Mortal Kombat
Season 1, Chapter 4: The Monk and the Movie Star
It was a dark and stormy night in China in 1968. A woman with her body covered in a full cloak walked to the Shaolin Wu-Shi Academy with a large basket in her arms. She walked up the stone staircase and to the gates, looking at the basket before placing it in front of the ornate stone doors. She then grabbed a handle connected to a chain and pulled it, ringing the large bell on the door a few times before leaving, taking a brief look back at the basket before running off. Inside the temple, a group of Shaolin monks chatted and spoke with an overweight man with a long black ponytail, a large beard, a small mustache, and wearing a beige robe with light brown pants and black shoes. The robe had brown straps and lines on it. The man was drinking from a gourd and laughing with the monks before they heard the sound of the bell ringing.
"Ah, I will see who it is." the overweight man said as he got up and walked over to the gates, taking another drink from his gourd on the way there. He opened the door and looked around before he looked down and saw the basket; inside the basket was an infant child, who had to have been less than a year old, asleep on padding and bedding inside the basket. The baby was wrapped in a blanket, and on the blanket was a folded piece of paper.
"Oh, poor child." the man sympathetically said, picking up the basket and looking at the baby. He saw the piece of paper and picked it up; on it was simply "刘康."
"Liu Kang? Is that your name, little one?" the man asked, looking at the sleeping child. "Well then, welcome to the Wu-Shi Academy, Liu Kang." the man smiled, taking the basket inside.
15 years later, in 1983, the man who had brought Liu Kang in was watching his various students train. He smiled as two students, in particular, showed great talent and skill.
"Your students show great skill, Bo' Rai Cho." said a voice; behind Bo' Rai Cho was a figure in the darkness, two glowing blue dots only visible.
"Yes, Liu Kang and Kung Lao. They are my finest students." Bo' Rai Cho said.
"You are training them well. I will continue watching." the figure said
3 years later, in 1986, Liu Kang was sparring with Bo' Rai Cho. Bo' Rai Cho made various strikes with a bo staff, Liu Kang dodging them. Liu Kang then leg-swept the man, causing him to fall to the ground. He then did it again when he tried to get up and again after that. Bo' Rai Cho chuckled.
"You have clearly mastered the leg sweep, Liu Kang."
"Thank you, Master Bo' Rai Cho." Liu Kang said respectfully, bowing. Then, a large lightning bolt struck near them, and a figure emerged from the lightning. The figure was a man wearing a white GI with a blue vest over it. The vest had a long flap at the front and back and a thick black outline. Around his waist was a black belt with two silver parts on it. The man also had black footing, white straps at the legs, and long black armbands. On his arm was a strapped-on patch with "雷" written on it. On the man's head was a black headpiece that covered most of his head except the face, and on his head was a straw Chinese coolie hat. His eyes were most pure white but with glowing blue dots at the center for pupils.
"I have watched your training over the many years, Liu Kang, and you show great potential." the man said.
"Liu Kang, this is Lord Raiden. God of Thunder and Protector of Earthrealm." Bo' Rai Cho explained. Liu Kang bowed to the thunder god after hearing that.
"I wish to see your best students' abilities." Raiden said
Later that day, Bo' Rai Cho brought Liu Kang and Kung Lao to a fighting arena. The two of them wearing their traditional Shaolin orange GI. The two monks readied themselves.
"The two of you will have a sparring match. The one who loses this fight will continue their training under Bo' Rai Cho. However, the one who wins this fight shall begin training under me." Raiden said
"Kāishǐ!" Bo' Rai Cho called out. The two monks bowed before charging at each other. Kung Lao roundhouse kicked at Liu Kang, but Liu Kang dodged the kick; he then leg swept Kung Lao, but Kung Lao used his arms to land on the floor and flip back up. Kung Lao gave several punches and kicks to Liu Kang, some hitting, but most either being blocked or dodged by Liu Kang. Liu Kang had also tried to get various hits off on Kung Lao, but Kung Lao had also dodged or blocked several of the hits. Liu Kang threw a punch at Kung Lao, but Kung Lao dodged the hit, grabbing Liu Kang's arm and throwing him almost all the way across the arena. Liu Kang got up and looked at Kung Lao. He then jumped towards Kung Lao with a flying kick; fire began forming from the flying kick as it hit Kung Lao in the face, sending him all the way across the arena and knocking him out.
"Tíngzhǐ!" Bo' Rai Cho called out as he and Raiden walked over to the arena. Kung Lao groaned and slowly started getting up.
"You have won the fight, Liu Kang. Henceforth, you will begin training under me." Raiden said, "This training will be difficult; what you are training for is of great importance to all the people of Earthrealm."
Liu Kang walked over to Kung Lao and helped him up, "Apologies for your loss." Liu Kang said.
"You just showed why you were more worthy of Lord Raiden's training. Good luck, Liu Kang." Kung Lao smiled, putting his hand on Liu Kang's shoulder.
It was a dark night in an alleyway in 1991. A man with brown hair and wearing a full-body black and white tuxedo with a black bowtie with shades was walking down said alleyway when he stopped and looked around. Several men in business suits walked out of the shadow holding weapons. The man wearing shades smirked as one of the men attacked him, only for him to grab the guy and throw him right into a dumpster.
"Who's next?" the shades man smirked. The other guys tried to jump him, but he was able to dodge their attacks and get off several hits. Elbowing one guy in the face, slamming another guy into a wall, and jumping up and doing a Taekwondo scissor kick to the faces of two other guys. The final guy tried to pull a gun, but the shades man lowered to the ground, doing the splits, and delivered a punch straight to the guy's privates. The guy groaned in pain and fell to the ground.
"CUT!" shouted a voice. A man with a white beard was sitting in a director's chair outside the alleyway, which was just a movie set. A whole film crew and camera with him. The shades man sighed.
"You call that choreography? I've seen literal children fight better." the shades man said.
"We can't exactly afford professional fighters, Johnny. We're working on a made-for-TV budget." the director said, "alright, it's a wrap, folks."
Johnny sighed and walked over to his trailer. He entered the trailer and sat down in a chair, sighing and rubbing his temples. On a desk next to the chair was a newspaper with the headline "Johnny Cage a Fraud!?" with a text below it saying, "Mr. 'I do my own stunts' Johnny Cage revealed to be lying as photo of clear stunt double is revealed."
A man in glasses with a receding hairline wearing a business suit entered the trailer.
"How did it get like this, Chuck?" Johnny asked
"What's that?" Chuck asked
"How did my career survive Ninja Mimes 3 and 4, Cage Me Like You Mean It, and that shitty game show I agreed to be on when I was drunk...but some pissant somehow gets ONE photo of the ONE time I used a stunt double cause I got food poisoning, and suddenly my acting career goes down the fucking drain?" Johnny vented out.
"What can I say, Johnny? Journalism can kill." Chuck said, sitting down in a chair across from Johnny, "But hey, I got some good news; I think I may know a way you can get your career back off the ground."
"Yeah? How's that?" Johnny asked
"Don't ask me how I got this info, but there's a tournament; it's a big deal, only held every 50 years."
Johnny sighed, "Chuck, I appreciate it, but my martial arts tournament days are long over."
"No no, listen. This tournament is an exclusive event. And if you were to win this thing, you'd get fame. BIG fame." Chuck said.
''That right?"
"Yeah...now I'm not gonna sugarcoat it; this thing has a mortality rate. People can, and sometimes do, die at this thing. But the fame you can get if you win will blow this whole stunt double incident out of the water. It'll be like it never happened." Chuck explained
"Hmm...alright, I'm interested. But if this turns out to be bullshit, you're fired. So where do I need to go?" Johnny asked
"There's a boat that's gonna be there and pick up the fighters in about 7 months. The boat is gonna be all the way in Hong Kong, so best to start planning now." Chuck said
"Thanks, Chuck. If this works, you're the best agent ever." Johnny said, getting up. He walked out of the trailer with a smile on his face, "Johnny Cage is going to China!"