Everything Goes To Hell
October 13, 1992
Alexander's POV
To say that things went to hell would be…well…an understatement.
I've seen some things in my life. My good-for-nothing father abandoned my family before I was born and my mother passed away when I was a baby. I grew to hate everyone and everything in my life from a very early age; surviving on my own without the support of anyone. I suppose I was one of those stereotypical, delinquent kids who loved breaking the rules and hated authority. I always looked for any opportunity to get in to fights whenever. Being born with psychic powers I can't really explain, I knew I couldn't be beat by anyone really. It was my high for so many years living in the United States.
Then one day when I was 10, some weird dude in a straw hat made from electricity as far as I could tell popped out of nowhere and offered to take me in to some temple in China. He said I would be able to make something positive out of my life if I listened to him. That man being the Thunder God, Raiden himself. Realizing I had nothing better to do with my life, I took him for his offer figuring it would be interesting if nothing else. There, I was introduced in to the Shaolin Order. I gotta admit, back then I had no interest at all and felt like I was beyond everything. Everyone hated me because of my attitude and I in turn did everything I could to make them hate me even more. I thrived off that.
It wasn't until later when the elders taught me to manifest my hatred and disdain for everyone in to something positive. It took a while but eventually I began to develop a new philosophy in life. Apparently, the reason the temple took me in was because of my grandfather who was a very respected Shaolin warrior. The old folks tell me of how he represented Earthrealm in the Mortal Kombat tournament 50 years ago and how he got to the very end of the tournament…only to get killed by that four-armed bastard Goro. And now, history seems to repeat itself.
Kung Lao and Liu Kang were my best friends growing up in the Shaolin. They were there back when I first joined the Shaolin and were there to see me grow up in to the person I am now. Our relationship wasn't the greatest at first as you would probably guess but we became as close as brothers over time. Myself and Kai would go to them for advice for anything. We formed something of a Brotherhood. We knew that one day the burden of representing Earthrealm in the Mortal Kombat Tournament would fall on our shoulders.
That time came and passed. It ended up being Kung Lao representing Earthrealm.
He's no longer around in this world…
Goro killed him in the 10th Mortal Kombat tournament much to everyone's shock and anguish; with myself, Liu, and Raiden being the ones hit the hardest by the news. The loss meant that Earthrealm had lost ten consecutive Mortal Kombat tournaments to Outworld and by nature of the rules set out by the Elder Gods, our realm is forfeit to that bastard Kahn.
Myself and all the others are still trying to take this all in. Everything that happened recently has been something I would never dream of in my worst nightmares.
On that day not too long ago, Kung Lao's world came to an end. And quite frankly, so did ours…
End POV
*3 days ago*
Earthrealm, Wu Shi Academy, China
October 10, 1992
"What the hell just happened!?" Questioned the young, long red-haired Shaolin warrior known to the temples as Alexander. He and everyone else in the Academy witnessed Raiden and a few of his warriors emerge from a portal from Shang Tsung's Island.
"I'm sorry. We couldn't win the tournament. Earthrealm has fallen to Outworld." Said the thunder god in a somber tone of voice as he held the dead Kung Lao in his arms.
Those were the words heard by Liu Kang, Alexander, and all the Shaolin members who anxiously waited to hear the result of the 10th Mortal Kombat tournament from Raiden accompanied by the surviving warriors of the tournament; Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, and Sub-Zero. All day, everyone was instructed to wait at the Wu Shi Training Ground as demanded by the elders of the order. The Academy itself was surrounded by beautiful scenery of nature, the large castle that enclosed the Academy, and the many different statues around the area.
Prior to this, everyone wished so badly that Raiden would return with the good news and that they could celebrate Kung Lao's victory in the tournament. It was to be a happy, joyous occasion and relief that Earthrealm would be spared from Outworld's menace. Kung Lao would be hailed as a hero and the tournament would be restored to it's rightful owners, the Shaolin Temples.
What happened instead was the most frighting, terrifying experience of everyone's lives. The world as they knew it was coming to an end. There was absolutely nothing they could do about it. Everyone present knew exactly what happened the instant they saw Raiden emerge from the portal.
"This…this can't be happening!" Alexander said not wanting to believe what he was hearing nor seeing.
"I'm sorry Alexander. I wish I could tell you differently. This is our reality now". The thunder god plainly told his pupil; sporting his traditional blue and white attire.
Raiden then instructed a nearby Shaolin warrior to take Kung Lao's dead body elsewhere as everyone looked on in sadness and despair.
"K-Kung Lao." Liu mummered to himself, distraught by what he was hearing. The shaolin; dressed in a plain, white undershirt, black pants, and kung-fu slippers didn't want to believe the sight he was seeing.
"Dammit!" Alexander blurted in anger and sadness at the sight of what he was looking at. The young man was dressed in a black shirt with the red Shaolin symbol, blue pants, and black running shoes
"I'm afraid we don't even have time to mourn. What happened to Kung Lao is done and we must focus on what's to come". Raiden said trying to get Liu Kang and Alexander to focus.
"Lord Raiden, what could we possibly do now?" Questioned an elder from the temples.
"There's nothing that we can do to prevent the merger of the realms. Our realm is forfeit now and Shao Kahn will be attacking all of Earthrealm any minute". Raiden explained. "All we can do is brace ourselves for the chaos that will ensue."
"He's going to attack already? I thought it would take a lot longer for this to happen?" Questioned Sonya, one of the few Earthrealm warriors to survive the horrid 10th tournament. Sonya herself was still wearing the green, martial arts outfit she wore in the tournament.
"Shao Kahn has already prepared for the incoming invasion. I know him inside out. He will waste no time laying waste to our realm". Raiden told Sonya.
"Geez! What's his big rush?" Johnny joked despite the tense nature of what was going on. Johnny as well was wearing the same outfit from the tournament; his martial arts pants and his expensive shoes.
"And to what end exactly do we go about assuring our survival thunder god?" Came in the most surprising addition to Raiden's forces. The warrior very well known to the Shaolin Order as the same man who broke in to their temples not too long ago and even fought against the side of Earthrealm in the tournament. That being the infamous Lin Kuei warrior, Sub-Zero. While everyone was surprised to see him present, hardly anyone was happy to see him.
"Lord Raiden? What is the meaning of this? Why is Sub-Zero here?" Questioned another shaolin elder not pleased to see the ice ninja present.
"This is not the time for holding grudges! I don't like it but it must be done". Raiden came back frustrated by what was going on. "Sub-Zero has pledged to help us in this crucial time and I shall see to it that he follows up on his promise.
"I don't like that idea one bit." Alexander objected seeing first hand the incident that took place in the Shaolin temples. "Don't you agree Liu?"
Liu turned to Alexander after being lost in thought about Kung Lao's death "What must be done must be done. I don't like Sub-Zero but if Lord Raiden believes he'll help us in our cause then I'm willing to put our differences aside."
Alexander looked displeased and turned to Raiden. "Fine but if he does anything i'm going to beat his ass all the way back to the Lin Kuei". Alexander confidently stated with a hint of anger in his voice.
"Hmph! I like to see you try it boy! Unless you have a death wish!" Sub-Zero replied harshly to Alexander's dismay.
"And the others?" Liu questioned trying to break the tension, turning his attention to the Hollywood superstar and the Special Forces agent.
"Um, I'm Sonya Blade". Said the short haired, special forces agent feeling awkward introducing herself at a tense time like this.
"And I'm JOHNNY CAGE! I doubt you guys know who I am but I'm a HUGE celebrity around the world! Everyone LOVES my movies!" Boasted the superstar to the annoyance of everyone.
"Oh great, the actor's here as well" Alexander moaned.
"Hardly a way to introduce yourself don't you think?" Liu Kang said annoyed with the way Johnny introduced himself after all that went down.
"Forget him, he has a tendency to do this". Sonya remarked about Johnny. "Just ignore him if he acts stupid"
"Hey! I never act stupid what are you talking about?"
"Dutifully noted" Alexander remarked.
"In any case it's good to meet all of you. This is a very tense situation so I'm afraid we don't have time to get properly acquainted." Liu said.
"Yeah, tell me about it Bruce Lee!" Johnny said which annoyed everyone.
Sub-Zero, annoyed by the small talk began to speak. "As I was saying, what exactly do we do now thunder god?"
Raiden turned to Sub-Zero then at everyone else. "We must prepare for the impending invasion that's to arrive very shortly. To this end, we'll need everyone to take up arms against our Outworld aggressors as they relentlessly attack us. Everyone able bodied and ready to fight will take on the hordes of Kahn's warriors. All of the children and the elders will be stationed to the underground where they will be guarded by a handful of Shaolin warriors.
"And what about Kung Lao?" Liu wanted to know about his late-best friend.
"I'm afraid there's no time for a proper funeral. We're out of time and we need to be ready". Raiden explained.
"How do we even know when and where he'll attack?" Sonya questioned.
"Every place on Earth is grounds for Kahn's invasion. He won't stop until he goes through every single inch of our realm."
"Well, sucks to be everyone else in the world." Johnny half-joked. "This is something out of my movie Aliens from the 3rd Dimension!"
"You just don't shut up don't you?" Alexander said annoyed at how lightly Johnny was taking things.
"Oh no, Jax!" Sonya said to herself, remembering her superior from before the tournament.
"Jax? Is that the name of your boyfriend?" Johnny asked.
"No you idiot he's my superior!" Sonya replied angry. "The last I saw of him was before I went on the boat to the tournament. I have no idea where he is now".
"Well why don't you try radioing him? Ever thought of that?" Johnny asked Sonya.
"That's the other thing. My radio got destroyed on the island. I have no way of contacting him".
"I mean that's not good and all but I think we should be worrying more about our collective asses y'know? Just food for thought coming from the smartest guy around here clearly!" Johnny proudly declared.
Raiden turned to Johnny. "You might be right Johnny Cage. As horrid as what will happen to the rest of Earthrealm, we must ensure our own safety before anything else. As unfortunate as that might be."
"See! Even Thunderman agrees with me guys!" Johnny said with pride to the amusement of no one but himself.
"Shao Kahn will no doubt send a large horde of his warriors to attack the Wu Shi Academy." Raiden began to explain. "He's well aware that this is Earthrealm's stronghold for our warriors and he'll stop at nothing to have everything destroyed. To that end we must have all our warriors concentrated around the academy to fend off our aggressors."
"That's a good idea Lord Raiden" Liu came in. "Our best bet at survival would be to stay together where we have the most manpower to fend off Kahn's forces."
"And we'll also have access to our supplies, weapons, and all that." Alexander added.
"...So it's settled". Came in Sub-Zero who was annoyed by the conversation going on. "I will deal with every Outworld scum in kind."
"Ha! As if I need any weapons to beat those Outworld chums!" Johnny remarked.
"Something tells me you're probably going to be needing them". Sonya replied. "Against a hoard of Outworld freaks that want us all dead."
"What happens after my lord?" Came in another shaolin elder.
"...I can't say for sure just yet. Once Kahn's initial onslaught has ended he will seek to merge Earthrealm with Outworld. Once that happens, it's anyone's guess. My powers will be significantly wakened meaning it will be harder to protect this realm from the tyrant".
"We can't afford to be thinking about that right away. We should focus on the task at hand". Liu mentioned.
"Indeed." Raiden said agreeing with his pupil before turning his attention to the masses of Shaolin; warriors, children, and elders alike. "There's no time to waste! Everyone get positioned around the Academy! Kahn will commence his assault at any moment now-" Raiden abruptly paused when he noticed the sky go dark and a huge red portal open one hundred meters to where everyone was present. There was no question what was going on now…
"Ooooohhhh SHIT! Johnny yelled out loud.
"That…doesn't look good." Commented a concerned and anxious Alexander.
"So much for meticulous planning." Sonya remarked with a hint of fear in her voice.
"By the gods…" Liu said in awe and fear at what he was seeing.
"THEY'RE HERE ALREADY!! Raiden screamed out loud getting everyone's attention. EVERYONE ON YOUR POSITIONS LETS GO! WE HAVEN'T A SECOND TO WASTE!"
"Gruh!" Yelled out countless Tarkatan warriors who emerged from the portal with killing intent.
Out of the red portal came a massive hoard of Tarkatans in innumerable amounts all ready to lay siege to the Shaolin Temples. Their blades released from their arms, they barked out a battle cry in unison and charged towards the Shaolin warriors. With that, the Shaolin warriors prepared to take charge against them and the massive battle began. There was no time to prepare clearly.
Raiden turned to a group of Shaolin warriors. "Hurry! Take the children and the elders away at once!" The thunder god instructed which they did immediately. Raiden then charged towards the Tarkatan mutants himself and blasted a huge number of them right from the get go.
"Hmph!" Sub-Zero sneered at the hoards of Tarkatans many meters away from him as he created a sword made out of ice and charged towards his Outworld foes.
"Well, it's time to put up or shut up" Sonya said as hundreds of Shaolin warriors ran past her yelling out their battle cry.
"Yeah, sucks because I had a really sweet movie role given out to me before the tournament. Guess I'm never going to have the chance to do that" Johnny joked amid the chaos that was ensuing.
"Heh, this is going to turn out to be more wild than any sci-fi movie I've ever seen". Alexander remarked.
"Of this you can be assured is of no laughing matter. Let us not waste another second!" Liu assured his allies as he and the rest charged to do battle with the Tarkatan hoards.
Earthrealm, United States, Washington D.C.
"Major Briggs! We got a man down!" Yelled out a solider through the radio.
"Jesus Christ! What the fuck is going on?" The major said to himself observing the chaos around him.
Jax' POV
This shit is something right out of a horror movie or somethin'!
Ever since Sonya went on that weird ass boat everything hasn't made any sense. We were assigned on a mission just a couple of days ago to track down the Red Dragon in Hong Kong where Kano and his Red Dragon crooks were allegedly hiding. Everything seemed straight forward at first until Sonya went on that god damn boat and never came back since. All my attempts to contact her have failed and the US government's search of her hasn't gone anywhere. It's almost like she got lost in the Bermuda Triangle or some shit like that. I ain't one to believe superstitions and all that but those kind of things just don't happen normally.
And now to make things even more fucked up I'm hearing reports about major attacks in every part of the world. From what I'm hearing, every nation in the world is being attacked against these "alien creatures" and the armies of the world have all been called in to fight them. How the hell does something like this happen? Is this the end of the world?
Now the US government has launched a full scale counterattack against these weird creatures. I've led my own army stationed in Washington D.C. to combat these ugly, big teeth looking motherfuckers. Nothing here makes any sense…
End POV
"Bravo Six! Bravo Six! Get yo asses here right now!" Radioed the US Army Major, Jackson Briggs.
"Come in Major Briggs! Bravo Six coming in hot, standby!" A pilot replied to the major through the radio.
"You're in for it now motherfuckers!" Jax yelled as he called in for an airstrike against the hordes of what he thought were "alien creatures". Jax himself was stationed inside a tank behind many other tanks where he would give out orders to his soldiers. Previously in the battle, foot soldiers were used but it was clear that they lacked the firepower to deal with the threat and were being killed off quickly. The army had to resort in fighting in tanks and aircraft now.
The attack carried out by the air force was carried out to success as the hordes of Tarkatans were killed by the B-52's that cleaned the majority of hoards the occupied the battlefield.
"Target neutralized!" A pilot yelled out through the radio.
"Yes boss!" Yelled out solider from another tank witnessing the event.
Jax and his army continue to wipe out the many Tarkatan forces until another red portal showed up out of nowhere. Out came innumerable, "demon-like creatures" each barring wings on it's back and ready to lay siege to everyone in sight.
"What the hell is that!?" Cried out a solider.
"Is that a portal or something?" Came in another solider
"Oh shit! Fire! Fire at full force! Bravo Six do you copy?" Yelled out Jax; confused at what he was seeing as he and his forces prepared to fire at the strange demons" that emerged from the portal.
"Roger that Major!" A member of the air force replied.
Despite this however, the firepower packed by the US army proved to be ineffective as many of the demons went air bound and dodged all of the firepower Jax's army tried to dish out on them. They then set their targets on the air force as they collided and destroyed all their aircraft.
"Oh fuck!" Yelled out another solider.
"Mayday! Mayday!" The screams of many pilots could be heard yelling these words through the radio as they were killed by the demons.
"Bravo Six! Bravo Six! Do you copy?" Jax yelled hoping for a possibility of survival. "Shit!"
"Major! What the hell do we do now?" A solider yelled out puzzled at what they could do now that their air force had been completely wiped out.
"FIRE! JUST FIRE DAMMIT!" Jax screamed out loud in sheer frustration as he and his soliders begin to fire like crazy at the demons in the air.
The efforts of Jax and his army wielded some success as they managed to shoot down a good number of the demons in the air. However, it was clear that the army was never going to get the advantage due to the red-like portal that kept spewing these "demon creatures".
"Major I think we need to do something about that god damn portal!" Came in a solider.
"Like what!?" Jax yelled out frustrated
"We have to try something because we're not getting anywhere doing-!?" The solider abruptly stopped when he saw the red portal turn purple in color and grew massively in size.
Out of the portal came innumerable Centaur forces along with a distant figure of what appeared to be a massive man; armed to the teeth with armor around his body and his signature helmet. Alongside him appeared to be a man dressed in yellow and black, pacing himself along with the warlord along with his gargantuan Centaur forces as he moved in closer. He signaled his forces to stay back as if to show off his own power by taking on the ENTIRE army himself. No one present had any idea who they just encountered and were puzzled by the display.
"Mwhahahahaha! You weak pathetic fools! Bow down to me, Shao Kahn!" Sneered a massive, 7 foot plus warlord holding his warhammer in his right hand mocking the army from a distance.
"Shao Kahn?" Jax thought to himself for a brief moment.
"Major who the hell is that!?" Yelled out a solider through the transmitter.
"Don't know don't care! If he's just going to stand there then lets take him out! Fire away!" Yelled out the major as he and everyone else amped up their firepower exponentially in the face of this new danger. Despite this however, their firepower proved to be completely useless when Kahn formed a green aura to shield himself from the attack.
"The fuck?" Blurted out a puzzled Jackson Briggs when he noticed nothing him and his army was doing anything to Kahn. All he did was stand in place and take everything in, only taking in minor bruises.
"He's not taking any damage!" Screamed a solider confused and terrified at what he was seeing.
"You will die, mortals!" Came in the Shao Kahn's voice from a distance. He appeared to laugh out of the blue which unsettled everyone present on the battlefield before unexpectedly forming an Explosive Ball, seemingly from his eyes that caught everyone by surprise as he did this multiple times over and over again.
"Oh fuck this!" The major yelled out to himself as he knew what was coming next would be the end of him.
"Oh shit! Mayday Mayday!" Cried out the consecutive last words of many soldiers on the battlefield via the transmitter before they were blasted to bits…literally.
As if struck by an atomic bomb of sorts, just about everyone on the battlefield was blown to bits save a few who were lucky to be farther back when the warlord unleashed his assault on them. In any case, all their tanks were destroyed and it was clear that reinforcements weren't coming anytime soon. All the US army bases were already under attack by other strange, otherworldly creatures as was the case with every place in Earthrealm. To everyone in Earthrealm who wasn't aware of the Mortal Kombat tournament, this was the apocalypse to them.
The warlord walked around the distance alongside his massive army to witness the destruction he just brought upon the US army so easily, basking in his killings.
"My my! You've made quite a mess over here haven't you my lord?" Said the man dressed in yellow and black.
"Hmph! As if any of these Earthrealm dogs stood a chance in hell against me!" The warlord boasted. "Tell me, Shang Tsung. How goes the conquest of all the other locations in Earthrealm?
"Excellent my lord! All areas in Earthrealm have been neutralized. Key areas in Earthrealm have been secured and we've brought the world powers of this realm to their knees.
"And I take it that you've followed my orders of keeping the important humans alive, have you?"
"Yes of course. Our forces have captured those necessary for your plans and they're being held captive as we speak. They will be proven very useful when the merger of the realms occur."
"Heh heh heh, great." The emperor chuckled as he paced around the carnage that took place when he noticed a man very slowly trying to get out of a tank in severe pain.
"Au..augh! Shhhit!" Jax yelled out in pain on the ground as he tried to get a look at his surroundings when he noticed the Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung walking towards him.
"It looks like some of them survived. Shall I take care of business master?" Tsung asked Kahn; alluding to his soul stealing ability.
Kahn looked at Tsung for a moment then at Jax when he thought of something. "No, I have a better idea".
"Why not!" Shang objected.
"This one seems to be a high ranking military officer in this realm. He might have some valuable intel to give out if we keep him alive for now."
"What kind of intel could he possibly ha-?" The sorcerer got cut off.
"If I were you I would shut that disgusting mouth of yours!" Kahn threatened; irritated by Tsung's objections. "I have my reasons for doing this, that's all you need to know."
Tsung sported a frown on his face very momentarily before noticing Jax get up to his feet very slowly.
"And if he tries to resist?" Shang questioned.
"Watch and see!" Kahn simply replied as he took out his warhammer and smashed it against Jax' body; sending him flying meters away.
"Now he won't try to resist." Kahn half joked in a very cruel way. "Get the Centaur forces and take him in. The merging of the realms will commence very shortly now that we've wiped out most of these pathetic humans".
"Of course my lord. But before that, may I ask of Raiden and his warriors? We sent a large force of our army to destroy the Wu Shi Academy."
"Whether Raiden lives or dies matters nothing to me. In the newly Earthrealm-merged Outworld, he will be powerless to stop me and neither can any of his pathetic warriors."
"You are right my lord. If none of them were able to beat Goro they don't stand a chance in hell against you." Shang agreed.
"Don't tell me what I already know". Kahn said to Shang in a cold way before he continued on. "Personally, I want Raiden to survive. I want the pleasure and satisfaction of torturing him for all eternity after all his attempts at denying me Earthrealm for so long.
"Heh heh heh. I'm looking forward to that my emperor". Chuckled the evil sorcerer.
"I can hardly wait…" Kahn said in a low, grim tone of voice.
Earthrealm
The New York Times
Dimensional Barriers Collapse, Alien Apocalypse Is Upon Us!
We're So Screwed!
A newspaper with that cover could be seen roaming around the now baron, lifeless New York City that's been left for dead by Shao Kahn's Outworld forces.
New York was hardly the only place that was destroyed by Kahn of course. Countless dead, bloodied bodies could be found at every corner of Earthrealm. Once booming urban areas now ghost towns as a result of the invasion. World militaries crumbled by the sheer number and size of Kahn's Outworld forces. Places like Europe and Asia completely obliterated by Shokan forces, Africa totally annihilated by Centaur forces, and the Americas raided by innumerable Tarkatan forces, and the rest of the world either being swiftly exterminated by Kahn's elite assassins or flat out destroyed by Kahn's elite warriors and monsters. Suffice, to say, Earthrealm was seeing better days.
Earthrealm, Wu Shi Academy, China
Meanwhile back at the Wu Shi Academy, the struggle for survival was still going on as the surviving warriors of Earthrealm continued to fight for their lives.
"Eat this Outworld filth!" Yelled out the Shaolin Monk known as Liu Kang as he used his Flying Kick to knock several Tarkatans down.
"Dammit! There's just no end to these guys!" Sonya yelled out loud as she continued pounding away at the Tarkatan hordes that kept emerging from the portal left open.
"Heh! I have no idea what you're talking about girl! I'm doing just fine!" Boasted Johnny, trying to save face despite himself being fatigued.
The battle between Raiden's forces and the Tarkatan hoards lasted for hours on end. While Raiden and his forces were successful in fending off their aggressors, it was clear that the battle was going to continue on for much longer given the nature of Earthrealm's loss to Outworld. Kahn could get away with sending as many forces in to the realm as he saw fit.
"Alexander!" Raiden yelled to his pupil from about 10 feet away.
"Uh-huh!" Alexander responded still pre-occupied fighting Tarktan warriors.
"I've need of your assistance. Please come to this spot".
"Okay just give me a sec, kinda fighting for my life here y'know?" Alexander half-joked as he made his way to where Raiden was standing.
"I need you to use your psychic powers to rid of the Tarkatans. You have the power to take out a huge number of their forces if you can use your attack".
"Isn't that something you can do?"
"Indeed. But I want to try sealing the all the portals that these Outworlders are coming from. That's our best bet to finally defeat these abominations.
"Right, I see. Do your thing Rai-Rai. This is my special, little niche after all." Alexander replied jokingly, prepared to concentrate his energy into a blast that would leave all the Tarkatan aggressors for dead.
"Liu! Sonya! Johnny! Cover Me!" Alexander yelled out to his allies to get them to defend him as he prepared his attack.
"Have no worries Alexander, we have your back." Liu assured his Shaolin brother.
With that, Alexander closed his eyes and placed his two palms together, accumulating energy in between his hands. Shortly thereafter, his eyes began to glow pale white similar to Raiden's eyes and began emitting a white aura around him.
"Wow! Check out the kid! I outta get him on one of my movies one day". Johnny said in amazement when he glanced at what Alexander was doing.
"Johnny shut the hell up and fight!" Sonya said getting her ally to continue focusing.
"Uh huh, whatever." Johnny replied.
"How much more time do you need Alex?" Liu asked his friend.
"Just a little more! Trust me, it's going to be worth it!" Alex said as his allies continued to cover for him.
Meanwhile, Raiden took to the sky to close the various portals in the sky that linked Earthrealm and Outworld together. To do this, he would have to be away from the Tarkatan hordes.
"OKAY! EVERYONE GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!" Alexander yelled out loud to get Liu, Johnny, Sonya, and all the other Shaolin monks away from the parameters of his attack.
"Now make them pay for what they've done to our realm!" Liu told Alex.
"Heh, that I will". Alexander responded, happy to oblige.
With that, everyone got out of the way which made the Tarkatan hordes all charge towards Alexander; thinking he was vulnerable to being attacked which is exactly what he wanted them to think.
"ALL RIGHT! COME AND GET IT YOU OUTWORLD SCUM!" Alexander challenged the hoards coming at him; brimming in aura as he unleashed a massive "ki blast" of sorts from the energy he charged up. The blast in question completely annihilated all the Taraktan forces who foolishly charged at him in one go.
"That should just about do it." Alexander remarked.
"Nicely done brother." Liu applauded Alexander for his work.
"You saved our asses there, thanks!" Sonya further complimented.
"Thanks guys! I couldn't have done it without you". Alexander said; grateful for the help of his friends. It was a reliving moment for the Earthrealm warriors as they finally caught a break from the hordes of Tarkatan warriors attacking them.
"Hey look at Thunderman over there". Johnny said getting his allies to pay attention to what Raiden was doing.
"Raiden is closing the portals that link our realms together. With this, we'll be temporarily free from Outworld aggressors". Liu explained as he witnessed Raiden to just that.
"Uh-huh uh-huh, that's nice Bruce Lee. Anything to get those damn big-teeth bastards away from here." Johnny replied.
"Well, i'm just glad this finally stopped. I don't think I could have handled any much more of this". Sonya said being frank with everyone.
"I think that's the case for everyone here." Alexander commented; just about everyone was out of it. The group then witnessed Raiden teleport back
"Lord Raiden, it would seem that our struggle has come to a close for now". Liu said to his mentor.
"Indeed Liu Kang, but we should not take this for granted. Our victory came at a price" The thunder god referenced the Shaolin warriors that fell to the Tarkatans.
"No kidding" Alexander agreed as everyone observed the battlefield with dead Shaolin and Tarkatan alike.
"And as we speak, all of Earthrealm has been laid to waste by Shao Kahn and his forces". Raiden stated which only served to remind everyone of the grim outcome of the tournament. While they might have been fine being condensed in an area with lots of experienced fighters, other areas in the world didn't share that same luxury.
"Damn!" Sonya said to herself, reminded of what was going on in the world as well as the well-being of Jax.
"What are the chances of their being survivors Lord Raiden?" Asked Alexander holding out hope that there even existed a very small percentage of survivors in the world.
"Unlikely as unfortunate as that sounds. I would like to think that there exists some that survived Kahn's horrid purge". Raiden replied.
Liu looked around when he noticed a glaring omission. "Where did Sub-Zero go? I haven't seen him since the battle started".
"You're right. He just disappeared all of a sudden". Sonya replied.
"Wouldn't be surprised if that bastard bailed on us" Alexander sneered. "It was a mistake to trust anyone from the Lin Kuei".
Suddenly, everyone began to notice the sky began to change shape once again. This time, there was no portals opening. Instead, what they saw was the sky changing colors rapidly and ripples forming in the sky.
"Fuck me! Not again!" Johnny said when he noticed the strange occurrences.
"The Merger!" Raiden yelled out loud. "Shao Kahn is merging the realms as we speak!"
Before anyone had any time to react, everyone witnessed the sky change even more so when everything became distorted and harder to look at. As if reality itself was transforming. Their surroundings started to become unfamiliar as everything was changing. This went on until everyone became unconscious from the merging of realms. Their world would never be the same again…
Outworld, Wastelands
"Wh-wha?" Said a confused Sonya Blade on the floor as she slowly got up, staring at her unfamiliar surrounding in disbelief. Upon awakening, she saw Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Alexander all also groggy as well getting up from the floor.
"What the hell just happened?" Said Johnny as he observed his surroundings.
"That's what." Alexander said simply pointing his fingers towards the sky, darkish purple in color; emitting a sense of hopelessness and agony.
"The merger of realms." Liu added. "We're in Outworld now."
"But how? Is Earth gone forever?" Questioned Johnny.
"It's…complicated." Alexander stated; still unsure of the particulars himself.
"The energies that link our realm with the realm of Outworld has been rendered null." Liu said.
"Uhh, what?" Sonya said, not following what Liu was saying.
Liu turned to Sonya and began to explain further. "In order for Kahn to make the merger of realms possible, he needed to unbalance the furies to allow passage in to Earthrealm. By winning ten straight Mortal Kombat tournaments over Earthrealm, he was able to completely unbalance the furies that was once our safeguard from hostile invasion.
"Yeah yeah I get that. What I want to know is how he absorbed Earth in to this dump". Johnny said irradiated by Liu's answer.
"Shao Kahn has access to some of the most powerful mages in all the realms in addition to his demon sorcerer, Shang Tsung. They're capable of using dark magic that allowed them absorb our realm in to the Outworld. Just as they've done to countless other realms." Liu told Johnny.
"Is that too hard for you to understand Johnny?" Alexander asked annoyed with Johnny's attitude.
"Well sort of. I'm not going to deny anything anyways. Not after everything that just happened". Johnny said not wanting to make things anymore complicated.
"So what now?" Sonya questioned.
Liu looked to the sky, consumed in various different emotions from the events that took place today and began to let his mind think. "I haven't a clue, to be honest with you Sonya".
"Great, that's just great! I get to spend the rest of my life in this shithole!" Johnny complained.
Sonya looked around and noticed that Raiden nor any of the Shaolin warriors were present despite being there before the merger occurred. "Guys where the hell is everyone else? They're all gone!"
"Huh! You're right. Where did they go?" Johnny wondered.
"I mean with the merger not everything is going to remain the same. We're lucky ourselves not to be all split up ourselves." Remarked Alexander.
"He's right. Everything in this realm is scattered around and is not the same as it was in Earthrealm." Liu explained. "It's entirely possible that everyone else is on the opposite end of this realm."
"That's just stinking great!" Johnny continued to whine.
"You know that's a good point Liu. How the hell do we even know where we are in this realm?" Came in Alexander.
Everyone turned their attention to the surroundings of the Outworld. The realm was lifeless and reeked of death and despair. It's purple sky only served to reinforce the brutal, savage nature of the realm; further evident by the countless dead bodies just about everywhere in sight.
"There's no telling. If we're to survive, we must remain in hiding from the denizens of this realm. If we're caught by anyone loyal to Shao Kahn, we will surely be marked for death by the tyrant". Liu stated.
"Well you don't need to tell me that". Sonya said bluntly.
"Really wish there was a tour guide somewhere around here to explain all this crap." Johnny joked, trying to keep himself from being engulfed with dread and hopelessness.
"And just exactly where is "safe" Liu? I mean we're stuck in a huge realm filled with people that would kill us on sight." Alex questioned.
"That's a good point Alexander. We must become familiar with the landscape of this realm. It's going to take a while before that though and we must find somewhere to survive".
"Easier said than done don't you think?" Alex replied.
"Well yes of course but…" Before Liu could finish what he was saying everyone heard a familiar thunder sound come in from behind them and were very surprised to see who was there.
"It's going to take a lot more than that Liu Kang." Raiden addressed all those present. "Follow me".
Authors Notes
So here's the first chapter of the story. As I mentioned in the Prologue it's going to be considerably longer than the Great Tournament which was primarily focused on the combat of the 10th tournament. With Resistance, it's going to go through different stages. One being the annihilation of Earthrealm as you saw in this chapter and the other being the Earthrealm warriors attempts at surviving and combating Kahn's rule over Outworld.
In the next chapter we will see the formation of the Earthrealm Resistance, a group formed in the wake of Kahn's conquest that seeks to overthrow the tyrant and search for any survivors of "the purge". We'll also see what's going down in Kahn's posse now that he's claimed Earthrealm for himself.