on the ground, "I'm okay, dude. Just like me catch a few more Zs."
Pikachu and Kirby run up to Pegasus with a curious look. "Pi?" says Pikachu.
"Thanks, Pegasus," says Sailor Mini Moon.
"I just hope that you and I will meet again," says Pegasus with his telepathic-like speech. "This looks like a dangerous path of travel."
"He can talk too," says MegaMan.
Pegasus looks at MegaMan then back at her. "It is best that I return to the dream world." With that, Pegasus jumps into the air and flies higher. "So long, Rini." He disappears in a flash of light.
"Now what?" asks Knuckles.
A bolt of lightning hits the ground near the group, Raiden appears where it struck. He stands with his lightning staff and looks at each of his fighters.
Piccolo gives a growl at Raiden.
Liu Kang walks up to him, "I'm sorry, Raiden."
"It's okay now," replies Raiden. "I expected it to be a tough battle."
"You could have warned us," says Piccolo as he picks up his cape and turban, which are also slightly torn.
Raiden's eye flash and little spots of light flash on the torn parts of clothing and magically are repaired to its original condition. Piccolo is momentary surprise since he was looking right at the holes in his cape.
"APOCALYPSE!" yells Xavier. He enters through the staircase into his throne-room. All of his warriors look at him as he walks to his throne angrily.
"What is it, master?" asks Kintaro.
"Where is he?"
"He-He hasn't returned yet."
Xavier growls as he sits in his throne. Seconds pass, "Apocalypse! Show yourself to me!"
Several more seconds pass. Then the multi-colour portal opens, Apocalypse steps out through the doorway. "Why have you summoned me?"
Xavier looks at him with an evil stare. "Why did you let them live."
"Hmph. Those weaklings did not deserve Apocalypse's time."
"Whoever are my enemies are now yours. You were supposed to get rid of them."
"Any of them can be killed in an instant."
"Then go back and finish them all off… like you should have done."
"Fine, I will return to my opponents but I will kill them on my own terms." Apocalypse's portal reopens, he steps back into it, and it shrinks and disappears.
"I don't like the sound of his voice," Xavier says to himself. He then looks at his fighters, "Bison, Magneto, Cell, and Frieza. I want you four to watch him and make sure that he is following my orders."
"And if he doesn't?" asks Magneto.
"Kill him." And with that, the four depart through the hole in the ceiling.
Link uses a rough rock to sharpen his sword. Samus tries to get her energy gun operating, which is also similar to MegaMan's buster. They listen as they and the other Nintendo and Sonic characters take Raiden's advice. Raiden's original fighters listen to him or talk with others.
MegaMan stands with Roll and Sailor Mini Moon as he works with his buster. He searches for clues on the power-up that Pegasus gave him. He mutters to himself in hopes that some of it remained. His buster beeps for a second. "I still have the power-up!" he says excitedly.
"The power-up that Pegasus gave you?" asks Roll.
"Yeah," he replies. He lowers the buster and looks at them. "But it requires time to power up to use again. And I can hold up to five charges."
"Neat!"
"I wasn't really expecting anything like that to happen," says Sailor Mini Moon.
Gohan runs over to the small group, "Is everyone okay here?"
"Yeah, we are," replies Sailor Mini Moon. "Do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Uh… Okay."
"I never really thought of it before, but how are you able to transform?"
"Oh! Well, I guess it's because I'm part saiyan. Almost all the saiyans I know can transform," replies Gohan with a smile. "Can I ask the same about you?"
She grabs the locket on her chest, "I can transform because of the crystal in my locket."
"Okay."
In another group, most of the others talk to each other. Even Piccolo now talks with others.
"Any ideas?" asks IronMan.
"He looks almost unbeatable," says Goku. "Even the Spirit Bomb didn't hurt him much."
"And a team attack didn't help either," adds Captain America, "he just threw it back at us."
"What's bothering me," says Liu Kang, "is that he is working for Onslaught."
"Imagine how tough he is," adds Kung Lao.
"Maybe a deep freeze will stop him," suggests Sub-Zero.
"That would only slow him down," says Cyclops. "Apocalypse is known for this, his invincibility."
"So what can we do?" asks Piccolo.
"We can only fight and hope to beat him," replies Cyclops.
WarMachine turns his head and sees Raiden approaching towards them and the other groups. Raiden stops so that he can see everyone with a slight turn of his head, which is coincidently close to one of the impressions that Apocalypse created.
"I have decided to take Samus, Luigi, Link, Fox, Tails, and Bunnie back to their dimension so that they can help protect it while their companions help us. I would like you to welcome Sonic, Knuckles, Mario, and Kirby to the group. I will leave a medallion like the one I showed you a few days ago with them so that they can view what's happening here."
A portal materializes behind him. One by one each of the departers enters it with a ripple flowing outward from where they entered.
"I will return as soon as I can. And till then, I pray for your safety." The portal closes behind Raiden as he raises his lightning staff to the heavens. Lightning strikes him and he vanishes.
"Somehow, I don't think his wishes are going to keep us safe," says Morrigan.
Liu Kang's the first to walk up to them to shake their hands and welcome them. Pikachu escorted Kirby around to see the children while Mario, Sonic, and Knuckles go to the others to talk about themselves and Apocalypse.
A few minutes pass, Raiden hasn't returned yet. They learned a bit about the four new comers but then went back to their focus on Apocalypse. Suddenly, Gohan senses something around them. He searches to find out what it is. Some watch him curiously. Goku sees his son acting strangely but quickly figures out what's going on, "Oh no."
"What?" asks Kung Fu Man.
Apocalypse's laughter echoes through the air. "He's back," says Gohan.
Everyone looks around for him but, since Gohan can't tell where he is, they don't know where to look.
A small, bluish spot flows just above the ground away from them, most of them see it. The spot suddenly collapses onto itself and spreads out horizontally, everyone is now watching. The spot has become a multi-colour portal, Apocalypse's personal doorway. From it rises the invincible being, chuckling with his arms crossed while he looks at the fighters. "I HAVE RETURNED!"
Goku and Gohan transform into their Super Saiyan forms, but no one knows what to do.
"No one wants to fight me for you know that you will lose," says Apocalypse. "I'll give you a chance, I will stay in at his size for the entire battle."
Seconds pass, long seconds. Apocalypse waits for them to attack first. His chuckle turns into a laugh, everyone becomes uneasy. Suddenly, a Piccolo appears behind Apocalypse and dive kicks, hitting him while he was off-guard.
"NOW!" yells the Piccolo in the group.
Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo are the first to dodge out of the group. Gohan and Piccolo each elbow-check him back the other way. Goku and the other Piccolo then kick him back again. Apocalypse almost loses his balance.
B.B. Hood pulls out several small grenades from her basket, ready to use them. Everyone jumps in at the dizzied Apocalypse with a punch and/or kick attack of their own. Their effort forces him back.
"Stand back," yells Sub-Zero. Everyone steps far behind him. He begins scooping the surrounding air into an invisible ball, which materializes into 'semi-liquid ice' within a second. As Apocalypse starts to stand up right again, Sub-Zero throws a stream of ice at him, freezing him. Sub-Zero runs up to the ice statue, and does a roundhouse kick to Apocalypse's left side. Oddly, the kick does not shatter Apocalypse like most of Sub-Zero's victims. Instead, Sub-Zero's foot bounces off.
Others run up for a try. Captain America charges with his shield. Sonic and Knuckles try to slice through. Michaelangelo uses his knunchunks repeated to crack Apocalypse open. And Goku, both Piccolos, Kung Fu Man, Wolverine, Ryu, and Ken punch and kick repeatedly. But all the attack seems to have no effect.
The ice statue begins to shake.
"Bombs away!" yells B.B. Hood. Everyone attacking runs away when they see the grenades hit the ground near them. One goes off behind Apocalypse, then one in front, then all the others blow up.
As the fireworks, smoke, and debris disappear, all that remained was the slightly cracked, ice statue. Loud cracking sounds are heard before Apocalypse shatters the thick layer of ice. Apocalypse growls at them.
Megaman switches his buster to use the power-up.
Apocalypse raises his right fist in the air and brings it down to the ground, creating a earthquake-like shockwave. Everyone loses their balance and either fall down or manage to maintain it again. Apocalypse swings his body around and reveals the laser cannon on his left arm. He fires it instantly, hitting everyone.
The fighters moan as they lay one the ground but no as bad as before. The two Piccolos became one as they collided with each other.
Apocalypse morphs his hand back. He stands upright and looks at them. "Again, you have failed to amaze me. You are not worth my time."
"Your time!?"
Apocalypse looks up into the sky. There, hovering in the air, is Bison, Magneto, Cell, and Frieza.
"Any business of Onslaught is your business," continues Magneto where Bison left off.
"Why are you four here?" questions Apocalypse.
"We came to make sure you did as you were told," replies Frieza.
"So finish them off as your master told you to," says Cell.
Apocalypse looks down at the fighters who are watching them back. He looks back up at the four. "These are nothing but insignificant ants that can be put out of existence without even a thought. Onslaught is nothing but a mouse to me. Join me as the new horsemen of the Mighty Apocalypse."
The four look at each other. Then Frieza looks down at the fighters and forms a fireball in his hand. The fighters become worried.
Apocalypse laughs in triumph at the Raiden's men. He has gained four of Onslaught's mightiest warriors.
"DIE!" yells Frieza as he throws the fireball. The fireball approaches them, then it curves and his Apocalypse who is caught off guard again and moans.
Apocalypse looks up in anger. "Traitors!"
"We are not the traitors here, Apocalypse," says Magneto, "but you are the one who has went against your master."
Apocalypse begins to grow like his rage. "You want to fight me. Then bring it on. You will have as much luck as they did." He grows to about a hundred feet, tall than when he fought a few hours ago.
Cell prepares to throw a fireball, "Kha… meh… ha… MEH… HA!!!"
Frieza raises his hand in the air, "Distruco Disc!!!"
They throw their attack simultaneously. Cell's fireball hits Apocalypse in the chest, forcing him back. While Frieza's attack hits at the bottom of the neck but skits off leaving a deep scratch, which heals like before.
Bison flies back while Magneto goes right above Apocalypse. "MEGA PSYCHO CRUSHER!" yells Bison as he does his special attack on Apocalypse. A large trail of energy follows Bison as he flies past.
"MEGA MAGNETIC WAVE!" yells Magneto as he does special attack. A large blast rises from the ground engulfing Apocalypse.
The four fly back to where they were. Apocalypse stands up with a few bruises but nothing bad enough to teach him a lesson. He gives a small chuckle, "You are as pathetic as they are. Onslaught is foolish if he picked you as his top warriors."
"A FOOL AM I?!" questions Onslaught's (not Xavier's) voice in anger from all around them. "A MOUSE AM I?!!"
Transparent portals form all around. Through them come Kintaro, Dr. Doom, Dr. Octopus, Demitri, Juggernaut, the Ninjas, and Baraka.
"WEAKER THAN YOU AM I?!!!"
"If all your fighters are as bad as these one," replies Apocalypse, "then yes, you are."
All of Onslaught's fighters swarm Apocalypse using their attacks against him. Everyone attacks from below if they can't fly or everywhere else if they can. Kintaro give a mighty jump and lands on Apocalypse's chest where he repeatedly punches his face with his four muscular arms.
Apocalypse swings his arms and kicks furiously. Raiden's men can only watch with a slightness of surprise because they were fighting one of their best.
Apocalypse grabs Kintaro and plows him into the ground. Then he roars and a small energy field forms around him pushing all of Onslaught's fighters back and down to the ground.
The fighters lay on the ground with minor pain but are ready to jump up and fight again.
"YOU ARE ALL FOOLS! NO ONE CAN BEAT THE MIGHTY APOCALYPSE!!!"
The blue, night sky suddenly darkness to a dark blue with the moon not as bright. Everyone's attention turns to a figure hovering in the sky, it's Xavier.
Apocalypse chuckles slightly, "You have finally come to challenge me."
Xavier looks back at him with an angry expression. In Onslaught's voice he says, "You have betrayed me. I have given you your ability to finally reach for your ultimate wish. And instead, you wish to use it against me. Well, no more." Xavier's body begins to glow like a darkened, bright light. "I am indestructible... I have the power of a god… I… AM…" Xavier's body morphs into a large form with red armour and helmet and blue metallic boots and shoulder armour. "…ONSLAUGHT!" Some are surprised to see his true form for the first time, even some of his warriors.
Onslaught faces off against the gigantic Apocalypse. Apocalypse morphs his hand into the mace ball and brings it down on top of Onslaught. Onslaught uses both his arms to push it away from with little force, shocking everyone watching. Apocalypse growls as he forces down harder, but then Onslaught lowers one hand while only stopping the mace with his other. Apocalypse growls in anger. Onslaught raises his free hand forward and fires a large, dense, energy beam at Apocalypse's side, which tears away a large part of him. Apocalypse moans in pain, then morphs his hand back and covers the wound as it heals.
"The indestructible giant is about to fall," says Onslaught. Apocalypse swings on arm at him, which he easily dodges. "This ends now!" Onslaught creates a fireball in his right hand and throws it at Apocalypse's head. The fireball flattens and widens as it spins through the air and goes through Apocalypse's neck like a Distructo Disc. Apocalypse's head hits the ground with blood splattering the short grass near it, Apocalypse's body soon falls near the head. Onslaught points his arm, palm forward, at the corpse and a large energy beam rises from the ground, engulfing Apocalypse. When the beam stops, Apocalypse's body and head is gone. Everyone can't believe what they had witness.
A few seconds pass, then Onslaught slowly turns towards Raiden's men. "Time to finish you off," says Onslaught as he raises his arm at them too.
Lightning is heard above them. Onslaught looks up into the sky, a lightning storm has taken over the sky. The lightning increasing in frequency, then a bolt hits the ground between the fighters and Onslaught. Where the bolt hit stands Raiden. The lightning's frequency calms down to one every couple seconds.
Onslaught lowers his arm. "Raiden."
"This battle has ended for this day," says Raiden. "Take your warriors and go."
"This war is far from over," says Onslaught as he hovers downward to the ground. "You know that in the end it will come down to a battle between you and me."
Raiden is silent.
"You know that I'm right. The war will end based on one of our deaths."
Raiden point's Onslaught's men, miniature bolts of lightning flow all over them stunning them and holding them in their place. "I'm warning you. Take your warriors and go now!"
The sky reds suddenly. Everyone looks at the sky to try and understand what's going on. Small, ghost-like, black orbs form all around and move towards Onslaught. A few seconds pass as the orbs combine into a dark figure. Colours form on the figure giving it a visible body, head, and limbs.
"Shinnok!" whimpers Liu Kang. Raiden's newest fighters are finally meeting Raiden's long-time opponent.
"Why are you here?" asks Raiden.
"Foolish Raiden," says Shinnok. "You know I am permanently part of Mortal Kombat. And now I'm part of this war."
"Why are you a part of this?"
"You should know. There's a prize for me too," Shinnok says with a grin.
"Leave now!"
"Now Raiden, you know that you cannot stand a chance against the two of us."
Onslaught chuckles. First Raiden prepares to fight then Onslaught and Shinnok. Long seconds pass. Then a strong wind flows by everyone. Shinnok gets distracted by the wind because he and Raiden knew what was to come of it. Suddenly, another figure materializes beside Raiden. Raiden's stun attack on Onslaught's fighters stops.
All the fighters gasps in surprise.
"Why are you here, Fujin?" asks Raiden.
"I've come to help you, Raiden," he replies.
"You shouldn't have come."
"Yeah. I know. But I couldn't let them face you alone."
"Let's skip the tournament rules," says Shinnok. "Just fight."
Seconds pass. Raiden is facing off against Shinnok while Fujin faces off against Onslaught. Suddenly, Shinnok does a shadow charge at Raiden causing Raiden to fly far back. Fujin and Onslaught jump high into the air. Raiden recovers in midair, lands on the ground, and jumps forward doing his Torpedo attack with his famous battle cry. The quick attack catches Shinnok and pushes him into a tree trunk cracking it.
In the air, Fujin delivers quick punches and kicks to Onslaught while Onslaught tries to hit Fujin with energy blasts. Onslaught unleashes a wind of debris causing Fujin to block but he gets slightly injured with each hit. Onslaught charges and hits Fujin, knocking him back. Fujin recovers, he raises his hand in the air and a whirlwind forms tossing Onslaught around.
Shinnok stands up and stares at Raiden angrily. Shinnok's fighting stance suddenly changes matching Raiden's. Shinnok gathers electricity in his fist and throws it at him. Raiden teleports out of the way.
Suddenly, Onslaught comes flying down with Fujin in his open palm. They hit a treed area. A strong wind blows by Raiden and Fujin materializes beside him, slightly injured.
Shinnok and Onslaught regroup, their fighters come up to their side to fight.
"Maybe some other day," says Raiden. He throws his arm forward, creating a electric bubble around them. The bubble disappears as they are teleported away. The skies clear back to night.
Raiden lowers his arm. Then he and Fujin walk to Liu Kang and the others. "Is everyone alright?"
"I think so, Raiden," replies Liu Kang. "Apocalypse didn't do much this time."
"Is Apocalypse gone?" asks Cyclops.
"He is now deceased," replies Raiden, "but he can come back as he is known to do."
"I wish to stay," says Fujin.
"No," he replies, "I wanted you stay out of this. This is something I wished you didn't get involved in."
"I will respect your wishes but if I see something wrong, I'll be the first one here."
"I guess I can't stop you from doing that." Raiden smiles at Fujin as if saying 'thanks anyway.'
Fujin smiles back. He turns to the others, "I'm sure we will meet again." He disappears into a clam wind and moves by them.
"Is everyone ready to walk back?" asks Raiden. "I will join you."
They all begin to walk back to their camp. Fujin breezes by one more time before departing to the heavens.