DAY ONE
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Hell.
The old man had been here once, before. With a frown beginning to form on his withered face, he slowly realized, sadly, that he could remember it all.
The red, craggy, deformed caverns. The eternal stench of sulphur in the red sky, a sky that made him sweat and gasp for breath occasionally-a wonder he did not do it more, considering his age. Beside his feet, which were standing on a stony, cracked surface that seemed devoid of all plant life-lay what he had so long ago figured to be the fabled river Styx, a large, gushing river of magma and lava that presumably held the remains what were many bodies of demons and other unlucky bodies' remains.
He looked upwards. There was not many people, indeed, any sort of being or creature, that one could find in the Netherealm unless they were at some sort of torturing device or city. That was part of what made you mad, the old one had learned. Not being able to find anyone in such a bleak and desolate place...for days, even weeks if you were truly helpless to find your way around...
He knew he was most fortunant to stay in one area, and even more so, to have been transported back into the one area he had visited before, when he had been in his early twenties. His guide had sent him back in complete anger to this place, this terrible place, to relearn darkness of the soul, in order to enter other lands full of it. Cynicality. Bitterness. Anger. Wrath. He had had enough of it, enough to last his lifetime with what he had seen in other realms, much less his first sojurn into this realm...but it had not been enough. He hung his head in frustration as he continued walking.
He considered himself lucky to have found someone full of the hate he needed so much. It had been a ninja, one clad in the distinctive yellow and black pattern of the Shirai Ryu clan. He had met one, once, many decades ago in the land of Chaos-the warrior was looking for a mask of a fallen comrade to prove to his clan elders the fellow member had indeed fallen. The old one had found the mask and had been rewarded handsomely.
Sadly, the tale had only furthered angered this particular one when he heard of it, and the old man almost felt threatened for his life. The yellow one had calmed down, of course, and the old man finally cajoled him into spending some days with him. It was there the man learned that the ninja was named only Scorpion, and that he was not human as he had at first suspected-he was a spectre, a damned being searching only for revenge. It had explained why he had been so enflamed when he heard the mere mention of his clan, and he apparently had been unable to rest for a dozen years-he had thought he could when his rival-a light blue warrior with the albility to generate ice-from a rival clan, was killed by his hand.
Scorpion thought he could rest. He wondered why he couldn't. He soon found out why: his family, his clan, were not slew by the rival ninja. They were slain by Quan Chi.
The old man had learned from Scorpion that so many years ago this Quan Chi had hired him to fetch a map to retrieve a fabled, fantastic amulet that granted his master-Elder God of Darkness, Shinnok-the albility to travel through realms at will and give him unlimited amplification of his considerable powers. Scorpion had been killed by the light blue ninja-Sub-Zero-and his clan, which was his entire life, was murdered needlessly by Chi for Sub-Zero and his clan's-the Lin Kuei-benefit. He had been tricked, all this time, but it was not truly why he was so angry....
....the slimy, dark practicioner of dark arts had killed his family. His wife and young boy. Just as part of a plan to have him kill Sub-Zero and his younger brother, who had since begun to oppose Chi. The plan had nearly worked, as the old man learned. Scorpion related how he had the younger Sub-Zero laying half-dead at his feet, and was proclaiming his soul could finally rest with his life's destroyers killed. Yet when the man proclaimed his innocence...proclaimed he could never murder needlessly...Scorpion had realized the ice-gifted warrior was right. He had seen him grant mercy several times. He couldn't just do this all of a sudden.
That had been when Chi came in. He had obviously enjoyed watching the battle and his enemy nearly destroyed. As he came in, purposly timed to Sub-Zero's proclamation of innocence, the sorceror described to Scorpion with dripping detail how he had manipulated him, how he had killed his life-his clan and family-and then laughed as he learned of what had happened to Scorpion. With a smirk, he uttered an incantation lost to time and saw the ninja spectre begin to fade away, banished back to damnation.
It hadn't quite worked out that way.
The withered one learned then how Scorpion had lunged at Chi, and inexplicably latched onto him, bringing him into into the Netherealm. From there, he explained, the last five years had been spent making Quan Chi, high priest to the now-deceased Shinnok, pay for all the evil he had done in his life. He was in no hurry to kill Chi, which would have allowed his soul to leave his spectre body and finally rest. He wanted to make Chi pay. Squeal. Tremble with fear...
....but some time ago the despicable man escaped. And so Shujinko, Champion of the Elder Gods, follower of the guide Damashi, and Protector of All Realms, found himself searching for this sorceror, in return for training in both fighting styles and darkness of the soul. The Champion had finally been giving a passing grade from the spectre, and he was now fullfillinf his end of the bargain by hunting for Chi-
-....was that him?
White pale skin....like a corpse, Scorpion had described. Black, souless eyes. Bald. A sneer that would intimidate anyone. And attached to his person the amulet, the legendary amulet, so many have tried to take for themselves.
Shujinko raised himself to his full height. He was always an honorable man-he would announce his intentions-this man deserved to die. "QUAN CHI!"
The man turned, and what he saw disgusted him. A withered old geezer, obviously an Earthling-they almost always made up all the elderly population he had seen in his lifetime, due to their pathetic lifespans. "What do you want, old man?" he shouted back, his raspy voice echoing through the caverns of damnation. "I am a busy man. You should be happy I give you this moment of my valuble time."
Shujinko knew that staying calm would be best, but could not resist tossing a jab of his own. Walking slowly toward the pale artist of dark magic, he spoke slowly and clearly. "You deserve my time, despicable one. You have been responsible for the suffering of millions over millenia. I have come from one who wishes to seek you....one who wishes you harm for all you have done, in particular him."
That did the trick. Shujinko saw Chi's normally harsh look begin to contort into one of fear as he realized there only one man in particular this messenger could mean. It was-
"HE MEANS THE ONE YOU BETRAYED. SCORPION."
Shunjinko and Chi turned to their right in genuine shock. True to the ninja he was suppose to be, Scorpion had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Shujinko reasoned in his mind Scorpion had apparently been following him silently from behind, apparently confident he could find his quarry. He was thankful he was not about to be on the recieving end of whatever punishment the spectre would give out. He backed away from the other two, not wanting to be a part of the fight he knew would take place.
"You pathetic little worm....thinking you could escape..." Scorpion muttered as he walked ever-so-calmly toward Chi-were those flames in his eyes? Literal flames?-"...thinking you could get out of paying for your sins..."-Chi, now fully cringing with horror, was rapidly backing away-"....and thinking you could get out of being with me. Let me tell you...NEVER!"
With that, Scorpion then raised his arm out with amazing speed. Shujinko knew from his training what the ninja was going to do.
Quan Chi could not move fast enough, but he could see what was coming to him with terror. That damned spear the bastardalwayshadwith-
-GLURK-"AAAAAHHH!" yelled Chi as the razor point of Scorpion's weapon of choice found itself wedged deep into his shoulder. He felt the intense pain rush its way into his nerve centers, but began to feel it intensify...and he felt his feet leave the ground...
...."C'MERE!" Scorpion yelled out in a voice Shujinko swore could be heard for miles. Scorpion had always had amazing strength, apparently amplified by the deep plane of the Netherealm they all inhabited. The Champion then watched Scorpion throw a punch across Chi's face-what would be a glancing blow by any other creature in existance caused a loud crack and blood to begin pouring out of the sorceror's mouth-with obvious relish. A knee to the stomach caused Chi to almost begin flying into the air. Immediantly a smack down against the back of his skull kept that from happening.
Chi did indeed land face-first onto the rock below. He struggled to get up, and he saw Shujinko staring with obvious awe at the battle. "HELP ME! FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODS, HELP ME!" he yelled out to the messenger of his torment.
Shujinko turned, ignoring Chi's nearly pathetic cries for help. He began to walk toward the portal, to the Nexus, to the way out of this demonic region. "No more, Damashi. I have spent enough time here. No more."
-----
"You hear that?" asked the blood-stained, foul-smelling Drahmin to his compaion. Moloch just grunted in agreement.
Being an oni meant having an absolutely insatiable lust for blood and agony. Drahmin knew that-in his broken, half-witted thoughts he had come to forget he was once a mortal human, a powerful lord, in the service of the Outworld emperor Shao Kahn. His evil and loyalties had banished him to the horrors of the Netherealm upon a surprising death in the battlefield one day centuries ago. Tortured for years, his soul was gradually transformed into a grotesque, skinless cariacture of itself, with a new body to match. He had been transformed into what were essentially the super-demons of existance, large, powerful, dim-witted creatures caring about very few things other than hunger, themselves, and death.
Hopefully, they'd satisfy all three of those objectives soon. The red oni began to walk swiftly to the screams of terror and pain. "Come on," Drahmin muttered to his friend, who silently began to lumber behind him.. Moloch wasn't even able to speak. He was a natural-born monster and had never been able to gain much intelligence in simple matters, much less language. He let Drahmin do whatever talking and thinking he needed-being much larger and vicious due to being born as his species, he held much more rage than Drahmin ever did-and Drahmin had a terribly frightening amount festered up in him.
The two found the source, eventually. Some white guy was being pounded upon by a man in yellow clothing. The yellow one was vicious, raining many tough blows on Whitey....this was good for them. Tender meat. And scared. Even better.
"HELP! HELP, GOD HELP ME!" Chi shouted out. During his quick and fruitless attempt to avoid a kick to his stomach from Scorpion, he had caught sight of two kindred beings-a red humanoid one and a...a large green thing, probably another oni. His mind flashed thoughts of how he was once one.
Drahmin began to snort and peal with laughter-an ugly, joyless laughter that Drahmin intended to show that he did not care of Whitey's fate. "Why you need us? You pathetic. You be sweet meats. You die to be our dinner." Then giving a satisfied screech, to Yellow he called out "BEAT MORE!"
Bloody oni! "I'll do anyth-"-THWOCK-"GAAAAAHHHH!" Chi screamed out as he felt his chest receive a solid punch from Scorpion. Staggering back, he attempted to raise himself up, preparing to dodge the next coming blow. "Anything you want! I'll-"-he ducked a roundhouse kick from the Shirai Ryu, literally feeling the wind blow in his face from the swiftness of the attack-"-get you out of here!"
....the same time the two oni paused and stopped their chortleing once they heard that.
Out? Out of fifth plane? How of Hell? Drahmin's broken images and spasms of feelings that made up his thoughts told him that even if this was his home, he would always want to get out of it. Even as one of the most powerful of the Netherealm-bound species, he was always at risk, at hunger, at many bad things. To get out of that would almost mean a life of ease.
"WE HELP! How?" Drahmin asked, truly unaware of the answer. He was indeed stupid.
Quan Chi silently cursed the near-beast's ignorance as he felt Scorpion toss another punch to his side. "GET HIM AWAY FROM ME!" he yelped in an almost pathetic tone. He couldn't take much more abuse and knew it. "HIM!" he pointed to Scorpion.
Drahmin suddenly realized that he should have thought of that earlier. Oh, well, beating people up was something he could do. "Come on!" he said to Moloch, who had been watching the fight with pure intrest. The green beast snapped out of his trance and followed his buddy over to Yellow, his size causing the rocky surface to crack and tremble everytime he took a step. Closer. Closer. Close enough. One whack would take care of him....
WHAM
"GWAH!" Scorpion suddenly felt pain smash against the back of his skull. He knew he had been watched, but hadn't cared: not only was he busy giving Quan Chi a lesson in how to rupture organs and let the victim manage to live, he felt he could have taken on anyone stupid enough. But....lord almighty...
He fell with a thud against the ground, positioning himself on his side the best he could to minimize the damage. One instant later found himself rising up from this most unfamiliar position and extremely angry. Whoever whacked him would PAY....
.....dear gods, that oni was big.
Scorpion found himself staring at Moloch and Drahmin, and he had to curse his luck. These two were not only oni, a bad enough situation as it was, it was his luck that they seemed particuraly nasty and brutish. The red one looked human...but....had no skin, revealing the many nerves, veins, arteries, and strands of muscle upon muscle that made up the inside of a normal body. He had some weird mask on...green, yellow stripes here and there...spikes coming out of it....no fricking clue why he had it on. But....damn it....a giant metal club made up his right hand. Scorpion had no clue how he got it and did not really care to learn how.
The green one was worse. He was twice the size of the mask-wearing oni, and had three eyes-all yellow, no pupils. Spikes and other bumps jutted out of his back and face, and his mouth held many sharp, jagged, broken teeth and a large amount of saliva drooling out of it. Draped around him was some sort of belt...attached...a giant ball and chain.
Great. So this is what that ass had called out for. Protection from these things.
With a yell of enragement, the yellow ninja then did something the oni hadn't expected: he rushed at them. Quickly he pulled out a sword from one of the two sheathes on his back and leapt into the air-the next instant several quick swings had the green one howling in pain and holding his now-extremely bloody shoulder.
"YOU NO HURT MOLOCH! YOU PAY, ASSHOLE!" Drahmin shouted out, enraged. Was this human stupid? Crazy? Both? He didn't care. With another cry the monster rushed as fast as he could at his newly found adversary, his right arm-sheathed in a somewhat rusty iron club another demon had thrown onto his shoulder out of pure torturous delight so long ago-beginning to swing wildly as he came closer to Scorpion. The spectre hadn't had time to react to another oni so quickly. Though he jumped away from a right hook from the beast, he hadn't expected the thing to throw in a kick to his gut from the left foot. Scorpion felt his stomach jut in with the pain he had become so used to.
...used to it, and thankfully, had since adapted it as a catalyst to rage himself for battle. Looking up, he saw the monster toss both club and normal fist downwards toward his skull, obviously intending to flatten it. He immediantly threw both his open hands toward the oni's fists and caught them, the next moment involving struggling against pressure of being crushed. Slowly, surely, he began to press upward, to the oni's surprise-the dumb thing didn't know that rage and simply being in the Netherealm fueled him, fueled him more than he could ever imagine. It was a good thing he had both factors working right now.
With a yell Scorpion then kicked Drahmin in his chest, knocking him of off his feet and onto the ground with a crunch. The spectre then took a step foward and with a short leap jumped up into the air a few feet-and onto the stomach of his adversary, causing intense howling. God, how he loved this.
He never noticed Moloch rushing toward him from behind.
With a demonic scream and all the strength he could muster, Moloch swiped Scorpion off of his companion. He didn't like seeing Drahmin hurt; it further enranged him that this small, puny human could actually take them on and humiliate them both. Still filled with murderous intent, Moloch saw the yellow one literally fly off of Drahmin, blood gushing from the deep back wounds inflicted from Moloch's claws, and slam face-first onto the ground some yards away from them. He twitched...twitched...slower...
....silence.
That silence kept for several moments, save for intense breathing from the three oni scattered closely about each other, one attempting to pick himself up-two in shock at the fact they had actually had a challenge, the third suddenly realizing that for the first time in five long years he finally had a true respite. He stood up slowly, muttering. Moloch figured Whitey was going crazy.
"By the gods....you two did it...did it...God, yes..." Quan Chi kept mumbling. Scorpion was finally dead, even if only for a short time. This was all he needed. His famous luck coming back to him. All he needed. Now he just needed to find the way out of here...maybe those two would know something.
"ALLIES!" he shouted out to the two oni. They both looked up at him, their intrest perked. "I have the knowledge to escape this horrid place, but not the resources. Should you take me to an area that has information on this plane, I am able to adapt my vast albility to the knowledge I gain in order to grant us freedom. Do you know of any such place?"
The two oni looked to each other. Moloch shrugged, clueless as usual on matters that didn't involve killing. Drahmin would obviously have to be the brains again. Fortuantly, during his several moments of hard ponderance, the red oni had remembered he explored much more than his friend ever had, and still recognized from long-suppressed memories what writing was and held...knowledge, maybe the same knowledge that their new friend needed....he had seen stones covered in unfamiliar letters not far from here. "Yes. Me and Moloch take you to such place. Follow me."
Drahmin began to run off, with Moloch following close behind. Chi began to follow them, disgusted he had to rely on two of the ugliest and most stupid creatures he had ever met. Bah! He was suppose to be a leader, not follower! Indeed, he was once but second-in-command to an Elder God himself! But...he thought grimly. I should be happy I am alive at all. It will not be much longer, anyway.
After traveling for a good bit, Chi was finally beginning to feel the effects of their walking on their battered body when he heard a Drahmin screech out they were here. Walking up, Chi found a sight that overjoyed him-a long stone with a recognizable language! And....by the gods, his luck was indeed coming back...a long corridor beside it, leading to a large, circular disc.
A portal's disc.
Chi hurredly rushed over to the tablet and crouched down on one knee, looking close at the letters, his saviors looking on behind him. In his thousands of years of life he had learned many languages, and this one was an ancient, universal one all magicians and sorcerors had once spoken and continued to study. Muttering to himself, he forced himself to begin memorizing it as soon as he possibly could-he was once again thankful for the gifts the heavens had bestowed upon him at birth, and knew he had it inscribed into his heart within moments. Serious times demanded such skill.
He later realized how thankful he really was to have memorized the stone's inscription so speedily, because it was turned to near dust by the spear that smashed into it.
"SCORPION!" Chi shouted out in surprise. NO! NOT NOW! NOT WHEN I CAN FINALLY GET OUT OF THIS WRETCHED PLACE! "GET HIM! GET HIM NOW, SO I CAN COMPLETE THIS!" he yelled to Moloch and Drahmin, who had been as shocked as he. Immediantly they turned and began to rush at the yellow spectre, angry thoughts in their heads as they cursed him for never letting up. Scorpion himself rushed at the two at full speed, obviously angry at the damage they had given him. Chi watched the three begin full combat, but his mind forced him to stop staring at the spectacle and begin chanting.
He began yelling out the ancient words so many had used to traverse whole worlds and realms at one point, to escape this wasteland, to find freedom in another plane of existance that was gaurenteed to be more pleasant than life in this one. Within minutes, the circular disc in front of all four beings began to crackle and spark with lightning as Chi finished his incantation. The portal was forming.
NOW!
With all thoughts focused on himself, Chi forced himself to run as fast as he could down the path to the portal. He didn't care about Moloch or Drahmin, and he certainly didn't care to see Scorpion again. With a yell of desperation, he jumped as hard as he could and-
-"WHERE HE GO?!"
Both oni were confused and enraged. Where did Whitey go? Why did he leave them? He would pay! PAY!
Their thoughts were interrupted by a yelp of pain from Moloch. He had been holding Scorpion in his hand, crushing him by squeezing his waist. Their shock had been his oppurtunity: with a swift kick at the Oni's mouth, he had broken a tooth and caused Moloch to drop him. The instant his feet had hit the ground he had begun running off from them down into the portal's path, his purpose recognizable even to the oni. He wouldn't let Chi get away. Never again.
The oni began to ran after him at the fastest sprint they would ever muster in their lives. The portal was beginning to fade, its words that brought it to existance no longer being uttered. The two beasts stumbled best they could, pushing each other for the lead down the thin corridor. Scorpion had already lept in and was no longer with them. They weren't going to make it...Moloch roared in anger...no...no...!
With another roar, both jumped in. They made it.
Quan Chi awoke.
He felt awful. Nauseous. The place seemed dark...was he still in the fifth plane? Instantly he attempted to recover as best as his tired body would allow him, getting into a fighting stance, should Scorpion be waiting for him to regain consciousness.
The mutated oni looked about slowly, cocking and turning his head in every direction. He saw no Scorpion. No oni. No lightning or cloudy skies that Hell was notorious for. A look down at his feet revealed...
....stone tiles? Why was there no solid rocky surface under him? This was a floor. A floor built with apparent devotion.
Quan began to slowly wander about what appeared to be a very large room. Oddly, he felt much better, stronger than he had in....years, to be honest with himself. He didn't know how much sleep he had gotten, but it was obviously enough. He would have to get more of it. He even felt his old surge of strength come back, the one that always allowed him the confidence to be righteous and haughty to his minions...
Light.
"GODS!" he yelled out, surprised. A beam of light shone in. Sunlight.
He had done it....escaped. Freedom!
Chi restrained himself from leaping with joy at his precadiment. He was free! Free from that place! Free from Scorpion! ALIVE! Despite it all, he couldn't help but grin a wide smile.
He then realized it was dawn that was approaching...the light was shining in much stronger now, and he could see around the room he was in. Stony, but well-made and patterned. Hundreds of little statues, though, and-
-by the gods.
Those statues were mummies. Thousands of them.
Where was he?
The oni looked about and found in front an object that utterly surprised him. Was that the portal disc he came out of? It looked...precisely like his amulet...by the gods.
He walked over to it, slowly taking in everything and trying to make sense of it. He was in a tomb. A giant tomb full of mummies, all clad in, he realized, military gear and clothing. He did not feel safe at all, even though he knew they were all dead-and always would be.
He looked downwards after staring at the portal's coincedental look for a few moments. Another tablet, with the same language as the last one...odd. He bent down to read it.
----
Some time later, Quan Chi slowly stood up, turning around to see the bodies he shared this long-forgotten cemetary with, his spirits and mind racing like a madman. He laughed, loudly. He couldn't help it.
These mummies were dead, yes. But they wouldn't always be.