Finally, this damn quest was at its conclusion. At age thirteen, Shujinko had been chosen as the Champion of the Elder Gods, tasked with gathering the five Kamidogu, mystical emblems that represented the five remaining realms: Earthrealm, Outworld, Netherrealm, Chaosrealm and Seido. He was now almost sixty years old, thanks in part to the age-advancing waterways of Chaosrealm and his years-long imprisonment by Seido's Hotaru. He hoped to never again hear of either realm now that his time there was concluded.

With the sixth and final Kamidogu, that of Edenia (oh, yes, how could he forget approaching this point already, only to discover that the quest would continue thanks to Edenia's restoration while he was away?), Shujinko could finally rest in the knowledge that the realms were safe, and enjoy his remaining years in peace.

Upon returning to the Nexus, the place between the realms that served as a safe haven for his collected Kamidogu, he found that the place had changed. The Nexus, as he knew it, was a circular platform floating in a vast void, bordered by large torch pillars. At the centre was a semi-circular altar with five spaces on which to place the Kamidogu upon collection. Around the outer edges stood a series of portals to the necessary realms, each housed within a hoop made of some unknown material, suspended within a torii-like archway.

While his quest had centred around six realms, there were many, many more of these archways around the nexus. Most of them lay in ruins, which Shujinko had surmised indicated the connected realms were either destroyed or merged into others, even without the explanation of his guide, Damashi. Shao Kahn was infamous for his bid to merge all the realms into Outworld. The majority of the damage here, Shujinko presumed, had been caused by the emperor's many successful conquests. Edenia's portal had been reactivated a few years ago, thanks to the work of Raiden's champions. This had extended the quest by a few years, but it was finally at an end.

That was what he thought, at least. Shujinko found that another of the formerly broken archways had been restored during his time in Edenia. This one's now active portal was a blood red, similar to that of the Netherrealm's portal. Concerned, he quickly approached the altar to place the Edenian Kamidogu, but found that there were still only six spaces in total. Shujinko's mind went back to something Damashi had said upon his discovery of Edenia's restoration...


Shujinko stepped through the portal into the Nexus, Outworld Kamidogu in hand. This was the fourth and penultimate Kamidogu of the five he had been tasked with gathering. By now, the boy had grown into a man past middle age. He had lost much in his quest for the Elder Gods: his youth, his home, his chance to compete in the Mortal Kombat tournament. Now, though, he could finally return to Earthrealm and live in peace. Maybe he would open up a dojo, like Master Bo' Rai Cho, to help train Earthrealm's next generation of heroes.

Whatever else he might have liked to do with his remaining years were snatched away from him, though, as he observed a sixth place on the now extended altar in the Nexus. Additionally, one of the broken portals had been restored, this one golden in colour. Until now, the Nexus' form had been static, save for the opening of portals as he gathered more of the five artefacts. As he would years later, he quickly placed the newly-retrieved Kamidogu on the altar before moving to investigate. Before he had a chance to reach a conclusion, the mystical ball of light he had come to know as Damashi appeared before him.

"Damashi, what is the meaning of this!?" he demanded. "Why is there a sixth portal here now?"

"Ah, Shujinko. It is an unfortunate sign. Edenia has been freed from its merger with Outworld. As such, its Kamidogu will very likely reform before your quest is complete. And as such, it will need to be collected as well."

"And if any more realms are freed before I acquire the last two?" Shujinko asked, frustrated.

"You must complete your quest before that can happen," Damashi explained with a degree of urgency. "When a realm is restored, it takes some time for the realm's Kamidogu to reform, as it would if one were destroyed. But, if all of the other Kamidogu are gathered in one place, it will reform beside them. Take solace in the fact that more realms under Outworld's domain are unlikely to be restored."

It was these words, as Damashi attempted to comfort Shujinko, that the man had an epiphany.

"I suppose, this is actually for the best," he said with a wry smile.

"How so?" Damashi asked, after a moment of surprised silence.

"Yes, this quest is to be extended by... possibly another few years. But, so what? What I had dreamed of doing with my life to begin with was to fight against Shao Kahn and his bid to dominate all the realms. That is the purpose of the quest, after all, yes? To stop the emperor's backup scheme of obtaining the Kamidogu from succeeding. How can I claim to stand in opposition to Shao Kahn's conquest if I place the inconvenience of my quest's extension above the disentanglement of Edenia and the salvation of its people? This development is one of duality. Of both good and ill. While I am inconvenienced by it, it is better that the Edenians have their home restored, rather than continuing to live in Shao Kahn's dominion."

Again, Damashi remained silent, contemplating Shujinko's words. When he finally did respond, his tone suggested a degree of pride. "It would seem that this quest has made you wise, Shujinko."

This time, it was Shujinko who was surprised into silence for a moment. "Thank you, Damashi, but it really is nothing so grand. It is simply common sense. But enough about that. I must return to my quest. I am two thirds of the way there. With any luck, it will not be long before all six are gathered together."


One years-long prison sentence later, Shujinko, now in his twilight years, had finally gathered all six. Based on what Damashi had said back then, the seventh Kamidogu shouldn't be a problem. It would reform here in the Nexus, where the Elder Gods could watch over it.

Speaking of which, the Elder Gods' emissary should have been here waiting for him as he, at long last, completed the decade-spanning task he had been given. Then again, he had said he was to be granted a physical body upon Shujinko's completion of his quest. It was possible he was receiving his reward at this very moment. Shujinko supposed he should wait for his old friend to arrive before he did anything else. After all, who knew what might happen if the Kamidogu remained unguarded, now that the full set was gathered in one place?

Just as he thought this, a presence made itself known: a man in a ninja-like attire with two swords fixed to his back. His attire was reminiscent of the Lin Kuei, albeit yellow in colour. And from his white eyes, he was evidently undead.

"Step away from the Kamidogu," he commanded.

"Scorpion?" Shujinko said in shock. Shujinko had met the spectre briefly during a past venture into the Netherrealm. "Are you here to steal them?" Shujinko demanded.

"I won't tell you again," the man growled, drawing one of his twin blades.

Shujinko took his own stance and prepared himself for kombat.

Although had not been wielding swords the last time they met, Shujinko had faced Scorpion's skills. Unbeknownst to the Elder Gods' Champion, Hanzō Hasashi had chosen to teach Shujinko some of his techniques so that the ways of his clan would not die with them. Even if the student in question were to die of natural causes in a quarter century, that would be a quarter century longer that the Shirai Ryu lived on.

The clash was brief. Which of the two would have emerged the victor, were it not for the interruption of their duel, it was difficult to say. Scorpion had certainly gained new skills and power since last they met, but so had Shujinko.

The interruption came when the purple portal to Outworld began to shimmer and a group of warriors passed through it. They were a woman in blue ninja-like attire who looked vaguely familiar to Shujinko, a man with sunglasses, a blonde woman in military attire, a dark-skinned man with metallic arms, and a man wearing what looked like Kung Lao's iconic blade-brimmed hat.

Scorpion broke off from the fight upon this interruption. "Reinforcements?" he said in disgust, flashing a quick glance Shujinko's way. He seemed to be under the impression that these warriors were here to help Shujinko. Had Damashi gathered allies to help protect the Kamidogu?

This line of thought came to an abrupt end as a group of tarkatans emerged from the portal as well, flanking the intruders. Even the tarkatan general, Baraka, was joining them. Certainly, the forces of Shao Kahn's armies couldn't be here to help him. They must have come for the Kamidogu!

Shujinko quickly lunged for the Kamidogu of Outworld. If nothing else, he could stop Shao Kahn from getting his hands on the key to merging more realms with his. He had to dodge out of the way as the blade-brimmed hat arced towards his head. This moment of distraction allowed the other intruders to get close enough to the Kamidogu to take them.

Scorpion threw his trademark spear in the direction of the metal-armed man reaching out for the Earthrealm Kamidogu. The man's reflexes were fast, allowing him to catch the spear mid-flight and pull Scorpion over, the spectre having to steady himself with his free hand as he collided with the altar. The other man attempted to punch Scorpion's face with his metal fist, but the spectre teleported back, reclaiming his spear as he did so.

Shujinko, likewise, attempted to fight back, utilising the cryomancer powers he had learned from Sub-Zero all those years ago. Both the man in the sunglasses and the hatted warrior both deftly dodged each attempt to freeze them in place. When he attempted the same on the metal-armed man, the blonde woman jumped in front of him and took the blast herself, instantly freezing over. Immediately, the other warrior lifted her over his head and threw her directly at Shujinko, shattering the ice as her rigid body impacted him, sending both sprawling across the stone floor. It seemed that these people cared little for the well-being of the others. Or, that they had some experience facing such techniques and knew that it took a deep freeze for the technique to be fatal.

Scorpion was stunned by this seeming lack of concern the darker man showed for his compatriot, allowing the Baraka to get in close with his tarkata. Scorpion slew four of them easily enough, but Baraka proved his worthiness of being the leader of his race.

Shujinko attempted to get up, only to find the booted foot of the ninja woman planted on his chest to keep him pinned. As she did so, two massive, clawed hands reached through the Outworld portal, gripping the sides of the ring around the portal and pulling whatever those massive hands belonged to through.

The creature was roughly humanoid. Its skin was scaly and green, like a lizard, or a dragon. It stood around twice the height of anyone else in the Nexus, if its massive wingspan was taken into account. Its head appeared to be wearing a samurai-styled helmet with large horns, though either part of the helm could well have been a part of its body, for all Shujinko knew. A long tail dragged along the ground behind it, as its large cloven feet carried it across the platform, directly towards Shujinko.

"Who... What are you?" Shujinko struggled to ask, still catching his breath from the prior ice attack.

"Ah, yes, familiar words," the creature said in an intimidating baritone. "Perhaps this will help you to understand." The creature held out its hand and Damashi appeared in its palm.

"Damashi? Let him go!" the old man demanded, voice still hoarse from his winding.

"I had thought your quest had made you wise," Damashi replied.

"But it appears I was mistaken," the creature continued.

At first, Shujinko thought the creature was speaking through Damashi, using his old friend as a puppet to weaken Shujinko's resolve. But then he realised, upon hearing both voices back-to-back, that they were actually one and the same.

"Damashi does not exist, Shujinko," the creature said in a familiar manner, which fully confirmed that it had been Damashi all along. "This is merely an avatar of my consciousness."

"Then... it was all a lie. This quest was just a ruse to manipulate me. I was never the Champion of the Elder Gods."

"No. Rather, you were the Champion of the Dragon King, Onaga."

"Onaga!?" Shujinko had heard tales of the Dragon King, the ancient ruler of Outworld, until Shao Kahn slew him and took the realm for himself.

"Yes, Onaga. I have returned, and I will soon lay claim to all the realms, thanks to you."

"I will not let you-"

"You have precious little room to make such claims, Shujinko."

"Then hurry up and finish me."

Onaga shook his head. "Your name is 'Shujinko', meaning protagonist or hero," he mused. "Your parents named you in hopes that you would be granted a grand destiny. Little did they know that said destiny would be to assist in the creation of The One Realm. But that does not need to be a role borne of deception. You can join me, Shujinko. We can unify the realms and put an end to these millennia of inter-realm conflict."

"You desire only conquest. You can gussy up your ambitions with as much noble intent as you like, but you are are just as power-hungry and deceptive as Shao Kahn. Only, you are not as deceptive as him, seeing as he deceived and killed you."

Onaga let out what appeared to be a genuine sigh of disappointment, mixed with some clear frustration. "Very well. Kill him," he commanded.

"As you wish," the ninja replied, looking down on Shujinko and raising one of her metal fans, ready to strike.

Taking inspiration from Onaga's other minions, Shujinko raised his hands and unleashed an icy blast that froze the woman above him solid. The pressure on his chest increased for only a moment, before he pushed her off-balance to free himself. He scrambled to his feet and, unable to lift this much weight in his old age, stabbed her in the gut with his imitation of Scorpion's spear, which made the task of spinning and hurling her at the Dragon King much easier.

Onaga, with one massive hand, easily grabbed the woman and applied exactly enough pressure to break the ice surrounding her. While Onaga healed her wound, Shujinko was already rushing for the portal to Earthrealm. He called for Scorpion to also flee, not even sparing a glace to see if he had already done so, as he dove through the green portal back to his homerealm.

He turned once he had put some distance between himself and the portal, but no one seemed to be pursuing. This gave him the opportunity to catch his breath and reflect. A danger far greater than even Shao Kahn had returned, and Shujinko had gifted it the keys with which to do what Shao Kahn could not: unify all the realms into one singular domain.

Blinded by the lure of adventure, Shujinko had endangered the realms and betrayed the Elder Gods. The blame was his alone. What had he done?

If what 'Damashi' had told him about the Kamidogu over the years was true, it would take time for Onaga to merge the Kamidogu into one. He may not even know the specific ritual required to do so. This gave Shujinko time; time with which to redeem himself by putting a stop to Onaga's scheme. He still had the power to copy the abilities of others, which had been granted to him by Onaga himself. He would need to find more warriors to take the abilities of to strengthen his own skillset. And then, he would face Onaga head-on.

Shujinko would see to it that Onaga was hoist by his own petard, if it was the last thing he ever did. Only he could destroy this threat, borne of deception.


Basically, I just liked the idea of Shujinko being a bit conflicted about the restoration of Edenia and how it would logically extend his quest.

Of course, I had to fit the restorations of realms into the story and how it should really affect the layout of the Nexus, which doesn't happen in the actual game. I briefly considered setting up Shujinko having to go into Vaeternus as well, but that wouldn't have fit with the timeframe of events, sadly.

Also, trying to work out when certain events should happen in Konquest's fucked up timeline is bloody difficult. I really need to get around to that A Line Through Time on the subject in the new year...