Hello everyone, welcome to the newest chapter of The Crimson Demon of Outworld. I am so sorry that it took so long to get this out, school was a real pain along with work, and preparing for my ACT. Hopefully, it won't happen again. Now with that out of the way on with the story.
You would think that since we're hosting the tournament, we would be here first. Cormac thought as he waded through the crowd of combatants. As Cormac stood and waited for Shang Tsung to begin his speech, he took a moment to get a look at the potential competition. Most of the beings here were from Earthrelm, besides the ones who were actually fighting, only a handful from Outworld were here. He also saw potentially the greatest threat, Raiden. Every fighter from Outworld knew who Raiden was and the Emperor specifically told them not to challenge him during the tournament.
One of the Earthrelmers that caught his attention was a human in a suit and wearing sunglasses. Why would he wear those at night? Before, Cormac could wonder anymore about it Shang Tsung began the opening ceremony.
"Combatants, I am Shang Tsung, in the coming days each of you will fight." No shit. Cormac thought, what sort of idiot would be here without knowing that. "Some are here of their own volition, others were brought here by chance." In others they didn't have enough people, so they brought whoever they could. "You participate in the most important Mortal Kombat in history. This tournament, the tenth after nine Outworld victories, will determine Earthrelm's fate." Is he ever going to say anything that most of us don't already know? "If you defeat all of your opponents, you will face one final challenge... me!"
"Ha!" A voiced laughed, everyone turned to see the same Earthrelmer that Cormac had noticed earlier, smirking. "That old geezer's the final challenge?" He asked, rhetorically. "They might as well give me the belt right now." He said confidently. "They do have belts, right?" In the blink of an eye Shang Tsung was beside the boastful man. "What how did you-"
"Appearances can be deceiving." Shang Tsung smirked. "Our first kombatant will be Johnny Cage." He announced.
Johnny Cage quickly regained his composure and strut forward. "That's right, that's right who's it gonna be?" Johnny said confidently, daring anyone to step up.
"Reptile." Shang Tsung called. Reptile jumped down from the roof a the nearby. This caused Cormac to smirk his friend did have a flare for the dramatic.
"Nice stunt." Johnny complimented. "Who's your agent?" Cormac looked at the man, confused. Is this man serious?
"Round 1," Shang Tsung announced. "Fight!"
Johnny began by throwing a barrage of green energy orbs. After being hit by the first few, Reptile countered with his own ball of acid, that he and Cormac called the Forceball. Johnny moved in close delivering a barrage of punches. Trying to get some distance, Reptile jumped into the air only to be followed by Johnny who then proceeded to punch him back down to the ground, winning the round.
"Johnny Cage wins." Shang Tsung said begrudgingly. Cormac looked on, worried, he knew what would happen if Reptile losses. As Reptile picked himself up he flexed the arm that he had landed on only to wince, definitely broken. Seeing this Shang Tsung fired a blast of magic into Reptile. Reptile tested his arm again, this time with no pain.
"Round 2," Shang Tsung announced. "Fight!"
Not wanting to give Johnny another chance to overwhelm him Reptile fired another one of his Forceballs, hitting Johnny in the chest, sending him falling back. Johnny quickly got back to his feet and fired a blast of green energy. Reptile blocked this and spat a glob of acid straight into Johnny's eyes. Luckily, for Johnny he was wearing sunglasses, but he was still blinded. When Johnny cleaned the acid off his glasses, Reptile was gone.
Johnny then felt a punch to his ribs, then a kick to his gut. Johnny then felt himself get thrown into a wall when he looked up he saw Reptile appear, he turned invisible!
"Reptile wins." Shang Tsung announced. Cormac smiled, his friend still had a chance.
"Round 3," Shang Tsung announced. "Fight!"
This time the two fighters charged as one, each exchanging blows, but none of them landing. Johnny was able to break the exchange by sending a kick to Reptile's gut. When Reptile recovered he spat a ball of acid aimed for Johnny's eyes, but this time Johnny was ready. Johnny moved his head to the side, dodging the blast, rushed forward, sliding into a split, and punched Reptile right in the balls. All the men watching winced. Reptile fell to the ground in agony.
"Johnny Cage wins." Shang Tsung said reluctantly.
"Oh yeah, I'm so pretty." Johnny praised himself, he then proceeded to go down the line of fighters saying how he would beat all of them. As he was doing this Cormac was helping Reptile to his feet.
"I lost." Reptile said. "We both know what happens when we return to Outworld."
"Don't worry we still have until the tournament is over." Cormac said. "As long as we beat Earthrealm the Emperor will be too happy to execute you."
"Now for your second challenge Mr. Cage." Shang Tsung spoke up, interrupting Johnny's bragging. "Baraka!" Cormac scoffed, if Reptile lost to Johnny Cage than Baraka had no chance.
"Ok, nice makeup but is it really necessary?" Cormac was astonished did this man truly not understand what was happening? Baraka unsheathe his blades catching Johnny off guard.
"They will taste your flesh." Baraka growled.
"Round 1," Shang Tsung announced. "Fight!"
Baraka charged, trying to run Johnny through with his blades. Johnny flipped over Baraka and fired off a barrage of energy balls. Johnny smirked and lifted up his shades to give Baraka a wink. This only served to enrage to Tarkatan. He charged to Earthrealmer with reckless abandon only to be met with a energy infused kick, winning the round.
"Johnny Cage wins."
"Round 2, Fight!"
Johnny moved in quick getting Baraka with a low kick, sending him to the floor. Baraka rolled away and quickly got back to his feet only to be met with a fist to his face. Johnny then went in low punching Baraka straight in the balls, as he was reeling, Johnny elbowed him in the spine, knocking him out.
"Johnny Cage wins." Shang Tsung announced irritated. Cormac was doing all he could to hold in his laughter.
"Man, I love those blades." Johnny praised. "My producer has got to meet you, we're doing "Tommy Scissorfist" and-." Thankfully, Shang Tsung interrupted the actor before he could continue.
"Congratulations, Mr. Cage now finish him."
"Finish him, yeah right."
"Kill him!" Shang Tsung demanded. Johnny looked around at the other kombatants hoping that Shang Tsung wasn't serious, but all he saw were grim faces.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a sec, I'm not gonna kill anyone." This man makes absolutely no sense. Cormac thought.
Before Shang Tsung could say anything else, a guard ran to his side and whispered some thing in his ear. "It appears we have a uninvited guest." The guards then dragged in a man of Asian descent.
"Kung Lao!" One of the Earthrealmers cried as he rushed forward only to be stopped by Raiden.
"Release him, Shang Tsung." Raiden commanded.
"He tried to sneak in, Thunder God." Shang Tsung sneered. "If he wants to stay he must become part of the tournament, Cormac!" Cormac could barely keep himself from running into the ring. "Final battle for the night, Cormac vs Kung Lao!"
"Prepare yourself,warrior for now you face a Shaolin." Kung Lao said, dropping into a stance.
"Shaolin or not you will fall just the same." Cormac said, shifting his feet into his own stance.
"Round 1," Shang Tsung announced. "Fight!"
Cormac moved first driving his fist into Kung Lao's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Before Kung Lao could even recover Cormac sent him flying back with a devastating kick.
"Cormac wins." Shang Tsung announced. Kung Lao was angry at this point, he had come here to prove to his people that he was Liu Kang's equal. Now he was being beaten by a warrior that only needed to blows to defeat him.
"Round 2," Shang Tsung announced. "Fight!"
Kung Lao moved first, jumping into the air to deliver a swift barrage of bicycle kicks only to be blocked by Cormac. Cormac then delivered a devastating high kick to his temple, sending him flying. Kung Lao recovered only to see Cormac charging at him, fist raised. He jumped over him just as Cormac slammed his fist into the spot his head had just been, leaving a spiderweb of cracks. In a last ditch effort Kung Lao through his razor-rimmed hat hoping to at least wound him. Cormac smirked. I was hoping I would get a chance to use this. Right before the hat landed, to the surprise of most, Cormac caught the hat with his bare hands! Cormac's whole body was encased in red energy.
When Cormac moved he was a blur. One second he was five feet away from Kung Lao, the next he was right in front of him driving his knee into his gut. Kung Lao meet the ground face first unconscious.
"Cormac wins." Shang Tsung said with a smirk. "Now, Cormac finish him." Cormac nodded, channeling his energy into his right hand forming a claw. Brought it down only for a hand to stop his strike short by grabbing his wrist. He looked up to see Raiden looking at him, not in anger but almost as if he was looking for something. The stare down was broken by Shang Tsung. "How dare you interfere Thunder God." He growled. "You know the rules, you're not allowed to interfere."
"The rules state that I'm not allowed to interfere with kombatants." Raiden said. "Kung Lao snuck in, he is not a kombatant." Shang Tsung ground his teeth together, Raiden was right, but he would let it go this time, after all it was still a victory for his side.
Cormac wrenched his arm out of Raiden's grasp and walked back to the sidelines. Raiden's eyes followed Cormac as he walked over to Reptile and received a congratulation.
"Lord Raiden, What is it?" Liu Kang asked after checking on Kung Lao.
"I'm not sure, but you should be wary of this Cormac there may be more to him than meets the eye." Raiden warned.
And that ends the newest chapter of Mortal Kombat. Again sorry for the wait. Until next time, follow favorite and review.
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