It was only half an hour ago that Liu Kang had fought and defeated Goro, the four-armed Champion of Mortal Kombat. Earthrealm was now safe from Shao Kahn's evil clutches for at least the next five centuries and Liu Kang would now be able to live long enough to defend his new title. Now that he had achieved this victory for Earthrealm, it was time to secure one for the Shaolin.
With the death of Kung Lao nine half-centuries prior, Shang Tsung, Outworld's previous champion, had seized control of the tournament from the White Lotus, installing his own Shaolin council to oversee the proceedings. If Liu Kang could defeat Shang Tsung, as his legendary ancestor had done five hundred years prior, Outworld's corruption would be expunged from the tournament.
Of course, despite his victory over Goro, defeating Shang Tsung was not a sure thing. Goro, for all his might, was ultimately just a large wall of muscle with an extra pair of arms. Shang Tsung was a powerful sorcerer with the souls of untold defeated warriors trapped inside of himself, including Kung Lao. It was impossible to say whether the fiery skulls he was throwing his way were a power stolen from a fallen defender of Earthrealm, or a Shang Tsung original.
After all, he also made liberal use of his shapeshifting ability to assume the form and abilities of other warriors from the tournament. He seemed to go out of his way to avoid using the abilities of Reptile, Scorpion and other warriors Liu Kang had already bested. After all, he had a better idea how to avoid their attacks than he did Johnny Cage or Sonya Blade's.
But regardless of how accurate these imitations of the other fighters' abilities might be, it seemed that the sorcerer had no experience actually using them. Johnny Cage, for instance, was far more accurate with his arcing Forceball in the matches Liu Kang had observed. And the sorcerer's imitations of physical skills seemed less forceful than the originals, as if his elderly body's limitations were not mitigated by his shapeshifting.
Liu Kang, however, was a mere twenty-four; the youngest of his lineage yet to face the forces of Outworld in Mortal Kombat. He was swift in both body and mind, allowing him to evade and counter with relative ease. So long as he kept himself from growing cocky, dodging the sorcerer's fireballs to get in close would be the easy part. He ducked and weaved between the Forceballs, shot down the skulls with his Dragon Fire, and kept his distance to evade the impressive reach of Sonya's long-legged kicks.
When he spotted his opening, he hopped back to give himself a little more distance, disguised as a simple dodge of another impressive kick. With room for a few extra running steps, Liu Kang launched himself off the ground with extreme force, rocketing towards his family's ancient enemy at such speed that the sorcerer was unable to react in time as Liu Kang delivered the special technique Master Bo' Rai Cho had taught him.
The Flying Kick struck home, a little lower than he'd been aiming, but with enough force impacting Shang Tsung's chest to send the sorcerer flying even further than the Shaolin had flown, colliding with the statue immortalising his own formerly youthful likeness with enough force to crack the statue's own chest. As the ancient sorcerer flopped almost lifelessly to the ground, his triumphant opponent wondered for a moment if he might have killed the villain.
Fortunately or not, the old man was not done yet. He propped himself up on his forearms and tried to force himself to his feet. All his could manage, it seemed, was to push himself up onto his knees. Of course, given what he had just been subjected to, even this otherwise simple act was a terrifying accomplishment.
He spat blood from between his reddened teeth onto the floor of the shrine. He was panting harshly, his breath ragged and rough. Per the rules of Mortal Kombat, if he couldn't get to his feet, he was defeated. He placed one hand on the ground and attempted to push himself up from his knees, but to no avail.
After a few more futile attempts, the sound of a large gong echoed across the island. Somehow, Liu Kang instinctively knew there was no one manning the gong that signalled the start and end of a bout, seeing how parts of the island had been collapsing since Goro's defeat and most of those remaining on the island had already fled.
With that, the Twentieth Outworld-Earthrealm Mortal Kombat Tournament was officially over. Both the champion and tournament master had fallen before Liu Kang's skill, and both Earthrealm and the tournament would remain free of Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung for many years to come. A great sense of relief washed over the young monk as he stood victorious over his family's ancient enemy.
"Finish me," the sorcerer demanded.
Liu Kang lowered his fists and unclenched them. "No," he replied simply.
"Finish me!" the sorcerer again insisted.
And again, the monk said, "No."
The sorcerer raised a hand, seemingly attempting to cast some sort of spell to provoke him, but his magic was well and truly spent. Giving up, Shang Tsung once again spat blood on the floor. "Save your pity for the weak."
"It is not pity, Shang Tsung," the monk replied, shaking his head. "We Shaolin respect all life. Even one as vile as yours. You could learn a thing or two from our teachings."
Shang Tsung laughed; well, more coughed through the bubbling blood in his mouth, which he now expelled in greater quantities.
"Mark my words, Liu Kang," he said gravely, fixing his opponent with a glare that made clear his intent to obtain revenge against him. "You will live to regret this. Everyone and everything you love will be torn away from you and burnt to ashes."
"Do you want me to kill you?"
"That may be preferable to the fate that awaits me in Outworld."
Liu Kang shook his head again. "You have made your bed, sorcerer. Whatever fate awaits you is on your head. But I will not be the one to deliver it to you." Despite his words, looking down on this bloody and broken old man, the monk couldn't help but feel at least a little sympathy for him. But, reminding himself of this man's betrayal of his own realm and his complicity in helping Outworld to come so close to conquering the Earth made it easy to push those feelings down for later consideration.
Finally able to force himself to his feet, Shang Tsung spat out the largest puddle of blood yet and said, "Your Shaolin compassion is a hypocritical farce. There are fates worse than death, and yet, you would inflict that fate upon another and proclaim yourself righteous for not delivering a merciful end to them. You will, all of you, suffer for this indignity."
The sorcerer took a small glass orb from his belt and tossed it onto the floor behind him. It shattered and opened up a small portal, which he wordlessly hobbled through. It closed behind him, leaving the monk alone with his thoughts in the Warrior Shrine.
He hoped he hadn't made the wrong decision in choosing to spare the sorcerer's life. He was sure his non-Shaolin relatives would say so. Kung Lao certainly would. But if Liu Kang had to sink to the sorcerer's level, how could he call the protection of Earthrealm a righteous cause? How could he chastise the sorcerer for his villainous acts if he, himself, was performing some of the same? Still, he did also have a point about the hypocrisy of refusing to kill, as a moral limit, but leaving his defeated foe to a worse fate at the hands of his vengeful master. It seemed the world was far less black and white than he'd been raised to believe.
The sound of stone shifting and scraping off to the side caught his attention. Fourth in the line - preceded by Shang Tsung, Kung Lao and Goro - now stood a statue of Liu Kang himself: the newest Mortal Kombat Champion.
Despite the humility that had been drilled into him by his masters from an early age, Liu Kang couldn't help but smirk at this monument to his grand achievement. And while his competitor statue across from the champion statues would one day give way for another challenger's visage, this new one would stand on this island forever, immortalising him and his accomplishment here today.
He felt it was probably best not to let Kung Lao know about this particular monument. He would get enough of the monument the Shaolin would surely build for him once they received the good news. And it was very good news indeed. The monk couldn't wait to return to the academy and let everyone know.
His homecoming would certainly be one to remember.
I came up with the exchange where Shang Tsung is encouraging Liu Kang to kill him and then filled in the rest. One downside to writing a story out of order is being limited in what you can do with certain scenes. I couldn't have Shang's statue explode or take notable damage, or have Sub-Zero's crumble to refelct his death, since no such thing is acknowledged in The Runaway's Quest.
