On the road of vengeance, procure two coffins. One for yourself and one for the one you love most.

From the Harvester's Journal

Soralis pushed back, her eyes now boiling with green and black energy. Power swirled around the combatants, each wanting the other dead. She was dimly aware of another titanic battle going on, between a demon sorcerer, her father and mind-mate. But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered.

He tried to take my soul. He would have killed my father. He has killed thousands, millions of innocents. He Will DIE NOW! She thought.

Shao Kahn laughed mockingly. "You hate me for what I have done. I made you into what you are! You are death! Death and sorrow, hell come to earth!"

Soralis snarled, ducking a viscous backhand. "You did nothing but mutilate my mind and body. I refused the first evil once. I refuse to be anyone's slave!"

She returned the backhand with an equally brutal telekinetic strike that sent the would-be world destroyer through a wall.

Qui Gon winced as the waves of hatred slammed into his already thin shields. Coming from Soralis. He thought as he dodged a wave of energy daggers streaming from Quan Chi's outstretched, clawed fingers.

"She's going to kill him!" he shouted.

"No time! Concentrate on him!" Rayden shouted back. "She'll do the right thing." he added, dodging energy tentacles that threatened to trip and entangle him.

I hope. For all our sakes. Rayden really didn't want to have to kill his own daughter. It would rip him to shreds.

Xanatos was good. Very good as a matter of fact.

Obi Wan blocked a strike, and found it was a feint. The dark lord lashed out with his foot, tripping the boy.

He fell hard, the breath knocked out of him. "Maybe I should start with your feet. How would you like to spend the rest of your life a cripple?" Xanatos sneered, playfully waving his lightsaber in front of Obi Wan's boots.

Obi Wan skittered back, calling his lightsaber to hand. Xanatos noted it and intercepted the blade before it could land in place. "No, no, no." he shook his finger mockingly.

Obi Wan eyes flicked desperately around the hallway, looking for any kind of weapon to use. His eyes were wide as Xanatos ignited the boy's own lightsaber and dipped the tip to his leg, touching it.

The pain was immense.

"You can do so many interesting things with a lightsaber you know. I would love to show them to you. Do me a favor. Don't pass out." he chuckled in amusement and the lightsaber dipped again, lighting on the other leg.

His screams were music to the dark apprentice's ears.

Daniel jerked as he heard the boy's cries of pain. "Kitana, help him!" he snapped. "I'll figure this out!"

"Hurry!" Kitana said, ducking out into the hallway and ran like hell towards the direction of the screams.

He circled around, looking for runes, anything. He stopped, slapping his head with the palm of his hand. "I am so dense!" he shook his head and grabbed a morning star from Shao Kahn's private collection of weaponry. He brought it down on the crystal formation resembling the land contours of Los Angeles. The backlash of energy flung him into a rather hard wall. His head connected and blackness engulfed him.

Obi Wan closed his eyes as Xanatos loomed over him. The saber dipped. He could hear the tell-tale hiss as it stroked his arm, sending blinding, gut-wrenching waves of pain down his arm and into his body. He wailed.

Xanatos laughed. "You scream much like your master. It didn't take much more than that to make him yell." he chuckled. "Jedi are so weak!"

Obi Wan opened his eyes. "Only evil is weak." he hissed, and lashed out with his legs, the pain nearly sending him into unconsciousness.

Xanatos fell as Kitana came into view, still too far away to be much help.

With the last bit of his mental strength, he yanked his lightsaber out of Xanatos' hand, igniting it as it landed snugly into his hand. He struggled to his feet, using the wall as support.

Xanatos got up, glaring at the wounded boy. "Spirited. I shall enjoy breaking you!"

Obi wan met his charge, the lightsabers locked, desperately trying to keep Xanatos at bay. That's when the shockwave of energy reached them. Xanatos screamed as concussive waves of light and sound shrieked through him, knocking him senseless. Obi Wan followed suit. Kitana dropped to her knees, clapping her hands over her ears as the wave reached and passed her, leaving her breathless and head hurting like hell. When the wave past, she staggered to her feet, and like an automon, managed to hook an arm around her out-cold friend, dragging him away from the downed sith apprentice.

Daniel came to, slowly, reluctantly. He lurched to his feet, using the wall as a brace. He looked at the shattered rift device, memory a persnickety thing indeed. Did I smash that? he thought and winced as his head roared at him in protest at the slightest movement. He used the mace in his hand as a crutch and limped out of the room, heading by blind instinct towards the hallway leading outside. The sounds of a very nasty fight helped guide him.

Quan Chi scowled as he back-handed Rayden into a wall. The nearly powerless thunder god sank to the floor, unconscious. He turned his attention to the Jedi, battered, bruised, but most defiantly alive and not willing to simply give up.

"Give in Jedi. Save yourself some pain." the demon snarled.

"Jedi don't give up," Qui Gon said mildly. "Nor do we give in to evil."

"Then you will die and your pretty mind-mate with you." he chuckled. "And I will have your apprentice for a mid-morning snack."

Qui Gon launched himself at the demon, his body limned with a bright blue aura. Quan Chi backpedaled at the sudden attack.

Soralis winced as Shao Kahn grabbed her by the neck and slammed her into a once grand looking marble column. She saw stars for a moment as he banged her head repeatedly against the hard surface. She focused, naked hatred twisting her expression.

Evil seeks its way in through anger, hatred and fear. Let the darkness in once; it takes root, like a weed. It spreads like poison ivy. And it is as hard to destroy. Soralis remembered, the first lesson Prophet had ever taught her . You are afraid. You fear him, fear makes you angry, anger turns to hatred easily. Only by letting it go will you be victorious. Hanging onto it will only destroy you and those you love most. LET IT GO! Prophet's voice seemed to roar in her mind. She went limp and inward, eyes rolling back into her head as she feigned unconsciousness.

Shao Kahn cackled, reaching for her mind, intending to shatter it in an implacable mental grip. Under a shadowy veil, Soralis waited, garnering her strength. Even now at the end of her resources, she still had enough power to fell a rampaging, rabid elephant. As the warlord entered her mind she screamed, putting all of her pent up emotions and psychic energy into it. As she did so, the energy wave from the broken rift-device slammed into them.

Bleak despair.

Anger.

Hate.

Black rage.

Pure power.

The combined released energy rocketed through the warlord, sending him reeling back, clutching his head as he screamed in a high-pitched voice, adding to the chaos around them. Noise, light, power swirled and danced around them, slamming into walls, crumbling them, bouncing across flagstones, causing weird effects. Grass grew rampant, waving menacingly, climbing up marble columns like vines only to wither and die in the harsh outland environment. Poisonous flowers bloomed, choked and died, leaving husks of strangeness around the courtyard.

In the middle of this, Quan Chi staggered back as the concussive wave from the rift device and Soralis' own strike-shriek hit him. At the same time, Qui Gon threw a round-house punch, connecting solidly on the monster's chin. The demon went down. Before he could finish the job, Quan chi disappeared in a crackling wave of energy.

Soralis' eyes opened as Rayden and Qui Gon knelt beside her. Her eyes were black, an endless night. "Death comes not on wings." she whispered.

"Hush," Rayden said worriedly.

"The balance not met, the balance unstruck." she continued, mindlessly, looking inward. "Gates shut, gates open."

She stood, her body seemingly boneless, looking at her father. "It ends," she said meaninglessly.

That's when the earth began to rumble underfoot.

Jack stumbled as the earth began to shake. "Oboy." he muttered. "Not good not good, not good!" he shouted, racing back towards the courtyard. The others more or less followed suit.

Shinnok eyes widened from the shadows of the courtyard as his granddaughter stood. He knew above all else what she was doing, what was taking over. No. Not the symbiont. Something far more dangerous. Something far more primal.

The Isisethrene was manifesting.

And she wasn't happy.

"It ends now!" she growled.

The earth began to crack.

Motes of light began to dance around them, gold and silver, concentrating around the Isisethrene. She turned her attention towards the warlords. Her eyes were black with hints of swirling color deep within them. She walked slowly, purposely towards them.

"You have broken the covenant." she hissed. "Not once, not twice. You seek power stripped from you, by the elders themselves. You seek to become what you once were." she accused Shinnok. "You unlawfully created a device that sapped the gods strength and immortality. You broke the barrier between worlds. All for power. All for vanity." she turned to Shao Kahn.

"You aided him in this. For jealousy and hatred and lust for power. You to seek what you cannot by law have. You assaulted your own neice, you tortured her mind and soul, all in an attempt to make her into a monster. All in an attempt to turn her into a weapon against the gods themselves." she snarled. "Your niece is my chosen avatar. You have thrice sinned. Shao Kahn. You did not care for kin, neither of you did. Only tools for you to use and disregard."

Power swirled, the motes glistened, taking shape. Figures appeared, slightly out of sync with the rest of reality. The elders took shape, regal, powerful beyond words. Three beings. Propriety, Wisdom and Benevolence. The virtues that governed mankind.

"Your accusations are severe Isisethrene,"

The Isisethrene laughed, low and chillingly. "But nonetheless true. Not proper behavior for gods at all, don't you think?"

Shinnok paled as the virtues looked in his direction. "She speaks truth my lord Shinnok. Once again you have violated the covenant." Propriety remarked.

"Once again you unlawfully seek entry into the Earth Realms." the Isisethrene added.

"Once again you will be sent back to Carceri, the NetherRealms of Hades." Benevolence intoned.

"NO!" Shinnok railed, rushing forward, grabbing Rayden before anyone could act.

"I will not go back. He will die first!" he said, hands glowing with a leprous light. The thundergod gasped as a painful surge of energy coursed through his body. His knees buckled as the air was forced out of his lungs, leaving him groggy and weakened.

Jack crouched behind a wall, looking at the stalemate. He knew that they wouldn't risk Rayden's life. Looks like we'll have to end this the old fashioned way. Hope Sparky will forgive me, he thought, taking careful aim at the Thundergod with his semi-automatic pistol. He squeezed the trigger.

Rayden felt the punch of the bullet enter his shoulder. That's new, he thought before he sank into blackness.

Shinnok loosened his grip on his son, startled by the shot. The Isisethrene took the advantage, ripping Rayden away from his father. The hell-god screamed as the motes surrounding the Isisethrene flitted to him, swirling around like a maelstrome. Winds began to howl, sounding like a dirge of a thousand lost and suffering voices. His face began to boil, to melt away, turning to ash. In seconds, he was nothing more than a few flakes of black dust. With that, the woman that was the Isisethrene collasped. Shao Kahn took the opportunity to flee. No one thought to take him down, all were too shell-shocked to act.

Jack raised his hand cautiously. "Um, glowy guys? What now?" he asked.

The Virtues smiled at the mortal. "That which was will be once more," Benevolence said. The three deities began to glow, brighter and brighter.

"The balance will be met," Wisdom said quietly as Jack sank into unconsciousness.

"And virtue will be rewarded in kind,"Propriety whispered as the others similarly felt darkness enclose around them.