Chapter Twenty-Three
"We're going to have to split up," said Rayden.
Everyone looks at him. "Split up?" asked Guile with confusion.
"Yes. One group will go to Shang, and the other will go to Shao. Shang is only one person and Shao does have a big army so only about three of us will go to Shang."
"I'll go," said Kitana.
"Me too," said Honda.
"Great," Rayden replied.
"Well," said Rolento. "Does anyone even know where Shao's Lair is?"
"I do," said Ken. "Just follow me and we'll be fine."
Rayden looks at everyone. "Good luck, my friends. I hope to see you all well and alive when we beat Shang."
"We hope to see you three alive too," said Guile. "Go over there and turn Shang into a bloody pulp!"
Rayden, Kitana, and Honda start making their way towards Shang's Lair, which was only a five-minute walk.
"Let's go," said Jax. "We have a demon to destroy."
***
Fei-Long looks in horror as he looks at Sub-Zero. As Baraka, Shang has stabbed Sub-Zero right through the stomach.
Sub-Zero looks at Shang, his blue eyes wide opened. Then, before he knew it, Shang quickly pulls the claw out of him and changes back into himself. Sub-Zero holds on to his stomach and quickly falls forward to the ground.
"Sub-Zero!!" Fei-Long cried. He tries to run over to him, but then Shang steps in front of him.
Fei-Long gets into a fighting stance and clenches his teeth. "You will pay for all the things that you've done!"
Shang only laughs. "And you really think that you can beat me?"
"Only fate can decide that," Fei-Long replied. "And I hope that fate knows the difference between right and wrong."
"Very well. Let's see what it's like to fight someone similar to you." Shang then changes into........Fei-Long.
Fei-Long's dark eyes become wide opened. He felt like he was looking at himself through a mirror, but deep inside, it was really Shang.
Shang gets into a fighting stance. "Begin."
Fei-Long immediately jumps in the air and performs a roundhouse kick. Shang quickly blocks the move. Fei-Long jumps back down to the ground. As he does, Shang throws a punch at Fei-Long's stomach. He ignores the pain in his stomach and throws kung-fu punches at Shang. Shang blocks them and kicks him on his side. Fei-Long pulls back to recover.
"Fei-Long!" they suddenly hear someone cry out. Fei-Long looks over by the door and sees Rayden, Kitana, and Honda.
"You guys made it!" Fei-Long cried.
"Yes," said Guile. "And we definitely know that one of you is Shang. After all, Fei-Long doesn't have a twin brother or anything."
"I am Fei-Long," Shang said. He points at Fei-Long. "He is Shang."
"You lying son-of-a-b***h!!!" Fei-Long cried.
"Well, one of you is lying," said Ken.
"Sub-Zero!!" cried Kitana. She notices Sub-Zero lying down on the ground bleeding. She runs over to him.
Sub-Zero looks up at her. "The wound is bad enough for me to stop fighting."
"It'll be all right," Kitana replied. "Rest, we'll take care of Shang."
Sub-Zero nods with a little sadness.
Rayden looks at the very similar looking warriors. "Where are you from?"
"Hong Kong, China," said Fei-Long.
"Whom did you come here with?"
"Chun-Li!" cried Shang.
"And who else?"
"Ryu and Ken," said Fei-Long.
"What is your favorite color?"
"Blue," Shang said.
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-seven," Fei-Long replied.
Rayden shakes his head from side to side. "Damn, this is bad!"
"Then how can we tell who is the real Fei-Long?" asked Honda.
For a minute, silence comes between everyone.
Then, Fei-Long's eyes light up. "Wait! I know one thing which Shang wouldn't have." He reaches into his big pockets and pulls something out. He then holds the item out to show everyone.
Kitana looks at the item in shock. "Johnny Cage's sunglasses!"
"Yes," Fei-Long replied. "He gave them to me before Vega killed him."
Everyone looks at the fake Fei-Long. Shang growls and changes back to himself. Suddenly, he grabs Fei-Long by the hair and throws him against the wall hard enough to knock him out.
"Fei-Long!" cried Honda. He, Kitana, and Rayden get into their fighting stances as Shang begins to walk over to them.
An evil laugh escapes Shang's lips. "You fools really think that you have a chance to beat me? That's where you are wrong."
"You're the one who's doing wrong," said Honda. "You've taken so many innocent people's souls and kept them for what?"
"To rule the universe," Shang said.
"Shang, tonight it will all end," said Rayden.
Shang laughs like Rayden's words were only a big joke to him. "I've taken so many souls for thousands of years, especially from those who dare to challenge me." He gets into a fighting stance. "Don't be surprised when you join them as well."
"We won't," said Honda.
Then, Shang jumps towards them, his left leg extended outward. Honda goes after him. As Shang falls back to the ground, Honda raises his arm up and hits Shang's leg. Shang goes back a little, but still manages to land safely on his feet. Then he transforms into Sindel. He opens his mouth and lets out an ear-piercing scream.
The three of them cover their ears. The volume of the scream was so loud that it causes them to fall to their knees.
Shang laughs and changes back to himself. "All of my powers come from the taken souls and those I've come in the same room with. You are all worthless, even with your powers combined."
"That's what you think!" said Rayden. He puts both of his hands out in front of him. A bolt of lightning comes out of his hands. Shang sees this and dodges out of the way.
Rayden looks at Kitana and Honda. "You two take care of Shang."
"Why?" asked Honda.
"There's something I must do, but I promise that I'll be back."
"All right, Rayden," said Kitana. She and Honda get up and run towards Shang.
Rayden sees Sub-Zero, walks over to him quickly, and bends over to him.
Sub-Zero looks up at Rayden. His eyes are only half open and he was breathing heavily. "Rayden......I tried to....stop him...."
"Quiet," Rayden said. He puts his hand over Sub-Zero's wounded stomach.
"What are you doing?"
"Doing something I wish that I could've done for everyone else. Sub-Zero, I promise you that you will get vengeance for your brother."
Meanwhile, Kitana and Honda are fighting Shang. Kitana is throwing series of punches at Shang. Shang blocks all of them and manages to kick her out of the way by the stomach. Honda jumps in next and performs his hundred- hand slaps. Shang sees this and blocks the move.
{How is that possible?} Honda thought to himself.
Then, Shang changes into Liu and fires a fireball at Honda. Honda flies in the air and hits the wall hard enough to weaken him.
"Honda!" cried Kitana. She looks at Shang and goes after him again.
Sub-Zero watches Rayden's glowing hand. Sub-Zero winces a little bit as he feels his damaged organs going back to their original places.
Not too far, Fei-Long begins to open his eyes. At first, all he could see is blur.
{What happened?} he thought.
Then, everything starts to become clearer. He sees Honda holding his head in pain. Then, he could hear fighting. He slowly turns his head and spots Kitana and Shang fighting. Shang was winning beating Kitana with multiple punches and kicks.
Fei-Long's eyes become wide. {That bastard!}
He slowly gets himself up. "I won't let you win!!"
Despite feeling dizzy, Fei-Long manages to run towards Shang. Shang sees him and throws a hard punch at Fei-Long's face sending him flying to the side almost falling off the balcony.
"Fei-Long!" cried Kitana. Unfortunately, the distraction gives Shang the opportunity to strike. He throws a hard kick to her stomach knocking the wind out of her and sending her to the ground.
Shang laughs. "Like I said, you fools think that you could beat me. Now you will all die."
Unfortunately, he has forgotten about Rayden.
Rayden removes his hand from Sub-Zero's stomach. "I've healed you."
Sub-Zero looks as his stomach. It looked as though he was never stabbed. "I can feel my powers coming back to me."
Suddenly, the room turns a dark green.
"What the......" Sub-Zero manages to say.
Rayden stands up. "This isn't good. Even if we're alive, Shang will take out souls in this condition."
Shang laughs loudly. "And now, your souls will be mine!!"
Sub-Zero narrows his eyes. "I know I already said that doing the same move is cheap, but when desperate times come, it calls for it."
He puts both of his hands out. A gust of wind was heard.
Then, Shang becomes frozen becoming surrounded by cold, dry ice.
Everyone looks at Sub-Zero in silence.
Fei-Long scratches the back of his head. "Well, that was easy."
"I know," Sub-Zero replied. "But he did need to be rid of right away."
"One problem," said Honda. "Ice melts."
"I can take care of that," Sub-Zero replied. He walks over Shang. He stares at the demon for a minute before pushing him over the balcony. "Oops," he said sarcastically.
Shang falls towards the ring below. As soon as he crashes, ice, blood, and flesh shatter everywhere.
Everyone stares down at what is left of Shang for a while. Then, Honda breaks the silence. "Let's get going."
That's when the room suddenly turns blue.
"What is that?" asked Fei-Long.
They look over to where the souls are stored. The machine holding the souls becomes surrounded by electric shocks. Then, part of the ceiling opens. They watch as thousands of souls make their way out of the room and towards Heaven.
"The souls are free!" cried Kitana.
Everyone watches with smiles on their faces. They know now that the souls will finally rest in peace and live freely without being under the hands of Shang.
After the last souls leaves, Fei-Long looks at Sub-Zero. "You're alive."
"Yes, thanks to Rayden."
"And if wasn't for your powers, we would all be dead," said Honda.
Then, Rayden looks at the four fighters seriously. "The souls may be free now, but we still have Shao Kahn to beat."
******************************************************************
A little on the cheap side, but I was having a little trouble with this chapter, but I did my best. So, for those who thought Sub-Zero really did die, aren't you surprised now? *Grins* Well, only five more chapters to go.
"We're going to have to split up," said Rayden.
Everyone looks at him. "Split up?" asked Guile with confusion.
"Yes. One group will go to Shang, and the other will go to Shao. Shang is only one person and Shao does have a big army so only about three of us will go to Shang."
"I'll go," said Kitana.
"Me too," said Honda.
"Great," Rayden replied.
"Well," said Rolento. "Does anyone even know where Shao's Lair is?"
"I do," said Ken. "Just follow me and we'll be fine."
Rayden looks at everyone. "Good luck, my friends. I hope to see you all well and alive when we beat Shang."
"We hope to see you three alive too," said Guile. "Go over there and turn Shang into a bloody pulp!"
Rayden, Kitana, and Honda start making their way towards Shang's Lair, which was only a five-minute walk.
"Let's go," said Jax. "We have a demon to destroy."
***
Fei-Long looks in horror as he looks at Sub-Zero. As Baraka, Shang has stabbed Sub-Zero right through the stomach.
Sub-Zero looks at Shang, his blue eyes wide opened. Then, before he knew it, Shang quickly pulls the claw out of him and changes back into himself. Sub-Zero holds on to his stomach and quickly falls forward to the ground.
"Sub-Zero!!" Fei-Long cried. He tries to run over to him, but then Shang steps in front of him.
Fei-Long gets into a fighting stance and clenches his teeth. "You will pay for all the things that you've done!"
Shang only laughs. "And you really think that you can beat me?"
"Only fate can decide that," Fei-Long replied. "And I hope that fate knows the difference between right and wrong."
"Very well. Let's see what it's like to fight someone similar to you." Shang then changes into........Fei-Long.
Fei-Long's dark eyes become wide opened. He felt like he was looking at himself through a mirror, but deep inside, it was really Shang.
Shang gets into a fighting stance. "Begin."
Fei-Long immediately jumps in the air and performs a roundhouse kick. Shang quickly blocks the move. Fei-Long jumps back down to the ground. As he does, Shang throws a punch at Fei-Long's stomach. He ignores the pain in his stomach and throws kung-fu punches at Shang. Shang blocks them and kicks him on his side. Fei-Long pulls back to recover.
"Fei-Long!" they suddenly hear someone cry out. Fei-Long looks over by the door and sees Rayden, Kitana, and Honda.
"You guys made it!" Fei-Long cried.
"Yes," said Guile. "And we definitely know that one of you is Shang. After all, Fei-Long doesn't have a twin brother or anything."
"I am Fei-Long," Shang said. He points at Fei-Long. "He is Shang."
"You lying son-of-a-b***h!!!" Fei-Long cried.
"Well, one of you is lying," said Ken.
"Sub-Zero!!" cried Kitana. She notices Sub-Zero lying down on the ground bleeding. She runs over to him.
Sub-Zero looks up at her. "The wound is bad enough for me to stop fighting."
"It'll be all right," Kitana replied. "Rest, we'll take care of Shang."
Sub-Zero nods with a little sadness.
Rayden looks at the very similar looking warriors. "Where are you from?"
"Hong Kong, China," said Fei-Long.
"Whom did you come here with?"
"Chun-Li!" cried Shang.
"And who else?"
"Ryu and Ken," said Fei-Long.
"What is your favorite color?"
"Blue," Shang said.
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-seven," Fei-Long replied.
Rayden shakes his head from side to side. "Damn, this is bad!"
"Then how can we tell who is the real Fei-Long?" asked Honda.
For a minute, silence comes between everyone.
Then, Fei-Long's eyes light up. "Wait! I know one thing which Shang wouldn't have." He reaches into his big pockets and pulls something out. He then holds the item out to show everyone.
Kitana looks at the item in shock. "Johnny Cage's sunglasses!"
"Yes," Fei-Long replied. "He gave them to me before Vega killed him."
Everyone looks at the fake Fei-Long. Shang growls and changes back to himself. Suddenly, he grabs Fei-Long by the hair and throws him against the wall hard enough to knock him out.
"Fei-Long!" cried Honda. He, Kitana, and Rayden get into their fighting stances as Shang begins to walk over to them.
An evil laugh escapes Shang's lips. "You fools really think that you have a chance to beat me? That's where you are wrong."
"You're the one who's doing wrong," said Honda. "You've taken so many innocent people's souls and kept them for what?"
"To rule the universe," Shang said.
"Shang, tonight it will all end," said Rayden.
Shang laughs like Rayden's words were only a big joke to him. "I've taken so many souls for thousands of years, especially from those who dare to challenge me." He gets into a fighting stance. "Don't be surprised when you join them as well."
"We won't," said Honda.
Then, Shang jumps towards them, his left leg extended outward. Honda goes after him. As Shang falls back to the ground, Honda raises his arm up and hits Shang's leg. Shang goes back a little, but still manages to land safely on his feet. Then he transforms into Sindel. He opens his mouth and lets out an ear-piercing scream.
The three of them cover their ears. The volume of the scream was so loud that it causes them to fall to their knees.
Shang laughs and changes back to himself. "All of my powers come from the taken souls and those I've come in the same room with. You are all worthless, even with your powers combined."
"That's what you think!" said Rayden. He puts both of his hands out in front of him. A bolt of lightning comes out of his hands. Shang sees this and dodges out of the way.
Rayden looks at Kitana and Honda. "You two take care of Shang."
"Why?" asked Honda.
"There's something I must do, but I promise that I'll be back."
"All right, Rayden," said Kitana. She and Honda get up and run towards Shang.
Rayden sees Sub-Zero, walks over to him quickly, and bends over to him.
Sub-Zero looks up at Rayden. His eyes are only half open and he was breathing heavily. "Rayden......I tried to....stop him...."
"Quiet," Rayden said. He puts his hand over Sub-Zero's wounded stomach.
"What are you doing?"
"Doing something I wish that I could've done for everyone else. Sub-Zero, I promise you that you will get vengeance for your brother."
Meanwhile, Kitana and Honda are fighting Shang. Kitana is throwing series of punches at Shang. Shang blocks all of them and manages to kick her out of the way by the stomach. Honda jumps in next and performs his hundred- hand slaps. Shang sees this and blocks the move.
{How is that possible?} Honda thought to himself.
Then, Shang changes into Liu and fires a fireball at Honda. Honda flies in the air and hits the wall hard enough to weaken him.
"Honda!" cried Kitana. She looks at Shang and goes after him again.
Sub-Zero watches Rayden's glowing hand. Sub-Zero winces a little bit as he feels his damaged organs going back to their original places.
Not too far, Fei-Long begins to open his eyes. At first, all he could see is blur.
{What happened?} he thought.
Then, everything starts to become clearer. He sees Honda holding his head in pain. Then, he could hear fighting. He slowly turns his head and spots Kitana and Shang fighting. Shang was winning beating Kitana with multiple punches and kicks.
Fei-Long's eyes become wide. {That bastard!}
He slowly gets himself up. "I won't let you win!!"
Despite feeling dizzy, Fei-Long manages to run towards Shang. Shang sees him and throws a hard punch at Fei-Long's face sending him flying to the side almost falling off the balcony.
"Fei-Long!" cried Kitana. Unfortunately, the distraction gives Shang the opportunity to strike. He throws a hard kick to her stomach knocking the wind out of her and sending her to the ground.
Shang laughs. "Like I said, you fools think that you could beat me. Now you will all die."
Unfortunately, he has forgotten about Rayden.
Rayden removes his hand from Sub-Zero's stomach. "I've healed you."
Sub-Zero looks as his stomach. It looked as though he was never stabbed. "I can feel my powers coming back to me."
Suddenly, the room turns a dark green.
"What the......" Sub-Zero manages to say.
Rayden stands up. "This isn't good. Even if we're alive, Shang will take out souls in this condition."
Shang laughs loudly. "And now, your souls will be mine!!"
Sub-Zero narrows his eyes. "I know I already said that doing the same move is cheap, but when desperate times come, it calls for it."
He puts both of his hands out. A gust of wind was heard.
Then, Shang becomes frozen becoming surrounded by cold, dry ice.
Everyone looks at Sub-Zero in silence.
Fei-Long scratches the back of his head. "Well, that was easy."
"I know," Sub-Zero replied. "But he did need to be rid of right away."
"One problem," said Honda. "Ice melts."
"I can take care of that," Sub-Zero replied. He walks over Shang. He stares at the demon for a minute before pushing him over the balcony. "Oops," he said sarcastically.
Shang falls towards the ring below. As soon as he crashes, ice, blood, and flesh shatter everywhere.
Everyone stares down at what is left of Shang for a while. Then, Honda breaks the silence. "Let's get going."
That's when the room suddenly turns blue.
"What is that?" asked Fei-Long.
They look over to where the souls are stored. The machine holding the souls becomes surrounded by electric shocks. Then, part of the ceiling opens. They watch as thousands of souls make their way out of the room and towards Heaven.
"The souls are free!" cried Kitana.
Everyone watches with smiles on their faces. They know now that the souls will finally rest in peace and live freely without being under the hands of Shang.
After the last souls leaves, Fei-Long looks at Sub-Zero. "You're alive."
"Yes, thanks to Rayden."
"And if wasn't for your powers, we would all be dead," said Honda.
Then, Rayden looks at the four fighters seriously. "The souls may be free now, but we still have Shao Kahn to beat."
******************************************************************
A little on the cheap side, but I was having a little trouble with this chapter, but I did my best. So, for those who thought Sub-Zero really did die, aren't you surprised now? *Grins* Well, only five more chapters to go.