Chapter Seventy-Four
Shao Kahn's Fortress, Sleeping Quarters
On her knees with her head hung down, Ivy was feeling quite exhausted. Nearly all morning after discovering the truth about Chishio No Me, she had tried to do all she could to destroy the artifact. She had stomped on it, attempted to cut it down with her sword, and even threw it in the blaze in the fireplace, which has long since been burnt out.
Yet, even after all this time, the medallion was still intact and it looked as though not a single scratch was left on it. It sat a few feet away from Ivy and although the front portion was facing up, it seemed as though the eye itself was staring at her… mocking her…
After a while, Ivy looked up, her blue eyes narrowed as she found herself staring at the artifact. "What do you want from me?" she asked out loud.
The medallion's only reply was it's continuous glowing from the red tear.
A few minutes passed before Ivy mustered up whatever strength she had left and stood herself up. Her coiled sword laid next to her feet, but she didn't bother to pick it up… at least not yet.
She was just beginning to debate on what to do when she suddenly noticed the glow from the red tear dim down… and soon stopped glowing.
Ivy raised an eyebrow after seeing this. "You're close… aren't you…?"
A few moments passed before she felt rumbling beneath her feet. Ivy took a deep sigh, wondering if he was on his way to get her.
However, the more the room rumbled, the more she realized that an earthquake was taking place. Soon, cracks began to form on the walls and small pieces of debris began falling to the floor.
Quickly, Ivy grabbed her sword before grabbing the medallion. She knew that the fortress' exit would take her a while to get to and knew that there was a chance that she wouldn't make it out in time.
Ivy ran over to one of the windows and, using her sword, shattered the glass. Once all of the pieces fell to the floor, Ivy jumped out the window, falling two stories before landing on the grass.
Pain coursed through her body from the fall, but Ivy knew that she couldn't dwell on it right now. She had to get away from the fortress and go as far away as she could.
She would also figure out what to do with both herself and the medallion afterwards.
Ivy tried to keep herself up as she ran towards the forest that surrounded the fortress. The ground below her feet rumbled violently and she could hear the fortress break apart behind her.
At one point however, a piece of debris flew from the fortress and hit Ivy in the back of the head. The blow immediately rendered her unconscious as she fell forward and landed face first into the ground.
She lost grip of both her sword and the medallion. The sword flew forward as did the medallion, which later ended up roll back towards Ivy before stopping by her feet…
Near The Battleground
As the large battle continued near them, Heihachi and Kazuya continued their own fight. Throughout the fight, neither one of them were able to receive a proper offense in order to win the battle between them. Also, random guards approached them in an attempt to kill them, but the father and son were able to take them down easily.
After a long, restless combat, the two stood a few feet away from each other, feeling a bit out of breath. Both of them were waiting for the other to make the next move when the earthquake occurred.
The two Mishimas tried to keep their balance as the ground shook. Nearby, a large crack in the ground developed, shifting the realm of Outworld a bit and knocking many in the large battle off their feet with some of them falling into the crack.
The crack eventually reached the main palace, slowly breaking it in two. The place where many of the fighters stayed throughout the tournament couldn't withstand the sudden break and it soon began to crumble altogether. The debris of the palace crumbled into the ground, leaving behind a large cloud of dust which eventually flew all around the area.
Soon, the rumbling ceased. Heihachi let out a small growl afterward. "This place is nothing more than a disturbance!"
"If you're going to whine about it, then let's take this back to Earth," Kazuya suggested, narrowing his eyes at his father.
Heihachi stared at the younger man for a moment before replying. "Fine then. You have a week to meet me over at Honmaru."
Not knowing whether or not the portals were still open after their long battle, the two began heading to the hill where they were located…
Battleground
Many fighters within the large battle were surprised by the sudden earthquake that knocked many of them to the ground. Most of them stayed down in the dirt until it ceased. Despite the cloud of dust that developed around them, most slowly stood themselves up.
Baraka was one of the first to stand himself back up. He had been fighting Yoshimitsu when the earthquake occurred. Between that and the cloud of thick dust, he ended up losing track of him.
Now, however, it didn't matter. The tarkatan Horde leader looked at his surroundings, noting those on his side including Sheeva, Reptile, and Kira, all who stood where they were, staring at him.
Baraka knew that they wanted… they wanted his orders.
He thought over what to do for a moment, but the answer was obvious…the group had been fighting for some time and they managed to kill many, taking their souls in the process.
This had gone on long enough…
"Retreat!" Baraka ordered out loud. Those who heard him called for retreats as well incase it wasn't heard the first time. As they did, everyone in Shao Kahn's forces began heading North.
As this happened, Kira looked back at the location of the portals for a moment. A part of her wondered if she should just take the chance and return to Earth. However, she knew that at this point, she couldn't go back. Not only was she a wanted criminal there, but now that she had killed Sonya Blade earlier, she knew that it wouldn't be long before they found her.
If she stayed in Outworld however, that wouldn't be a problem.
Making her decision, Kira began following the others.
Nearby, the fight between Cody and Guy was also disrupted by the earthquake. Once it ceased, the two stared at each other as they waited for the other to make the next move.
That's when they heard the call for a retreat. Guy narrowed his colorless eyes at Cody for a moment before turning around and running off, joining up with Shao Kahn's forces.
"Guy, no!" Cody yelled out. He was just beginning to chase his friend when a hand grabbed his arm. In frustration, Cody turned around, thinking the person to be yet another enemy. Upon seeing Maki, Cody sighed with a bit of relief. Behind her was Yang and both had frowns on their faces.
"Cody…" Maki said a bit sadly. "I hate to say it… but we have to get out of here…"
"No way!" Cody yelled out angrily. "We're not leaving until we get Guy back!"
"We have no choice!" Yang said. "Things are getting too unstable here!"
"Listen to us," Maki continued. "I promise you, we'll find a way to get him back. Besides… he would've wanted us to get out of here… Remember what Rose and Nightwolf both said; Live today, fight tomorrow."
To Cody, he was still reluctant to leave Outworld without his longtime friend. However, he knew that Maki was right. If he tried rescuing his friend now, he would most likely end up dead.
A sigh escaped Cody. "Let's go now… before I change my mind…"
Though still reluctant, he followed Maki and Yang towards the portals. Cody briefly looked back in hopes of getting one last glimpse of Guy before departing… but by then, he was out of sight…
Not too far, the large, deep crack that developed ended up separating both Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot while they were fighting one another. Despite this, Sub-Zero was still willing to fight as he resumed to his fighting stance after getting back up after being knocked off his feet.
However, Noob had other plans in mind. "I'm afraid we're going to have to cut this short, brother," the dark wraith said to him. "Perhaps we'll resume this fight the next we meet."
With that, Noob disappeared in a black smoke before it disintegrated in the air.
"Damn it," Sub-Zero uttered under his breath as he straightened himself from his stance. He then sighed to himself, wondering exactly when he was going to meet with his brother again…
…and when he did, he would resume to the promise he made, the promise to free him.
Sub-Zero slowly turned around as he heard a pair of footsteps behind him. He first saw Ashrah, her white clothes a bit charred from her battle. She happened to look down at the ground when she noticed her long-lost kriss sword lying on the ground. Confusion ran over him… he had shattered the sword during his fight with Noob and now it was back together in one piece.
How did that happen? he asked himself.
Ashrah stared at the sword for a moment. She raised an eyebrow as she realized that the sword no longer had the dark aura it had when Noob had it in his possession.
As a matter of fact, it was glowing a white aura, just as it did when she first found it.
It must only be tainted whenever Noob held it in his hands… Ashrah guessed.
Feeling happy to be reunited with her sword, she wrapped her hands around the hilt and picked it up.
Next to her, Smoke approached Sub-Zero. Over one shoulder was Matrik, who had shut down after her battle with Sektor.
"What do we do now?" Smoke asked curiously. Ashrah looked at Sub-Zero as well, her expression seemingly asking the same question.
Sub-Zero already had an answer in mind. "Let's head back to the Lin Kuei Headquarters." He then looked at Matrik. "She'll have a better chance to be repaired."
"Good idea," Ashrah agreed. "I want nothing more to do with this realm."
With that, the three of them, with Smoke carrying Matrik, began heading to the portals.
On the other side of the battleground, Nina and Anna were briefly distracted by the earthquake. Originally, Nina had the gun to Anna's face, having been debating whether or not to kill her sister.
Even with the earthquake, Nina was still able to keep the gun in her hand. And even with the ground rumbling underneath their feet, Nina tried to keep her aim at Anna. Eventually, the rumbling stopped and she was getting ready to pull the trigger as she stood herself back up.
Suddenly, Nina felt a hard kick to her wrist, forcing her to lose grip on her gun. Before she could see who kicked the gun, another kick hit her, this time to the face. The force ended up knocking her back the ground.
Standing up, Anna smiled as she realized who was behind the kick. "Well well, aren't you the savior?" she said seductively.
Nina started to look up just as the person took away an object she had in her open pouch… a glove containing three long claws.
"I'll be taking that back," a male voice said.
Soon, Nina was able to get a better look and became shocked upon seeing Vega well and alive. "You… you're supposed to be dead! How did you-"
"You only shot me in the shoulder!" Vega yelled out as he pointed at the wound on the back portion of his shoulder.
By then, Anna joined Vega's side, slightly brushing her hand over his bare chest. "You see… I told you she had bad aim."
She then turned her attention back to Nina, her face scrawled with anger as she pointed Nina's own gun at her face. "But… I'm sure that's something you don't need to worry about anymore… sister!"
Despite being moments away from death, Nina stared up at Anna defiantly, her eyes a bit narrowed as though she was daring her to kill her.
Before Anna could pull the trigger, she and Vega were suddenly kicked from behind. The kick made Anna lost grip on the gun and the both of them were knocked to the ground face first by the surprise attack.
After the attack, Nina looked up at the attack and was a bit surprise when she saw Raven standing there in a fighting stance, ready to attack. Despite the long battle that had taken place, he seemed as though he was still full of energy, ready for more.
Anna and Vega quickly sat up and looked over at Raven. Both of them were long feeling the effects of the long battle that had taken place for quite sometime. They both knew that they would have no chance if they even attempted fighting Raven now.
"Perhaps next time we meet, we'll have our own battle," Vega said as he and Anna stood up. As they began running off, Anna briefly looked at her sister before following Vega out of the battleground.
Raven would've normally went after them, but he knew that now wasn't the right time. He walked over to Nina and placed a hand out, offering to help her up. "You all right?" he asked.
A small side smirk came over Nina's lips, a bit amused by the gesture. Gently, she pushed his hand away with the back of her own hand before getting herself up. She then picked up her gun and placed it in it's Hollister.
"Now I am," Nina replied.
"I suggest we leave," Raven said. "It seems that there is no longer a need to stay in this realm."
Nina looked over at the direction where Vega and Anna escaped to. The large cloud of dust a few yards away have covered the two, making it look as though they had long disappeared.
The blonde-haired woman wanted nothing more than to kill Anna at this very minute. However, she knew that Raven was right about escaping.
Besides, she knew there would be a next time… there was always a next time with her sister.
Eventually, Nina nodded to Raven. "Yeah… let's get out of here."
With that, the two of them began making their escape…
Portals
Many of the remaining chosen ones passed through the portals. After the earthquake, the portal to Earth began to rapidly weaken. This forced Rose to use the power that Raiden had given her in order to keep the portal open.
Once Ryu, Ken, and Julia reached the portal, she realized that only four remaining survivors were left… Jin, Cammy, Asuka, and Lita.
A purple aura with some electricity escaped Rose's hands as it's powers continued to keep the portal open. Rose knew that the power would eventually run out.
Please make it here alive… she thought to herself.
Some time passed before she heard footsteps nearby. Rose turned her head and let out a big sigh of relief upon seeing the four remaining chosen ones approaching the portal.
"Rose!" Asuka cried out as she noticed a few beads of sweat on Rose's forehead.
"GO!" Rose demanded. "Do not worry about me! I'll follow you after you go through the portal! Go before it's too late!"
Without hesitating, the three of them headed to the portal with Asuka jumping in first, followed by Lita. Both Cammy and Jin went into the portal at the same time. As they did, Cammy turned around and reached her hand out to Rose.
As Rose reached her hand out as well, she gasped as a sai suddenly stabbed through her back and out her chest from behind!
Cammy gasped in horror upon seeing this. "ROSE!" she screamed out. She tried to step forward towards her, but Jin held her back. Rose nodded at her, letting her know that it was okay and to leave. Having no other choice, Cammy let herself disappear into the portal to return to Earth…
Soon, the portal shut down completely and a grin came over Rose's face. The person who had stabbed her had done the deed too late… because everyone who managed to survive have all escaped back to their home.
No, she and Raiden weren't able to save everyone… but many did live and she knew that she could trust them with fighting against any future threats to the realms.
The best to you all… were her last thoughts before eternal darkness took over her…
After Rose's body fell forward, the person holding the sai pulled the weapon out before raising it towards her face…
Drenched from falling into the lake previously, Mileena stared at the blood that covered her sai. With her veil missing, her tarkatan teeth seemed to grin as she looked at the blood with delight.
"Finally," she said out loud. "We got rid of the nuisance who caused many to escape today."
Soon, she began heading North with the others…
Battleground
How long did this last…? Yoshimitsu thought to himself.
He stood alone in the battleground. The cloud of dust caused by the now-collapsed main palace has disintegrated. The sky above was still a blood red color.
And at his feet, countless bodies laid lifeless all around.
As the enemy retreated, he had heard word that Shao Kahn himself had met his demise.
Yoshimitsu wasn't sure how true that was. However, with this rumor, he was able to come up with one guess as to what happened to the Emperor of Outworld…
Shao Kahn has succumbed to Chishio No Me.
With that, Yoshimitsu thought. The medallion will begin it's process anew in another realm…
After thinking that, Yoshimitsu realized that he had no further need to be in Outworld. Using his sword, Yoshimitsu cut down the air, creating a portal. He looked at his surroundings one last time before walking through the portal, intending on returning to Keisei and the Manji clan.
After walking through it, the portal disappeared. The only thing that existed left on the battleground was the sound of the blowing wind…