Chapter Nineteen: Confrontations – Sonya Blade, Part Three
SNAFU'S NOTES: I've went back and added some more dialogue and scenes in some of the earlier chapters, incorporating Rain in Johnny's Confrontation Arc and adding Ares for Sonya's Confrontation Arc.
UPDATE: I did say that I was gonna have Sonya fight Hotaru, but the main reason as to why it took me so long with this chapter – aside from me working on my novel (yes, I'm working on becoming a published novelist) – is because I simply didn't like where it was going. So, Cetrion will go back to being Sonya's rival and Ares will become Hotaru's rival.
UPDATE Pt.2: I kinda forgot that Hotaru was the name of the Seidan Commander. So, I'm changing the name of the other Hotaru (Scorpion's wife) to Hikari. Which means I gotta go back and make the necessary changes. Finally, a weapon from God of War makes an appearance in a nice little Easter egg. Also, this chapter is kinda short, as it sets up the next chapter, in which Sonya, Carol and Ares fight Cetrion, Shinnok and Hotaru.
With Sonya...
Back in Earthrealm, there was an old adage that a former colleague and fellow General once told Sonya. "There is a difference between the officer who issues out orders from behind a desk and the officer who grabs an assault rifle and says, 'Okay, boys. Follow my lead.'"
It was more than obvious Sonya and Jax were clearly the latter.
The Netherrealm Oni were relentless. Even with the portal closing, they kept on coming. At least their numbers were rapidly dwindling.
Staff in hand, Sonya parried an Oni warrior's attempt to decapitate her, before smashing its skull in with a powerful overhead blow. Bojutsu wasn't really her cup of tea, as she preferred Eskrima over Raiden's signature style. Over time, however, she got the hang of using the staff under Raiden's tutelage.
Then, Thor saw her practicing with the staff one day, and offered her the chance to study for a month in Asgard, both in staff kombat and to better use her electrokinesis. After talking it over with Jax and Johnny – and getting a vow of honor from Thor that Sonya's virtue was to be protected – Sonya agreed.
It was the best choice Sonya had made. Granted that she got her ass handed to her during the training by the likes of the Valkyrie, Sif and the Warriors Three, it was a month well spent.
No wonder Hela had taken an interest in her.
Three more Oni zeroed in on Sonya. One was armed with a nasty-looking broadsword, while the other was armed with a battleaxe. The last one was unarmed, but that didn't make it any less of a threat. Sonya knew from her experience fighting these in the Netherrealm War.
Bullets were effective in stopping them, but godly lightning and a heavy staff worked just as good in killing them.
Sonya swung the staff like it was a Louisville Slugger, aiming at the unarmed Oni's neck. The sound of the Oni's neck breaking was all that Sonya needed to hear, allowing her to focus on the remaining two. A burst of lightning had left a smoking hole in the chest of the sword-wielding Oni, while Sonya deflected the axe swing with her staff. Going low, Sonya knocked the Oni off its feet with a leg sweep, before finishing it off by driving the end of her staff into the Oni's eye.
The following electrocution and head exploding was indeed overkill.
Sonya looked around at the carnage. Carol was still providing air support, blasting what remained of the flying Oni out of the sky with her photonic blasts, and keeping those grounded from overpowering Ross and Ares.
And she wasn't even in Binary mode.
Ares was having the time of his life. Given that he was the God of War, that was more than obvious. His helmet was lost in the struggle, having been knocked off by an Oni's warhammer. But that did little to stop the Olympian's bloodlust.
Armed with an M-60 machine gun – obviously enchanted by his brother Hephaestus, as it was obviously firing enchanted ammo – Ares was laughing like a madman as the bloodlust took hold, the war god cutting a bloody path through the Oni.
'At least he can tell the difference between friend and foe,' Sonya thought.
The portal was halfway closed. That was a good thing. The aerial Oni were the bigger threat. Sonya saw the kind of damage they did back in the Netherrealm War. Anyone who held the high ground had a major advantage. Shinnok had used that tactic effectively and to a horrifying degree back in the war.
Her orders were clear. Engage the Netherrealm Oni. Show no mercy.
Ares approved.
Fortunately, the aerial Oni had focused their attention onto Carol, as they saw her as a more serious threat. One of them even came at Carol with a crude warhammer that reminded Sonya of the same hammer that Ronan the Accuser wielded. Carol, on the other hand was more than happy to take it off the Oni's hands and played Whack-A-Oni with several of its brethren.
Sonya saw that Carol was quite proficient with the warhammer. It eerily reminded her of Shao Kahn.
Shao Kahn. That damned emperor was up there with Kano. And Kahn wanted Cassie for a concubine. Between the two, Sonya didn't know which one she wanted to kill first. And that's not going into the situation with the Revenants.
She loved Kitana like she was her own flesh and blood. And no way in hell was her Revenant going to absorb her soul.
That left Cetrion and Shinnok.
Sonya suspected that they were still out cold from Carol's photonic blast. A temporary solution so that Wanda could focus on closing the portal. But Sonya knew that the Children of Kronika would not take this lying down and would return with a vengeance.
One Oni was sneaking up behind Ares. One lightning blast later, and the Oni was reduced to ash.
"You have my thanks, Blade," Ares said as he approached her. "But I had things well in hand."
"Sure you did…"
The massive machine gun vanished. Ares was still grinning like a maniac. "By the Skyfather, do I love a good war. I almost missed the battle madness. You seem to handle yours quite well."
"Still got a long way to go..." Sonya felt her instincts scream at her to move. And if there was one thing she trusted overall, it was her instincts. Eyes glowing violet, Sonya teleported, and Ares hopped back…
...just as Hotaru's Lava Burst impacted where she stood just moments earlier.
"Impressive," Hotaru commented as Sonya reappeared.
"Raiden's final gift to me," Sonya replied as she summoned her staff back to her hand. Driving it into the ground, she took a moment to tie her hair into a bun. It wasn't a ponytail, but it will do.
"Sadly, it will not be enough, Sonya," Hotaru said.
Sonya took a step forward, but stopped when Ares placed one hand on her shoulder. "You are still needed, Sonya." When Sonya started to object, Ares silenced her. "No. Fortune favors you, Sonya. And it seems that it favors me as well." He looked at Hotaru. "This one is mine. The only think that can challenge Order is Chaos."
"Thought you didn't believe in Fortune," Sonya said.
"I didn't believe in the Sisters of Fate either. But after Scorpion's intervention in regards to Alexander, I've learned to hedge my bets," Ares admitted. "The victory will not be Kronika's today, Sonya. I promise you that. But the Seidan is mine. Now go."
Sonya gave Hotaru a glare before leaving Ares to face the Seidan commander.
"Bold words, warrior," Hotaru said as Sonya departed. He readied his naginata. "Yet your actions are foolish. Your actions merely postpone the inevitable."
Ares smirked. "So you say." Stretching out his hands, the God of War cried out in Greek, "Zeus! Skyfather! Valor pleases you, grant me your favor this very day!"
Nothing. Then, a sharp whistling sound was heard. Hotaru thought it was a bomb.
But it wasn't the explosive ordinance favored by Inferno Squad. No. A massive sword had embedded itself into the earth, blade-first. It was a weapon worthy of a warrior. A golden-and-white sword, made from the finest of metals, radiating with bluish-white energy.
'Thanks, Dad,' Ares thought as he gripped the sword, and yanked it free.
'No problem, son,' came the reply. 'Make me proud.'
Zeus had given him the finest – and most powerful – of his blades. Forged from the heavens, the oceans and the afterlife, the Blade of Olympus was used to end the Titanomachy. Zeus almost brought it to bear against the Japanese gods, but by that time, a truce was declared.
One must have great strength or great spiritual power to wield it at its full potential. Any attempt to wield its blade would drive the wielder to madness. Not even the Earthrealm-born gods could wield it.
Balancing the flat of the blade on his shoulder, Ares strode forward. "In war, there are many ways to kill a man. You can rend a man's flesh to bloody rags, or even shatter one's bones to powder. But I find the most effective way to truly destroy him, is to break his spirit. I've done that many times in the past." He pointed the Blade at Hotaru. "You, will be no different, Seidan."
"I am no ordinary Seidan," Hotaru replied as he readied his naginata. "I am the commander of the Seidan Guard, the ruler of Orderrealm. I am the Fist of Kronika's Will, the scion of Order and master of war."
That mad grin was now back on Ares' face. "That's good. Because you now face the God of War!"
With a battle cry, Ares charged.
With Shinnok and Cetrion…
Pain.
Shinnok was no stranger to it.
Even after his mother and Cetrion had reattached his head back to his body, Shinnok still felt the pain from Raiden's lightning blade slicing through his throat. The pain of his head being severed from its body. The pain of still being alive, helpless, unable to do anything.
It was that same pain that roused him from blissful unconsciousness. Looking around, the fallen Elder God saw that Cetrion had also recovered, the fallen Elder Goddess of Virtue shaking the cobwebs out of her head, trying to get her bearings.
From the look of things, Cetrion was unharmed. No need to worry about her.
Cetrion, on the other hand, looked at her brother, and gasped. Glowing green eyes widened as she pointed to Shinnok's arms. "Your arms! Your hands!"
Shinnok looked down at his hands. What greeted him was was not the pasty white skin and forearm guards, but bleached bone, from his hands all the way to his elbows.
The pain came from his arms, the flesh, muscle and sinew having been seared away.
And Shinnok knew why.
He had seen the blonde wench – not Sonya – fire off an energy blast. Shinnok had attempted to conjure a protection spell, but he was a fraction of a second too late.
A cold, dark rage swept over him. This was the third time he had underestimated a Cage. But that was not the reason of his rage. No, the source of the rage was still in the sky, decimating the aerial Oni.
'That one is strong. Very strong,' Shinnok mentally deduced. 'She will serve me well in the Netherrealm once she's dead.'
"Brother! Look!"
Cetrion's voice snapped Shinnok out of the dark designs he had for Carol Danvers.
What Shinnok saw had all but infuriated him.
His Oni forces were being routed by Sonya Blade and her allies! That in itself wasn't possible, so long as the portal remained open. With the portal opened, it would only be a matter of time before they were overrun.
Wait...the portal!
Shinnok turned his attention to the portal. No Oni were coming through there, as there was less than a foot open. Oh, they tried, but their sheer numbers, once an advantage, were now a massive hindrance as they trampled and climbed over one another, trying futilely to get through the portal.
The only thing that did come through was a severed arm, just as the portal closed, the pained screams of its owner silenced as the portal sealed shut. The arm twitched for a moment before going still.
Shinnok's scream of rage carried throughout the battlefield, directed at the red witch and her father. Oh, yes, Shinnok had looked inside their souls and discovered the familial ties between Magneto and his daughter. Had he searched further, he would've known that they were mutants.
What he and Cetrion had witnessed was beyond impossible. The red witch had sealed the portal!
With the portal gone, Shinnok had clearly lost the numerical advantage. Those Oni that had made it through would be easy pickings for Sonya and her allies.
With Magneto and the Scarlet Witch...
It had been a daunting task, closing the portal, with the flying Oni trying to take a swipe at her and Shinnok and Cetrion's aborted attempts to stop her, but Wanda Maximoff managed to get the job done. Her father had played a major part in getting the portal closed by defending her from any and all attacks, most of them coming from the flying Oni.
Once the portal was closed to the point that the winged Oni stopped coming, that point was rendered moot.
"You did it, Wanda. Well done."
The Witch blinked. A compliment, from her father of all people. Will miracles never cease?
The scream from below caught their attention. Shinnok and Cetrion had recovered. Father and daughter both saw Shinnok wrench the amulet from his chest. Wanda could sense its dark energies, even from where she was at in the air. A power amplifier, and much more, she deduced.
Both Magneto and his daughter deftly dodged the amulet blast. While confident that her father's barriers protected them from Shinnok's earlier blasts, she did not want to risk taking a shot from Shinnok when he was using his Amulet to increase its power.
Charging her own chaotic energies, Wanda fired off a barrage of crimson hex bolts. However, unlike Carol, Wanda wasn't as lucky. Cetrion raised a wall of rock from the earth that absorbed the blasts. But it was more than enough for the Scarlet Witch and Magneto to retreat back to a safe distance.
Back to Sonya…
Staff back in hand, Sonya performed a pole vault, propelling herself upward in order to avoid being dog-piled by a horde of Oni warriors. Summoning another bolt of lightning, she came down on her attackers, once again reducing them to ash and bone.
'Colonel. Wanda was successful. The portal is closed,' Xavier reported.
Sonya turned to where the once-massive portal had appeared. It was gone. Shinnok had lost his advantage.
Then, came Shinnok's enraged scream.
"Looks like fishface and his sister are awake," Carol said.
Sonya smirked. Johnny called him the same thing back at the Sky Temple all those years ago.
"And he's pissed," Red Hulk added as they watched Shinnok's failed attempt to blast them out of the sky with his Amulet, only to retreat back to their position.
"Portal's closed, Colonel," Wanda reported as she and Magneto landed. She turned back towards Shinnok and Cetrion, who were now on the move, and heading in their direction.
"We got incoming," Red Hulk added. "What do we do now?"
Sonya turned to the former General and the two mutants. "The three of you mop up what remains of the Oni..."
"...provided we keep a body for proof of what took place here," Carol amended. She turned towards the two Elder Gods that were closing in on their location. "I'll take Shinnok. You can get Plant Lady."
Sonya nodded. "Ready?"
Carol sighed. "More or less." She crackled her knuckles. "Let's party."
Back with Hela...
"Oh...now this is getting good," Hela said as she watched as Sonya and Captain Marvel confronted Shinnok and Cetrion; Carol staring down Shinnok while Sonya challenged Cetrion.
She knew that neither Shinnok or his sister would play far in this little brawl. All she had to do was to wait for the perfect moment.
No one messes with the souls of Midgard. Not even an upstart fallen god.