Disclaimer: I do not own Mortal Kombat or it's characters. All rights belong to Ed Boon, Nether Realm Studios and Warner Bros.
A young man dodges an attack from a fellow warrior monk before countering with an uppercut that knocks the man down as the young man lands on his feet.
Thud, thud!
An elderly man, the grand master of the Dark Wu Shi Academy, pounds his staff against the wooden floor, making both fighters quickly cease the fight and bow respectfully.
"I believe that will be enough for today, you two. Rest up and be ready for tomorrow. Your tests will be most difficult after all." The grand master said to the two young students.
"Yes, master." Both students say with another respectful bow before turning to leave the dojo's room.
"Kurai. Wait a moment." The grandmaster calls out to one of the young men.
The young man, Kurai, stops and turns around when the grandmaster calls him and waited as he was instructed.
"Kurai, my friend, you've come and gone for many, many years and been here since before either one of us today was born. You've practically honed your combat abilities to near perfection. In all your 9,000 years here in Earthrealm, have you not found what you were looking for?" The grandmaster asks Kurai.
Kurai just looks at the old master and shakes his head. "No, Grandmaster Han. As you've said, I've been in Earthrealm for over 9,000 years and not once have I found a clue that tells me where I'm truly from, who my parents were or why I..." He says to the old man before pausing and motioning to himself.
"Age slower than most. I've made great friends and allies over the years, but while they've all passed, I still remain." He finishes his thought with a look of sorrow on his face.
Grandmaster Han sighs deeply and places a hand on Kurai's shoulder, making the 9,000 year old warrior look up at him. "Kurai, you're a great warrior and you've done a great many things since your time in Earthrealm. But after your test tomorrow, I believe that you should find other means to find what you're searching for." The elderly master says to the 9,000 year old youth, but Kurai looks at him with confusion on his face.
"What do you mean by that, Grandmaster?" He asks curiously, but the old man shakes his head.
"I will explain tomorrow. Whether you pass or fail your test, I shall explain as much as I can to you and hopefully point you in the right direction." He answers, but Kurai still looks at him confused.
"Why can't you tell me everything?" He asks with confusion.
Why can't the old man tell him everything that he needs to know in order for him to start in a for sure direction?
Grandmaster Han sighs deeply before rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Because our lighter counterpart academy, the Wu Shi Academy, or rather, the White Lotus Society, deems us unworthy of such information because of our more brutal ways." He answers while sighing deeply. He looks at Kurai again before letting out a light chuckle.
"No need to worry yourself with that though, Kurai. Between the two of us, you would certainly fit right in with either side of the Wu Shi Academy. We all decide what to do and what not to do with out combat abilities and techniques. Although, I have all the faith in Earthrealm that you will do what you feel is right, always. Even if no body else agrees with you." The elderly grandmaster says to his student and friend before walking down the steps slowly to leave the dojo, but pauses at the sliding door to look over his shoulder at Kurai.
"But don't worry about that, right now, my friend. Rest up for tomorrow for your test. You're going to need it." He says before opening the sliding door and walks out of the dojo before closing it.
Kurai stands there staring at the door trying to figure out and understand his friends words before shaking his head. "He's right. I'll worry about it after the test. I'll go and get some rest so I don't mess up. I've skipped out on my test for over 9,000 years, it's time for me to grow up and face my fears." He thinks to himself before taking in a deep breath and sighs before walking towards the door and walk out of the room.
Next morning...
Kurai wakes up early in the morning to mentally prepare for the test to come. After a few moments of silence during a small ritual to the Elder Gods for patience, protection and strength to overcome the trial of his test, Kurai stands back up and dresses himself in his warrior robes before leaving his room.
He heads to main hall of the academy where multiple Dark Wu Shi monks are standing in their spots, watching him.
At the end of the hall is an alter where Grandmaster Han is currently standing with a two golden bowl in front if him on a table and a light blue flower next to the bowls. One of those bowls had a fire raging inside it.
Taking in a deep breath, Kurai walks forward to take his test.
"Grandmaster Han, I've come to take my test." He says as he kneels down before Han and the alter.
Han nods his head. "So you have." He says simply before picking up the flower, placing it in the bowl and begins to grind the flower inside the bowl with a miniature club before pouring the remains of the flower into the second bowl that held the fire. While he poured, the flower burned and released a fume that flowed slowly out of the bowl.
Kurai, who had been waiting patiently, watched as Grandmaster Han handed him the bowl and said simply. "Breathe."
As instructed, Kurai closed his eyes before he took in a slow deep breath and inhaled the smokey fumes of the flower.
After breathing in the fumes, Kurai opened his eyes to see that Han and his fellow students had disappeared, leaving only himself in the darkened hall.
"To pass this test, you must face your fears while also facing your worst enemy. Yourself. Depending on the results of this test, whether you pass or fail, it will determine the kind of warrior you choose to be when you leave the academy, Kurai. Now... begin." Grandmaster Han's disembodied voice explained to him as Kurai looked around and waited.
But he didn't wait for long as he suddenly felt a presence behind him and ducked to avoid the attack.
Rolling away he jumps up to the balcony and looks down at his attacker.
It was, like Han said, himself with dead white eyes and gray skin with his veins glowing like there is fire flowing fiercely inside him.
"What on earth?" He thinks to himself while his dark half smirks and begins to chuckle.
"Well, then, here we are at last. You finally decided to stop running?" Dark Kurai asks as Kurai himself scowls and narrows his eyes.
"I never ran to begin with. There were things I needed to figure out and I haven't found the answers yet." He explains, making his dark half snort at his answer.
"NEEDED to figure things out? For 9,000 years you needed to figure things out, and not once have you found the answers you were searching for?" Dark Kurai asks mockingly with a chuckle.
Kurai just shrugs. "I apparently have nothing but time. It's not like I'm from Earthrealm anyway." He answers. Dark Kurai just chuckles lightly before bursting with laughter.
After a few moments, he stops and tries to compose himself before looking back up at Kurai. "You're right. You're not from Earthrealm. You're from somewhere else." He says with a knowing sneer.
Kurai glares at Dark Kurai and grips the railing of the balcony. "If you know so much about me, why not just tell me what you know?" He asks him, making him laugh with a shrug.
"I think you and I both know that that is not how this works. You want answers? Fight me and MAYBE I'll tell you. Then again, maybe not. Besides, you'll find your answers soon enough. And sooner than you think." He answered, which only made Kurai begin to lose his patience before deciding to jump down to the ground floor.
"Have it your way then."
"Oh, I intend to."
Kurai vs. Dark Kurai...
Dark Kurai charges forward towards Kurai and tries to punch him to knock him off balance or stun him, but Kurai dodges every punch and kick thrown at him because he knows every move his dark half is going to make just as Dark Kurai knows Kurai's moves.
Eventually, Kurai grabs Dark Kurai's foot when he tried to kick him and swings him against one of the pillars inside the hall before throwing him down near the entrance.
Standing up and spitting out blood, Dark Kurai wipes his mouth and smirks before making a fist then suddenly throws a light blue fireball towards Kurai, surprising him.
Wide eyed and in shock, Kurai quickly bends backwards to avoid the fireball as it hits the alter. He stands back up to look at Dark Kurai, only to find him gone.
"Damn! How did he do that? I don't even know how to do that!" He thinks to himself in slight panic as he tries to find his opponent.
"Hey! Up here!" He hears above him and looks up to see Dark Kurai jumping down towards him from the balcony and manages to dodge and roll away.
Composing himself, Kurai looks back towards his dark half to see he has a sword in his hands. The blade was a shining silver with the hilt and handle both a dark blue and dark red, while the pommel was an eerily light green eye. And it was staring right at Kurai.
"What the hell is that?" He whispers quietly, but Dark Kurai had heard him and smirked as he stood up straight.
"You really want to know? I'll tell you." He says while showing off the sword as it began to glow with an eerie aura around it. "This, my friend, is called the Souruita." He answers, which only made Kurai frown with slight fear.
"Soul Eater." He says looking up at Dark Kurai, who smiles and nods.
"Yep! You got it! And you'll be another one of the poor souls that gets trapped inside this forsaken blade." He declares before charging at Kurai again and tries to hack and slash through him, which Kurai only continues to dodge before Dark Kurai manages to slash down on his right eye.
Stunned and in pain from his eye being cut, Kurai stumbles backwards trying regain his composure. But Dark Kurai doesn't give him that chance and tries to follow up on this brief window, but Kurai, with his one eye, sees him coming and grabs him before flipping him over his back before grabbing the Soul Eater and takes it for himself.
Dark Kurai, now disarmed, just laughs and sits up while staring Kurai down. "So, what now? You going to kill me? You're going to kill an unarmed man? Not very honorable of a warrior or a monk. So, what are you going to do? Hmm?" He teases mockingly while on his knees.
Kurai just stabs Soul Eater into the floor, which makes Dark Kurai look at him in confusion. "Get up. Get up and fight. You want to talk about honor? You brought that blade out of nowhere and tried to cut down an unarmed opponent. There's nothing honorable about you. So, get up and fight me." He talked down to his dark half in a commanding tone.
Dark Kurai's eyebrows rose in slight surprise before he sighs. "Well, this isn't going the way I thought it would. So, fuck it. I'm gonna test what you would do if other lives were involved." He says cryptically.
"What?"
Dark Kurai smirks before he suddenly disappears and reappears at the top of the balcony with two women struggling to get out of his grasp. One of the women appeared to be an older woman with olive tone skin, dark brown eyes and white or gray hair with a black stripe going down the middle. She was also wearing an elegant purple dress with gold accents around her arms and chest area.
The other woman was younger than the older woman, while the older woman had white, graying hair, this one had jet black hair, dark brown eyes and olive tone skin like the older woman, but instead of wearing purple, her attire was blue with silver accents and appeared to be for a warrior.
"Who are they? Are they some sort of royalty? One looks like a queen while the other looks like a warrior princess." Kurai thinks to himself as he carefully examines the women in confusion.
"Why would he choose two women that I don't recognize? I don't know either of them." He continues as both women continue to struggle to get out of his dark half's grasp.
"Stop struggling or I'll kill you both right now!" He yells at both of them, making them stop with their struggle and look at each other before looking down at Kurai with pleading eyes.
Pleading for him to help them.
"What's your game here? Who are these women? I don't know them." Kurai says to Dark Kurai, which only made the dark warrior chuckle.
"Oh, but you do my friend. Maybe you don't remember them, but another part of you does. Perhaps... a distant memory that you've been trying to remember? Or a distant memory you've been trying to... search for?" He asks knowingly, which made Kurai pause as he looked at the two women again.
He looks back at Dark Kurai with a deep scowl. "Who are they? Tell me right now! What do you know?!" He shouts as Dark Kurai barks with laughter.
"You really want to know?! There's only one way for you to find out! Show the academy what kind of warrior you choose to be! What will you do to save them?! Just know that if you continue down this path to the truth, you're life will forever change! For better or worse, well, that's up to you! Now, show me what you would do!" Dark Kurai shouts down at him.
Kurai thinks of many possible scenarios for which he could save both women, but every result ended with one death or the other or possibly his own.
There was only one way where both women would live. He himself didn't know these women, but a part of him did. A part of him he's been trying to find for so many years. If he wanted to find the truth, he would have to search for these two women, whoever they were.
But first things first.
In one swift motion, he picked up the Soul Eater and prepared to do something that every man and woman would say they would do if the situation called for it.
The women and Dark Kurai's eyes all widened in shock at what Kurai was about to do.
"WAIT!!! DON'T!!!" The women shouted as Kurai brought the Soul Eater up to his throat and cut it open.
Falling to his knees then to the floor, Kurai's eyes slowly closed as he watched both women jump down from the balcony and run towards his side. He could also see Dark Kurai standing over the railing of the balcony shouting. No doubt he was shouting curses at him, but he couldn't hear, nor did he care.
Both women leaned down over him and he could make out what they were both saying thanks to his training for reading lips, but he just smiled as they looked down at him with worry before his eyes finally closed all the way as the world around him suddenly disintegrated and disappeared.
A moment later he gasps awake to see Han and the other students surrounding him, but not with worry, with pride and happiness.
"What... What happened?" He asks as he slowly sits up to regain his composure.
Han gently pats him on the back with a smile. "Kurai, my friend, you passed the test." He informed him with pride, making Kurai look at him in shock.
"Wha-What? But I didn't-" He began, but Han interrupted him.
"You didn't defeat your opponent. Yes?" He asks with a smile.
Kurai just nodded.
Han did the same before he continued. "The test was never about winning or losing the fight. It was to test your character and to see what lengths you would go to to save innocent lives. Even lives that you don't even know... or even remember." He says cryptically.
Kuraido looks at Han in shock again. "Do... Do you know who they were? The two women?" He asks his friend and teacher.
Han looks at Kurai for a moment, but shakes his head. "I do not know of who you speak. We are only made aware of how you passed the test, we do not actually watch the test happen like it's on some sort of... big screen tv or even in our minds. So, no, whoever it is you are speaking of, I do not know them." He explained as best as he could, but this only made Kurai's head drop in sadness and slight frustration.
Looking back up before standing, Kurai looks at his friend while dusting himself off. "So, what am I supposed to do now? I may have passed the test, but I'm no where near closer to the answers I'm searching for. And I've been searching for them a little over 9,000 years. Where am I supposed to start?" He says to Han, who only listens to his friend before letting out a deep sigh.
Walking away from Kurai and the other students before stopping near the entrance of the hall to turn and look at his friend, Han simply says to him. "Kurai, walk with me."
Kurai, with a look of confusion, decides to do as his said and ran up to Han before they both walked out of the hall.
Walking outside of the main academy building, Kurai and Han are walking towards an area that Kurai was never allowed to be. Not even during all his years here at the academy was he ever in this area.
Looking around him at the slight change of scenery, Kurai looks over at Han with a look of suspicion. "Han, where are you taking me? I've never been allowed here before. Why bring me here?" He asks skeptically as he and Han walk towards a tall tower that had a symbol of a Chinese dragon inside of a circle.
Han just inhaled deeply before sighing. "You'll understand soon enough, Kurai. Have patience." He says calmly as he and Kurai both walk towards the tower before eventually coming upon the large double doors.
However, Han didn't simply just push open the doors, he gently places a hand on one of the doors and quietly whispers an incantation that Kurai wouldn't have understood even if he had heard it.
Finishing the incantation, the doors began to glow and slowly open. With a loud thud against the wall, the doors were now fully opened to Han and Kurai.
Han looks over at Kurai and motions his head towards the inside. "Come on in, Kurai. I believe it's time you are given answers." He says, which makes Kurai look at him with slight anger. But before he could say anything, Han continued. "Before you misunderstand, I don't have all the answers you seek, but I can give an idea of where to start looking." He finished as he beckons Kurai to follow him, and he did so.
The inside of the tower was not what Kurai was expecting. He expected everything on the inside to look like an ancient ruin where everything had been run down, or vines wrapping around the pillars inside, but no. Everything inside looked brand new. Silver, gold, jewels, ruby's, diamonds, gold coins and countless other treasures everywhere inside. It was all very tempting for Kurai, but this was not what he was here for. And no amount of gold would deter him.
Walking towards another alter in the ancient tower, Kurai notices, out of everything else that caught his eye, a necklace resting in the center of red velvet cushion. The elegant chain was silver with several attachments on it with a purple diamond being held in the front.
Inside the diamond was a strange symbol that Kurai did not recognize. In all his years in Earthrealm, this symbol was not one he could put his finger on.
Examining the diamond closely, but not touching it, Kurai turns his head and looks at Han.
"What is this symbol, Han? I don't recognize it from any culture or religion that relates to Earthrealm." He asks the grandmaster, who walks up beside him and picks up the necklace.
"That's because it's not from Earthrealm. Much like you, Kurai." He explains before looking at Kurai, who had a look of confusion on his face with slight shock.
"Then where's it from?" He asks, making Han sigh before handing the necklace over to him then answers.
"It's from the realm of Edenia. That symbol inside the diamond is the crest of the royal family. This necklace necklace was found inside a bundle of blankets with a child inside. An infant. And that infant... was you, Kurai."