Con't IX - The Secret Whirlwind Kick
The Dragonfly took off with Baraka still in tow; each of the Kombatants were very wary on what he would do, some of them like Kung Lao would think he may lead them to a trap or a bloody Tarkatan ambush as they were sure that there'd be be several of them waiting at Shang Tsung's Palace. These worries didn't deter Liu Kang though.
His spirit has been doing some pondering on what went wrong over Bo's stupor as he discussed it with his retainer. He believed that ever since he became Champion in the first tournament, Bo lost his purpose and left to Outworld, being drunk and chaotic in the process. Thus being banned from the Academy, countering the bimbo's former claim on him being Champion would pass over to Shao Kahn.
"I still don't believe him, Liu Kang. If there's anyone who trained us well, it most certainly be Master Raiden. Fujin as well." The former monk had a brief flashback on developing his Tornado at the Wind World, then he wondered what has become of the brother Gods.
"You think those elemental deities trained you well, Kung Lao? They got nothing on me!" That gruffy voice not only made the Shaolin brothers startle, but everyone else onboard! What they saw was the same bulky wideload they encountered in the Outworld plains! Bo' Rai Cho was back!
Lao abruptly stood up, just in utter freeze shock! While everyone else stalled, including Aiko. He just put his arms at his hips, wearing a pompous composure. He just spoke down to his disciple, "You will never stand a chance against the Deadly Alliance without me!" His teeth and eyes gleamed amongst the mountainous shadow.
"...Bo' Rai Cho..!" Lao let out a hoarse whisper. "How is it you became a stowaway..?"
Baraka just bore his fangs and dashed toward the drunken bastard as he snarled and crossed his shiny arm blades! He lunged while Bo' braced himself with his thick, powerful arms blocking his lethal advance! Liu's astral form dematerialized from the amulet and pleaded for the two warring Outworlders to stand down! That Baraka was only there as an informant from the future and a helpful asset against his own kind, even searching for his close ally, Reptile.
He was reluctant since Baraka was responsible for leading the Wu Shi invasion, and all Lao uttered was, "Baraka, let him go!"
The nomad broke away without sheathing his lethal swords."How and WHY did you come here!?" he growled.
"No thanks to YOU, treacherous mutant! That's certain. I see you're close to Shang's accursed Palace. And I have more personal matters. So we must stop dilly dallying and make haste!"
He said he was trying to find a young, gifted Outworlder named Li Mei, and he believed she and her people were captured by the Deadly Alliance, perhaps as sacrifices for Onaga and his undead army, or possibly serving them in a hostile way... He mentioned that Li Mei was another promising student of his, and only she kept him from going completely addicted to alcoholism! "What good would a teacher be without his student, right?"
"You must be referring to the primitive village of Sun Do," Kenshi added.
Bo just smirked, "Hmph, you're not too shabby for an Outworld Scout after all."
"But we have more important matters, Master Bo'."
The lardo's eyes became as wide as the ship's propellers! Even his gaping mouth! "Is that you, Liu Kang!?"
Lao just sulked. "He was dead, by Shang Tsung." He made a quick recap of Liu's tragic fate at the Wu Shi Arena as he and Quan made a surprise attack while the demon shapeshifter broke his neck! Until there was that ferocious lightning storm conjured by Raiden, thus relinquishing his Elder God status and encased Liu's soul. Lao took out the golden dragon amulet.
Bo' Rai Cho just hung his saggy head in shame as he shook it. He slurred he was sorry to hear of Liu's death by the Deadly Alliance, but Lao never bought it and just let him be.
"Which means you would probably need more work than anyone!" Somehow Lao dreaded this, but at the same time he almost felt thankful. Lao actually couldn't help but give a slight bow.
"I am willing to do whatever it takes."
Bo Rai Cho grinned, "Excellent, my pupil! I shall show you!" His blubbery body hopped to a more spacious spot on the main deck, Lao had no choice but to follow after him; he did just that with a shrug.
"The path of every warrior has a humble beginning, and the road to one's destiny is long traveled. Each of life's challenges brings you closer to enlightenment. Experience is the path to understanding. By completing these many journeys to come, you will have gained the strength, speed, agility, and wisdom to master a variety of fighting arts. Every step is a victory. How you maneuver in kombat plays as much a part of your strategy as how you punch or kick.
"Do not assume that offensiveness is always the correct path to victory. A hasty retreat can give you the space you need to plan for your next attack. Do not be dismayed."
This toggled a memory in Lao...
He was sparring with Liu Kang in the Academy, although he lost as the Champion lectured, "The training you require is mental, not physical."
"What do you mean, Liu Kang?" He pulled Lao up from the small pile of rubble by a shattered statue. He dusted himself off.
"You cannot surpass your limitations, until you acknowledge them."
"Training is mental, not physical..."
Bo was impressed on Lao's uttering. "Indeed. Now utilize it."
He gave Lao plenty of wiggle room. He shown him thru charades and descriptions of the secret Whirlwind Kick, which was said to be the equivalent of Liu's lethal maneuvers. Lao was taken aback that this horizontal charge required him to dive in to the opponent legs first while his body rotates rapidly. Bo was konfident if he can master the Tornado Kick, a vertical move, he can surely ace this secret technique!
"Hit me, if you can!" Bo challenged.
Lao made a fighting stance before he klosed in on the easy target. His legs didn't lift him off the wooden floor, although they were flexible enough to perform rapid spinning kicks. Bo backed away again, and Lao made a second attempt, lurchng his body horizontally, although the move made the Oriental lose his altitude as he fell!
Aiko ran to him and tended him with her cardiokinesis, healing the deep gash on his arm.
Bo just stood there like a sturdy tree. "Try again. Practice chips away the rough edges. One wins battles by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated."
Lao dusted himself off, although he flexed his legs before he repeated the lethal strike.
"Use your hat to cast a vortex while you kick! Move your chicken legs! Let your rapidity be that of the wind."
Lao nodded, he lunged at Bo with his legs with massive force, while he spun horizontally and making his hat assist him before hovering and losing his balance. The landing was proven to be more difficult than the action itself, Lao nearly had vertigo as he regained his posture.
"Good," Bo replied in his gruff tone. "Make sure you prepare for not only your execution, but how you land afterwards. You do not want to be open for another attack. Make the technique a part of yourself before you move on."
Lao nodded and made a short bow in affirmation, then Bo decided to train another pupil of his, which happened to be Aiko herself! The former monk just continued this komplicated kombat move with Jax as his shield partner while Sonya volunteered to pilot the Dragonfly.
Baraka kommented, "Ooh...Aiko was a promising warrior in my time. During the Wu Shi tournament, she was able to best the both of us in kombat. Queen Sindel helped hone her skills."
Bo chuckled, "Bested me in kombat? Nooo! As long as she cannot master her multiple fighting styles, she won't be a formidable opponent."
He commandeered her to draw out her Bo staff and to her astonishment, the nearly six foot rod was longer than her entire body!
"Don't be fooled of its outstanding length. There's more to it than meets the eye." He even helped her adjust it; it wasn't always the 5,9, but it can go as small as 8 inches. Bo stated that the Kwon Do staff was also called a Bo, and used in feudal Japan. And if she needed to use it for striking or blocking, she'd need to adjust it like using an umbrella.
"For you to become a true master of Mortal Kombat, you must learn to attack with multiple fighting styles. Every warrior has three fighting styles, each with its own strengths and weaknesses."
"Aiko has mastered many!" Baraka articulated while smiling with his gritty teeth. "Her cardiokinesis is her main method, but that Bo staff is also powerful."
"Ahh." Bo was becoming more intrigued, "The Bo staff is a deadly and elegant weapon if understood properly and how its balance has benefits and disadvantages as well in battle."
Aiko gave a slight nod with a bit of stuttering, "Understood, but-but how exactly is this supposed to help me improve myself in kombat?"
"Becoming familiar with the fighting styles of the warrior is very important. Know a fighting style like you would know yourself. Let no attribute escape you."
Aiko adjusted the Bo to medium as she followed the bulky man's advice on striking with it rapidly, not hard as it could waste her strength. He mentioned that agility and grace is just as important than brute. After awhile, her stamina was running low. "You're finally learning, Aiko. but my lessons can only take you so far."
"Yeah...understood. Thanks-for the lessons so far," she replied bashfully. The cardiokinetic never thought she'd be in tutelage of a recovering alco-hog.
Bo then switched gears. "Now, what do you do when your weapon is knocked out of your hand? You go on the defensive, instead of rushing in blind. This is where using your hands in kombat komes in."
"Oh, ok. Now I get it. You mean like using an open hand when splitting blocks..?" The brief training sessions of the Shaolin entered her mind; each level was different starting from wood, to stone, steel, to diamond for the most advanced and strongest of the klan!
"It's a lot more than that. Open Hand Kombat was something the White Lotus Society specialize in, even Kung Lao himself." Bo suddenly knocked the weapon away from Aiko's firm hands. It landed with a clatter onto the wooden deck. Aiko immediately took out her club, the same one she had since she mastered her Ankylosaurus Animality.
Bo objected, "No, Aiko! It's good you have a backup, but that shouldn't be the way."
She slowly withdrew it into the back scabbard. The master even recoiled her idea on retrieving it; however, Bo was eager to teach her on open hand. Preferably the nuktie, a spear hand blow with the fingers extended and compressed together before thrusting into a small diameter, preferably the throat Bo said; the palm strike known as the shotei; and the Shaolin Fist!
Seeing Kung Lao made her heart warm and thru determination and patience, she was able to learn them, even perform rapid hits of the nuktie onto a small target like Lao used to do to an enemy's neck. But the other maneuvers needed some work.
"Try again. It is important that you understand how to perform the various types of attacks if you wish to emerge victorious."
Bo then taught her she needed to block with her Bo staff as well, although she needed to enlarge it on the fly in order to do so; Aiko was impressed the same weapon can be used offensively and defensively! "Good form and decent blocking. You're making progress."
He even struck first to test Aiko's reflexes, which was an evasion before she klosed in! Even blocking with her Bo at times before using it for striking. He mentioned it was vital for all his trainees to maintain their pressure and momentum, and never let their pride be tossed in the wind.
"Never let your guard down, even if you are inches away from victory. Remember that."
Before he knew it, Bo moved onto Nightwolf. Although his new technique wasn't anything physical, but rather spiritual. In fact, it was quite similar to Aiko's own kinesis which utilized the Matokan on draining souls! He happened to be an expert when it came to his various fighting styles, though he still needed his wolf, Kiba, as a power boost. Even if Kung Lao shall do the same with Liu's ardent soul. Bo brought up it can konfuse Shang with two souls fighting within one body!
After a short break, Bo lectured to each of his three students they must master all three of their own fighting styles in order to outmaneuver and overmatch the Deadly Alliance. He wasn't, however, sure whom he should spar against to demonstrate their strength and strategies.
"Unless you can master the three fighting styles of each warrior, you will be ground into dust by your opponent. If not, there is no hope for your survival on these journeys. If you desire total victory in Mortal Kombat, you must learn to harness the tools at your disposal."
All of a sudden the Dragomfly violently shook! Everyone was tossed asunder while some managed to hold on to the metallic guardrails, or whatever stable component they can find! Surprisingly there was no flames, but thick smoke emitted from the impact site! The propellers begin to shut down as their blades seized slicing the air! Screams were heard amongst the chaos, although Lao kept struggling to move despite heavy gravity taking over! He hardly heard a male shouting to brace for emergency landing and for crash landing, but he immediately saw Aiko in a shaking fetal position! He went to her first, covering her body beneath his secure, firmer anchor! Then he hollered over the destruction-
"Crawl to me! I can teleport us out to safety! Come on!" He kept on straining his voice for the gang to hear, and slowly they managed to get kloser. By the time Lao's eyes struggled to see multiple bodies surrounding him and obscuring the grey sky, he conjured as much strength as he could muster!
Everything vanished within a flash of light! Before moments later, Kung Lao plummeted to the rough brush below! The next thing he knew was the Dragonfly falling and klashing like a Kamikaze jet blasting into many pieces of debris!
A/N: Not gonna lie, these plot elements in this chapter was inspired by the MKL roleplay. From Baraka going back thru time, to gifting her the Bo/Kwon Do staff, to mentioning Queen Sindel as Aiko's mentor; also those events were around 5,000 years into the future where Baraka and the different counterparts of Aiko and Sindel were from, so it may not be canon. Still, I love those ideas, before Baraka turned later on.
As matters stand, I don't know if it matters now... They shall be elements to my fanfics and nothing more. My friends left me, so that's how matters stand.
Needless to say, I'm not going to kover EVERY konquest for each kharacter, so the main three would be my golden boys, Kung Lao and Nightwolf, and my OC being trained by Bo' Rai Cho' ironic since he had the same name as the staff Aiko was using.
I also needed to make an abrupt ending somewhere, thus the idea on having the Dragonfly shot down by whom Sonya presumed it was Hsu Hao. And I'm pretty sure that Kung Lao's Teleport can carry many who make kontact, like Rosa's Teleport in FFIV.
Oh, and the flashback scene was of course from Mortal Kombat: Onslaught, on Liu's advice that training is mental than physical. Even Sindel uttered those same words to her Edenian/Nephilim daughter, Valor.
Sad Song from Super Mario RPG (Orchestrated) would play as Bo's mission and disgrace are being discussed. Princess of Outworld by Paul Unfaces shall sound as Kung Lao goes thru training for the komplicated Whirlwind Kick. Look in Soul, also by Paul Unfaces. would probably play as Aiko and Nightwolf are being tutored. The Probe by the Star Trek IV OST would play when the Dragonfly gets hit by Hsu Hao's rocket launcher as Kung Lao helps escape the doomed Kombatants to safety.
So what would become of our heroes. Had they survived the krash?
