I don't own anything of the Mortal Kombat universe except my own creations. All credits go towards Netherrealm Studios.
Act I, Chapter 4
Shadow Of A Colossus
The crowd seemed unending, swarming to the plaza as the stage was set. The merchants came running to sell their stock and the peasants had boards with their preferred contestant. The name Kilamon came up more than enough times, as well as a few less known or favoured, such as Darren and Selina. On the stage sat the Royal Family, the King and Queen almost front and centre, with only what appeared to be an entertainer and a single stand between them. Behind them sat the emerald bodyguard and sapphire princess, who were respectively happy and peeved.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome!" the entertainer shouted, "Today marks the 453rd Decennial Tournament of the Iron Soul. Once again, many promising contestants from all around, from east to west, from the bustling cities to the lonesome mountain tops, have been nominated. But I alone can decide who contends and who is sent back to prepare for the next time!"
A thunderous roar erupted from the crowds, and the King and Queen smiled at the crowd.
"Today, we will be presented with the best of the best, the warriors who may stand the test of time and be immortalised in the history books and become legendary! When they become heroes, they will look back and see this one moment, and that this one moment has shaped their destiny!"
The man was done, and the crowd could not stop cheering. One woman could not appreciate the effort, however.
"You have to admit," Jade began, "he gave a rousing speech."
"Superfluous propaganda for a useless event," Kitana remarked, "If I could contend, none would be left for the history books."
"I believe in your skills," the ebony said, "but both you and I have witnessed some remarkable individuals. Your skills are to be matched by many."
"Nonsense," she replied, "You only believe so because you teach such people. And look at where your pupils are now."
Jade was to respond, but the entertainer reignited his exhilarating speech.
"Now, let us begin our selection! Sixteen cities, all bringing for some of their best warriors, will now be selected blindly by yours truly! Only two of each city can contend, so they have been separated into sixteen boxes! If you are not to participate, fret not! The luck of the draw might favour you next time!"
The crowd did not stop to take a breath in between their chants, and it bothered Kitana to no end.
"Peasants," she began, "So eager to be noticed with little to say."
"Not all are blessed with you position, my princess," Jade said, "Perhaps they just enjoy the show presented to them, without any underlying motives to be heard and seen by the higher-ups."
The entertainer began flinging names left to right, and the crowd continued cheering.
"As always so optimistic, my dear friend," Kitana replied, "Truly a people person you are."
"I was born amongst people and raised among nobility," the emerald bodyguard mentioned, "Forgive me for rationalising your thoughts."
Kilamon came up in the names, and the crowd exploded.
"My thoughts are my own to hold," the princess remarked, "I do not attempt to rationalise, as you call it, your thoughts when I disagree."
"No, you tend to passively eye me from across the room," Jade quipped, and Kitana did not like it, "A fairly healthy action."
More names, followed by more cheering from the people.
"Just because I act different does not imply your method is better," the princess said, "I say that sometimes your optimism gets the better of you."
"More times my optimism has been rewarded than your pessimism, your highness," Jade said, "I say that is more than enough empirical evidence to suggest my method bears more fruit."
"I suppose," Kitana said, sounding mildly defeated, "but lately, my pessimism has gotten the better of me. I apologise, but that is the way I feel lately."
Jade was to comment, but she noticed the crowd grew eerily quiet, and when she looked up, the King and Queen had a vivid conversation with the man reading the names. Jade approached quickly, hoping to discern why the crowd had lost their enthusiasm so quickly.
"My King and Queen, what seems to be the issue?" she asked, and the King looked at her with fury, and the Queen bore a worrisome face.
"It appears there have been some administrative issues," Sindel said, and Jerrod frowned at that, "for a name has been selected we wouldn't have expected."
"So what do I do then?" the entertainer asked, "Reverse the choice?"
"No," the King interjected, stroking his full beard, "perhaps the time is ripe to test his skill. My lovely wife had faith in him, and while I do not trust him, I stand behind my wife's decision."
"My dear, perhaps it is too soon," she disagreed, "After all, I suspect he isn't yet fully acclimated to our traditions."
"Then this will be a practical exam," Jerrod said, "Besides, all I've heard from here and there is that he is more than able to fight."
Jade figured who it was without much issue, but it brought to light the oddness of this situation. Chronos had perhaps little knowledge in this regard, let alone the knowledge to actively seek out a way to participate in the tournament. Either someone signed him up, or a fairy tossed his name in the bowl and hoped for the best.
With a quick turn, Jade faced her friend, who was impatiently tapping the floor with her feet.
"Your highness, I have to depart," the ebony said, much to the chagrin of the princess, "It appears there have been administrative issues and I'd like to discover as to how it happened."
"Very well," she said, almost letting a stereotypical sigh escape her lips, "but if you have time, can you pick up some blueberry cake? We've run out, and I hope a patisserie still has one or two left."
"Most certainly, my friend," Jade agreed, and Kitana managed to let a small smile form on her lips. The bodyguard left the princess to her parents, who were still having a discussion, and jogged towards the Academy. In no less than five minutes, she reached the gate, and when they opened, she could see the big man practising on the courtyard, sparring with one of the other students.
She didn't wait to greet him, and he didn't seem to care enough to bother her. She did see Aszara on the terrace, overlooking the sparring duo. Jade approached her, and the other woman's eyes shot towards her.
"Ah, Jade," she began, taking a sip from her glass. The smell was intoxicating in many ways, "Care to join me? I've prepared some drinks for the day."
"It isn't even past noon," Jade noted, and Aszara merely shrugged.
"It doesn't matter all too much," she argued, "and besides, the weather's nice, the shadow's cool, and the drinks are tasty."
She seemed to be lost in her drink, swirling in her glass. She snapped out of it a few seconds later, turning her pale green eyes back to the ebony.
"So if you don't want a drink, what do you want?"
"Chronos has been admitted to the tournament," Jade said, and Aszara finished the thought.
"Which means he has actually been picked," she surmised, "and by extension, it means anyone else in the tournament has got some serious challenge."
"You believe so?" Jade inquired, and the lounging woman nodded in agreement.
"Whatever he did last time, with the whole beam to the sky stuff," she started, her arms upward, "He's been looking for ways to use his power some other way besides fireballs. Flashy kicks, lightning spears, that sort of things. But he's still just technically too good to be threatened by anyone here. At least, the pupils."
"The tournament is not like here," Jade said, and Aszara sipped from her drink before replying.
"Correct," she said, "which means I will be watching from my seat in the arena to witness him, as he would say it, curbstomp some idiots."
She stared at her drink again.
"Are you sure you don't want a sip, fellow overseer?" she teased Jade, to which Jade only responded by taking the glass and letting it all slide down her throat, the cool drink reaching far into her core.
"I do always forget you create some fantastic drinks," Jade quipped, while handing back the glass, "but I haven't asked you my question yet."
"Go ahead," Aszara said.
"I was wondering if he either left the grounds or someone else signed him up for the tournament," the ebony explained, "Could you enlighten me?"
"Sorry, but I'm a dead end," she said, "I haven't seen him leave the grounds, and I haven't signed him up. You're better off asking Kilamon. He's out more than anyone else. Tau'Gir wouldn't even try to sign him up, so don't bother the guy."
"I see," Jade said, "I thank you for your help."
"Anytime, sweetheart," she said, and with that, she resumed looking at Chronos, basking in sunlight, his sweat gleaming. Jade stared at her in wonder, and Aszara noticed, "He's just very, very huge and muscled. He's a sight for sore eyes. Except for maybe his face, too serious all the time."
Jade gave a quick glance at the man before eventually leaving the woman to gawk at him. She headed inside to find Kilamon, but on the first step of the stairs, he bumped into her. He was carrying a lot of boxes, so most of him was hidden behind it
"Oh, my apologies. Jade," he excused, and he moved to let her by, but she stopped him.
"I was actually looking for you," she said, "I have a question."
"Oh, sure," he said, putting down the boxes, "What do you want to ask?"
"Chronos has been admitted to the tournament," Jade began, "and I need to know whether you saw him leave or if you signed him up."
"No, I haven't done either of those," he said, "And even if I wanted to, he would need credentials. Birth year, city, the necessities and such. And I have none of those, and technically, nor does he. Someone else might have done it for him, but that would include forgery of documents, something I suspect none here master."
"Ah well, I suppose it's better to watch the story unfold then," Jade said, "You've been selected as well."
"Very good," he said, "I haven't tested his mettle yet, and I'm sure he can match up to mine."
"Confidence or bravado?" Jade asked, and through the sockets of the skull, she could see his face deforming because of his grin.
"Only time can tell," he said, and with that, he picked up his boxes and walked off. Jade was left to wonder about the whole situation. She can only speculate about how Chronos managed to admit himself to the pool of warriors without being seen. For now, however, she would let this story run its course, as she was intrigued by the potential outcome of the tournament if he would enter. She walked back outside, ready to join Aszara for a drink.
An almost absurd amount of people had gathered in front of the arena's entrance. It might be the most visited tournament in several decades, with some top tier entertainment awaiting inside. In the week after selection, the news that a human of unknown regions had been selected, and that said human had assaulted royalty and lived to tell about it, drew in people from the borders of the continent. People from Alduen to Feldrid came to see the possible frightening and hilarious outcome of a human winning.
The actual preparation room, where many of the warriors were already gathered, was brimming with energy. Contestants showing their tricks, letting tiny dragons of fire dance cross their palms, some floating only a few inches above the ground.
Kilamon sat in the corner, reading reports of the coastal cities nearest to the capital. There had been sightings of several foreign ships, never coming too close for anyone to be harmed. But the sightings themselves were worrisome, and he hoped that nothing too bad would come of it.
As he was reading, a woman approached him. He did remember her, as she was the champion of four decades ago, unfortunately dethroned through non-participation due to family emergencies. Here she looked as peppy as ever, ready to claim victory once again.
"I've seen you around here once or twice," she began, twirling her golden hair, "You're an overseer at that Academy, right?"
"Correct," Kilamon replied, eyes still focused on the reports.
"I'm Ariana, it's good to meet you," she said, and she offered her hand. Kilamon shook it, although he was confused as to why she was introducing herself.
"I am Kilamon," he said, "Why the formal introduction? We part after this tournament."
"Not exactly," she explained, "I'm to come live here, and I'll probably be transferred to your Academy to continue my training. I hope it doesn't bother you."
Kilamon laughed at her politeness and ignorance.
"Sweetheart, you're probably going to be the second best pupil on the grounds," he quipped, and she raised an eyebrow.
"It's that bad?" she asked.
"Perhaps it's all relative," Kilamon started, "but compared to the last batches of students, these have been lacklustre. Except for a handful, of course."
"But you said I'd be second best," she asked, "so your best are still worse than me?"
"Once again, correct," Kilamon said.
"So who is the best, according to you?" she inquired, and the answer came waltzing through the doorway at that very moment. He was dressed quite conservatively, a big blue cloak covering everything but his head. What was barely to be seen was the improvement on his pants, reaching just to his ankles, and the rope that held it up was now replaced with a belt-like thing, with two merged, diverging dragon heads spitting out rope. The pants itself appeared to be very modest, a grey one with minor blue accents and trim, while his hands and feet appeared to be wrapped still, albeit refreshed.
He marched over to Kilamon and Ariana. Both of them could see the awe of the other contestants. Some were only an inch or two smaller, some a whole feet as he walked by, his sheer weight shaking the room a tiny bit. Ariana was impressed at his sheer size, with her six feet and three inches being dwarfed by his at least half a foot taller body. Kilamon stood up to shake his hand, and the burly man gracefully accepted it.
"Kilamon, glad to see I'm gonna have to roll up my sleeves just a bit," Chronos quipped, and Kilamon feigned offence.
"Just a bit?" he mocked, "I had hoped you would hold me up to a higher esteem."
"Consider it a compliment," Chronos said, "If the contestants here as as good as the pupils back at the Academy, I'm set to snatch victory."
"Now hold on there, soldier," Ariana interjected, "Former champion attending again."
"Oh, my apologies," Chronos said, much too kind, "I believe we haven't been properly introduced."
"We haven't been," she said, and extended her hands once again, "I'm Ariana."
"Chronos," he said, returning the gesture, "So, former champion, what made you lose your status?"
"Ah, family issues," she began, "One of my grandmothers had fallen very ill, and I had to come home to help take care of her."
"Sounds like a rough time," he said, and she raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry, but back home taking care of a very ill person is deceptively time-consuming. I couldn't do it if I wanted to."
"It was the fourth time she fell ill, so I was already trained so to say," she elaborated, "So don't worry about it."
At that point, a woman walked in.
"Dear contestants, please occupy your transmission pads," she said, "The arena is about to open. You have five minutes."
Just as fast as she had walked in, she walked out.
"Looks like we have to cut our conversation short," Ariana said, "I hope to see you in the Arena, Kilamon. And you as well, Chronos."
"Likewise," Kilamon replied, Chronos only nodded his head in response, "May the best contestant win."
With quite a brisk pace, she walked to the competitor entrance to the Arena, just falling behind the others. Chronos and Kilamon were far less quick on their feet, opting for a slower pace. They didn't say a lot to each other, with the mammoth man eyeing the Earthrealmer, who was mostly loosening up his joints.
A minute of silence passed by, a full silent walk, before they arrived at the pads. Many had their family say their piece of good luck and inspiring words. While Kilamon didn't think of it much, he noticed something flicker in Chronos' eyes, but that flicker had died down just as fast as it had started. Chronos took off his robe, revealing the massive frame hidden underneath.
"I suppose this is where we say good luck to each other," Kilamon said. Chronos stuck out his hand and Kilamon gladly liked to shake it, but the burly man pulled back his hand, stroking his hair with it, "You're a bit of a prick sometimes."
Chronos only gave a sly grin before heading to one of the pads far off in the back. He wondered how far his old life was behind him, realising it hadn't even been a couple months at best. Time had definitely flown by. He stood on the last pad, waiting to be transported to the Arena. From what he had heard, the Arena changed every time the tournament commenced. Last year, it was mostly a forested area, with a lonely hill here and there. After a couple of minutes of getting lost in thought, he felt the marble floor morph into that of unrefined rock.
Looking around, he seemed to be in a valley of red stone, with a bit of light pouring in, a grass patch here and there. Behind him, the marble walls of the Arena remained, and it appeared there was only one way, into a cave of some sorts. He approached, the darkness quickly enveloping him. Several steps later, he could see the glowing light of luminescent plants and hear the calm babbling of a stream. The poorly lit cave was long, but seemed to go straight, for at the end, a lot of light could be seen.
Carefully traversing the cave, about halfway through, he heard something step in the water. As soon as he heard it, the sound grew into steps, and instinctively, Chronos jumped forward to create some space. Turning around to see his assailant rush towards him, he struck his stance. He was prepared to fight. Unfortunately, it appeared the girl that tried to attack him didn't understand the concept of reflexes very well, because she practically lobbed a fist aimed for his face.
He rolled his eyes while simultaneously grabbing the arm, pulling her over his knee, and he gave a quick tap to the back of her head to immobilise her. He made sure she was out cold, which she was without a doubt, because she was whisked away by a pulsing ring on the ground, sending her back to the pad room, he assumed.
Thoroughly let down, he reached the light, revealing a roaring river where the stream meandered into. A single rocky bridge crossed over the river, with a stone alley bending around on the other side, some place he couldn't see. As he was halfway across the bridge, about three people popped up from the alley, and when he tried to escape from the bridge, two people had manage to come from a passage he hadn't yet seen.
The other competitors stomped over towards Chronos, who was stuck on the bridge. It wasn't small, but six people would be too much, which meant that inevitably someone would end up in the river. It was tremendously difficult to keep all his attackers at bay from this position, but Chronos would nevertheless try, maybe wearing them out. And yet, the sheer overwhelming amount of fists and feet was enough to make a stray one knock him off the bridge, sending him into the river.
Dragged along for some time, all the while struggling to keep his head, let alone his heavy body, from crashing into passing stone and disappearing beneath the surging tide. Eventually, he could feel his body float, crashing down into a very small crack in the rocks where the river turned into a meandering stream again. He got up, with a sore rear to boot, to wiggle himself out of the crack, and it revealed a straightforward path towards what only could be assumed as the centre of the Arena.
With haste, he walked towards the centre, a massive platform, with at least seven rocky crossings connecting to every end of the Arena. Beneath, he could barely see the supports, and when he walked closer, it revealed the water beneath. Far on the other side of the plateau, he could see a very familiar skull trouncing towards him. It appeared no other competitor was fast enough. Or they were knocked out.
"So it seems the prodigy is matched with the mentor, and so quickly too," Kilamon exclaimed, his voice thundering, "Many vanquished already, or did you manage to sneak by?"
From the distance, he could hear the crowds roar, exhilarated by his speech. It appeared his voice was amplified outside the Arena, and it was clear Kilamon was a favourite among the crowds.
"But before either of us slip into a monologue about our skills and prowess in kombat," he said, "let us commence. I'm sure the other competitors wouldn't want to interfere."
Chronos would want to say he couldn't care less about winning, and that the accolades and fame that came with victory were hollow and eventually material in a finite life. But he liked winning just as much as the accolades, with enough won bets back home. He was sent into a second of homesickness before assuming his stance.
Kilamon, even from several yards away, closed the gap very fast, opening with an elbow to Chronos' jaw. The big man managed to duck it in time and retaliated with a clean blow to the liver, greatly hindering Kilamon's movement. A flurry of blows followed, yet they lacked just a tad in strength to knock the mammoth man from his feet.
Recovering from a harsh blow, Kilamon went on the offence again, unleashing a cavalcade of knees and fists, hoping one would find their mark. Chronos managed to block all of them with varying degrees of difficulty, before finally catching a slow fist and flinging Kilamon over his head. Not all too high, his mammoth skull just weighed that much, but high enough to leave a lasting mark on Kilamon's body.
The overseer got up quickly, just in time to block a very strong kick, strong enough to send him tripping backwards. He remained upright at decided to take a defensive stance. Chronos, in turn, upped the ante with much more aggressive behaviour. However, while Kilamon remained fairly far away, Chronos came up real close to Kilamon, capitalising on the mistake to try and defend. Almost brushing brows, the burly man began unloading upon Kilamon, who couldn't guard all the attacks from so close. While Chronos didn't pack the punch he usually seemed to have, the sheer quantity of blows and strikes that plagued Kilamon's skin eventually began to show their marks.
Chronos could see his opponent falter, and began hitting harder, more deliberate. Once in the kidney, once in the kneecaps, once in the chin, to finally beat Kilamon into submission. Chronos employed a dash punch to knock Kilamon over the edge of the plateau, but he sidestepped just in time. Chronos was now on the edge, but the mammoth couldn't exploit his advantage, and Chronos knew. Or at the very least, they expected so.
With a mighty windup, Chronos prepared to land a final uppercut to send Kilamon reeling back, knocked out, to solidify himself as someone who could hang with the big dogs and gain more respect from the citizens, and of course, the rewards would be great. But very, very unfortunately, Kilamon was patched up in a second, and acting on instinct, he dodged the uppercut and unleashed a furious strike of his own, knocking the big lug out cold, sending him rolling back over the edge, with lightning trailing behind his body.
Kilamon rushed over to see his motionless form fall into the waters below, but it was nowhere to be seen. He felt cheated out of a fair victory, and a look at the most obvious spot gave him a clue as to who was the culprit. Even the crowd had significantly decreased in volume as they too scratched their heads over this oddity.
"Well, that didn't look fair," he heard, and he turned around to see Ariana frowning, "Is this normal?"
"No," he answered, "but I have a feeling it could have been expected."
"How come?" she asked.
"Bad blood between this man and the Princess," he said, and Ariana seemed rather at a loss for words, "Ah, when you come to the Academy, I can tell you. You might even ask yourself."
"Will do," she said, and she looked around into the crowd, "These people are expecting a fight still, and I'd hate to let them down."
"I suppose," Kilamon replied, albeit with a bit of a sullen tone, "If I win, I'll just toss the medal and toss it in the sea."
Ariana only hummed at that response. She'd heard only bits and pieces during her absence, but Kilamon remained mostly uncontested in the tournaments he would enter. His shelf of medals were an apparent testament to that. Both of the took their stance to prepare their own epic battle, but it was cut short very abruptly. The plateau underneath them suddenly gave away, a roaring wave of thunder slamming through the pillars supporting it.
Crashing into the waters below, the platform was just large enough to make sure it could be stood on, only the feet of both the warriors submerged by the cool liquid. But to both their surprise, the weather had turned sour quick, frenzied thunder bolts striking down from the heavens, yet not travelling through water. Even worse, it appeared the marked man had somehow managed to not be teleported away. Floating a couple stories high, surrounded by a globe of swirling energy, he hung, his muscles twitching, his eyes sporting an eerie, sun-like glow.
At the very best, he looked tremendously upset.
"Your Highness, could you stop snoozing," the emerald clad bodyguard said, "you're bothering the rest of the royal spectators."
With her eyelids half-open, she could barely help herself raise her head. Kitana had suffered from an unusually poor night's rest, brought forth by nightmares. She looked over at Jade to see her caring eyes.
"My apologies, Jade," she said, turning her head back to the Arena, "I'll attempt to refrain my weariness to myself."
"Thank you, Princess," she said, and Kitana was about to be dragged to sleep by her tired mind again, if not for Jade's always burning desire to be snarky, "You know your Highness, you are much more amicable when you're spent."
"Funny, Jade," she said, "I surmise you enjoy my poor state of being?"
"Not at all," she said, "I enjoy you in all state of beings. Nevertheless, some moments, your temper is less likely to be ignited. Such as now."
Kitana laughed at her remark. Deep down inside, she knew the emerald ebony had no ill will against her, yet in her worn state, she couldn't help but make poor decisions. When she saw her nemesis gain ground on the mammoth, she had one such poor decision enter her mind. As of now, it was a devious and well-deserved bit of payback for what he did to royalty.
"Father," she said, prompting Jerrod and Sindel to turn around, "May I test the Earthrealmer's might just a bit more?"
"What did you have in mind, my daughter?" the King asked, with the Queen already concerned.
"When the final blow will be struck, can the overseer be, let us say, patched up to continue the fight?" she suggested, with Sindel's disapproving nod telling her enough of how her plan would go.
"I wouldn't have imagined that plan myself," Jerrod said, pondering the thought, "but it would definitely test his skill."
"My King, please consider what you're about to approve," the purple-clad woman warned, "You're about to interfere-"
"Mother, please," Kitana said, "can you not empathise with me? I have been mistreated and he must have some kind of retribution, how small it may be."
An exceptionally low blow by the Princess, she knew, but her mother wouldn't budge by it. It was instead aimed at her father, who appeared to be smiling.
"Very well," Jerrod said, with Sindel's disappointed glare penetrating her daughter's soul, "Once it seems the overseer is defeated, I want him in mint condition again."
Only a couple minutes passed before Kilamon was finally inched towards the edge. Chronos missed him by a hair, but charged up another uppercut to claim victory. Just then, Jerrod waved around his hand, and a nearby healer used his magic to revitalise Kilamon again, who used his new found energy to slam Chronos off the stage, seemingly lifeless as he dropped to the waters below.
They could see Kilamon ran to the edge and once he realised Chronos was gone, his bottomless eyes found the royal seat. Another competitor came up to take some of the man's fury away from them.
"That was… underwhelming," Jerrod said, surprisingly let down, "Well, I suppose there's nothing left to do than watch the rest of the tournament unfold."
Kitana felt some kind of odd satisfaction from the ordeal. Her assailant put down a peg, discredited in the eyes of the crowd. Oh, it was delicious. Just then, some pencil pusher came up next to them, clearly in a state of distress.
"My Lord," he began, "We've some grave news."
"What is it?" Jerrod said, "About the contestant?"
"Contestants," the administrator added, "We're unable to transport the competitors back to the warp room."
"Excuse me?" Jerrod asked.
"Well, it seems a foreign sort of magic is blocking ours," he explained, "And it seems to be growing."
Just as he said that, a thunderous boom shook the Arena, and when they looked back at the Arena, the plateau had given away. The sky had turned a grizzly dark, solar lightning striking the water. It did not shake the contestants in in, however. More worrying, they could see Chronos' limp body hanging about in the sky, encompassed by a globe of solar energy.
It seemed the girl prepared to strike with her own magic, but she was promptly struck by a massive lightning spear, sliding her backwards, knocking her down. Kilamon was tossing orbs of green energy at him, but it bounced off Chronos' shield. He was now floating down slowly to engage Kilamon.
"This was a poor plan, Jerrod," Jade spoke up, remaining quiet during the process, "Administrator, can we still be transported in? To the plateau directly?"
"I wouldn't know," he said, "but we can try."
"Kitana," she ordered, making the tired Princess perk up, "You are accompanying me to clean up this mess."
With a sprint, they went to the warp room, each occupying a pad of their own, and the sorcerers did their best to get them in. The odd magic still seemed to block much of their influence, but not enough to hinder their transmission into the Arena. By the time the Princess and the bodyguard arrived, Kilamon was struggling to get up, and Chronos was kicking the poor girl while she was down. Jade tossed her razorang to catch his attention, and the thing ricocheted off of his head, now lazily turning towards them.
It was odd seeing him move. Instead of his more graceful and quick movement, he lumbered around like a drunken slog, having the most issues in just keeping himself standing. Jade charged forward, but the lumbering man retaliated much quicker than expected with a rushing shoulder, sending the bodyguard careening backwards. Kitana approached carefully, fans drawn to the ready, and the marked man once again rushed forward with a shoulder, and the sapphire could barely manage to step out of the way.
With a whirlwind of slashes, she tore up his body, a dozen wounds for every limb he had. Even then, he seemed much too unfazed by the wounds and casually grabbed her by the throat and tossed her aside. She looked up to see his wound heal remarkably fast. Kilamon had managed to recover just in time to throw his own punches, but all of them were deflected and it seemed the strikes hurt the overseer more than Chronos himself.
Jade attacked again, recovering her razorang and turning it into her pole, striking at every opportunity she could get. Kilamon kept on his barrage, and Kitana continued her wild slashing. It did mostly nothing, but all of them hoped that the onslaught of blows and cuts would wear him down. The drunken man remained fairly still, save for a few muscle spasms here and there. A sudden surge of energy knocked away Kitana again, and Chronos performed a mighty kick that put Kilamon down like no tomorrow.
Jade was about to attack when she was grabbed by the collarbone. She made a futile attempt to escape, but for a seemingly half-awake man, his grip was iron, slowly crushing her bone. Eventually, she was forced to her knees, the searing pain too much to be ignored, and then, a vicious blow to the stomach put her body in a senseless state, falling down to earth with only her consciousness responding. A final crushing stomp to her chest crushed her ribs, and several cracked from the force.
Chronos picked her up and slung her to Kilamon, who was doing his absolute best to get up again. But the ebony crashing into him put both of them down for the fight. It was now the Princess' duty to defeat him, but the odds were stacked so heavily against her that she might as well pray to the Gods for help. Once again, she slashed away, with a single one finding its intended target. Well, as far as his entire being went, of course, but she did cut him across the right eye.
He provided her with a devastating knee to the gut, causing her to collapse from the jolt of pain. It seemed the wound wasn't healing, which meant his body might actually be giving up. She tried to stand up, but the big guy put his foot down on her head, and his sheer weight began pressing down on her skull. In hindsight, trying to get her revenge on this man seemed pretty ridiculous. Her saving grace would be the signature black and white hair wrapping around Chronos body, lifting him up.
"You will not harm my daughter any more, vile spawn!" she bellowed, her voice giving away the power that lurked within.
"So it seems this Queen still has fangs," he said, his voice distorted beyond recognition, "Let's see if you bite matches your bark."
He unleashed a powerful shockwave, freeing himself from Sindel's hair and sending her sliding back, the water carved away. He didn't waste any time in trying to turn her into a pile of ash, because Chronos started slinging globes of fiery energy at her, each skilfully dodged by Sindel. It also seemed using actual powers was tearing the man's body apart, because glowing flakes of skin slowly detached themselves from his being, leaving holes behind that revealed glowing flesh.
The marked man finally unleashed a tidal wave of lightning, rolling towards the Queen with uncanny speed. With a deft front flip, she jumped over the rolling thunder, with Chronos staggering behind it, clearly unable to keep himself composed. With a last ditch attempt to fry her, he gathered much of his energy into a single punch, and with blinding speed, dashed towards her with his fist straight out. She redirected the punch into thin air, and her hair wrapped around his form to start slamming him into the rock.
After three or four times, his struggles ended, and with only some hushed laughter and a few hapless grasps for something, his body limped to the floor. Her daughter came to stand beside her, clutching her stomach before both of them ran over towards Jade and Kilamon. Kilamon looked a bit beaten up, but from the blood on Jade's mask, it appeared the ebony was much more than roughed up. They were all teleported back to the warp room, where several priests stood by to assist the seriously injured.
Sindel looked over at her daughter with much lost sympathy, and Kitana could only stare, distraught at her short-sighted decision. The priests began yelling, and both the female competitor and Jade were carried off, with the mammoth-masked man regaining his consciousness. He and Sindel got into a heated argument while following the priests, leaving the Princess only with herself.
"By the Gods, what have I done?"
can I get a uuh BONELESS update with a TWO LITRE a COKE
fuck kind of update? also TWO LITRE MACHINE BROKE, we got 1 litre tho
Ey, so another update comes around. As always, rate and review, smash that mofuckin like button, subscribe, hit that notification bell and I might give away a free PS5. Or a new chapter, it's all up in the air really. Don't be afraid to send me a PM if you have questions.
- The Coolest Alligator in the Universe