Mortal Kombat
Season 1 Chapter 9: The Fate of Earthrealm Part 1
The fighters arrived at the courtyard yet again for the final day of the Mortal Kombat tournament. Shang Tsung had entered and walked to his throne before addressing the remaining fighters.
"Welcome to the final day of this Mortal Kombat tournament." He announced, "We begin with the arrival of a new warrior, sent by the Emporer, Shao Kahn, to even out the remaining fighters. Behold: Ermac."
Four guards walked in, escorting the fighter known as Ermac. They wore a hooded cloak of some kind with red armor at the waist, black leggings, and red leg guards. Their entire outfit was black and red, the only exceptions being the bronze color on their belt, the green gems on their forehead and kneepads, and the glowing green eyes they possessed.
"Liu Kang. You will fight Ermac." Shang Tsung said he smiled as he sat down, confident that a warrior like Ermac would defeat Raiden's champion. Liu Kang walked to his position in the courtyard and readied himself for a fight.
"We are many, Earthrealmer. You are but one." Ermac said as they readied a Hua Chuan fighting stance. Shang Tsung announced them to begin, and Liu Kang attempted to perform a flying kick at Ermac. However, as he was leaping forward for the kick, he found himself unable to move his body; green energy was now suddenly surrounding him. Ermac standing there with the same green energy coming from their hand. Ermac then lifted Liu Kang up into the air with that green energy and slammed the Shaolin monk onto the hard ground. Shang Tsung smiled as Liu Kang screamed in pain from the slam.
"You will find that Ermac is different from your previous opponents, Liu Kang." the sorcerer smiled, "They are a telepath and a powerful one at that. They are the souls of 1000 great warriors given a physical body."
Ermac walked closer to Liu Kang and used their telepathic abilities to pull the monk closer and lift him up. They then thrust their hand forward and unleashed a burst of energy, sending Liu Kang flying back. They then fired an energy beam at Liu Kang, and the beam zig-zagged around before hitting him. Liu Kang groaned and coughed a bit as he got up.
"You cannot defeat us, Earthrealmer." Ermac said as they fired a ball of green energy at Liu Kang. However, Liu Kang then shot a fireball that destroyed the energy ball, hit Ermac, and sent them back. Liu Kang then performed a bicycle kick on Ermac and began striking at them. Ermac blocked and countered some of Liu Kang's attacks, but the monk's speed was getting faster and faster, to where even they could not keep up with him. Shang Tsung started to lose his ordinarily calm demeanor, showing clear anger and frustration, as the monk caught his second wind and landed several hits on Ermac. This was continued when Liu Kang performed a flying kick at Ermac, which sent them up through the destroyed wall from the previous day and out of bounds.
Shang Tsung sneered and said through gritted teeth, "Liu Kang wins."
Liu Kang returned to the other fighters as Ermac was dragged out. The next fight and the last one for this round was Scorpion vs. Sub-Zero. The two ninjas went to their positions.
"Vengence will be mine, Sub-Zero." Scorpion said, entering his ninjitsu stance.
"This fight will be your last, Scorpion." Sub-Zero said, entering his Shotokan stance.
"Fight!" Shang Tsung announced. The two ran up and clashed with each other. Sub-Zero delivered several punches and kicks to Scorpion, seeming to gain the upper hand on the spectre, but Scorpion delivered a flaming punch to Sub-Zero's gut. Scorpion then grabbed the cryomancer's right arm and attempted to strike it, but Sub-Zero's left hand glowed and blasted an ice beam at Scorpion, freezing him solid. Sub-Zero broke free of Scorpion's hold and formed a blade out of ice. He raised it to strike Scorpion until he saw steam coming from the frozen spectre. Scorpion's body then broke out of the ice and delivered several punches to Sub-Zero's face, making the ice blade drop and shatter. Sub-Zero then formed another ice blade and stabbed it into Scorpion. Scorpion groaned in pain and stumbled back a bit before Sub-Zero grabbed the blade and yanked it out. Scorpion unsheathed his Mugai Ryu swords and clashed them with Sub-Zero's ice blade. The two clashed their blades together; Sub-Zero dashed past Scorpion and slashed upward with the ice blade; he then reached his hand towards the blood splatter and froze it solid before stabbing into Scorpion's side. Scorpion elbowed Sub-Zero in the face and gave a flaming kick to the ninja, the kick sending Sub-Zero's mask flying off. Scorpion drove one of his swords into Sub-Zero's shoulder and the other into his hip before grabbing him by the head and punching his stomach several times.
"My clan. My wife. My son. You took EVERYTHING from me!" Scorpion said as he delivered several punches to Sub-Zero's face, the Lin Kuei's face and Scorpion's fist becoming increasingly bloody with each punch. Sub-Zero shot an ice blast, freezing Scoprion's hand, and headbutted the spectre. Scorpion stumbled back a bit before shattering his hand from the ice. He then lunged forward, grabbing both of his swords and pulling them out of Sub-Zero; the ice ninja grunted in pain before freezing his open wounds. Scorpion sheathed his swords before teleporting away. Sub-Zero looked around before Scorpion teleported behind him and jumped to the ground, using his legs and wrap around Sub-Zero's feet and trip him to the ground. Sub-Zero reached for his sheathed knives and threw them at Scorpion's head, but he teleported away. Scorpion then teleported behind Sub-Zero and grabbed him by the neck.
"And now. Now I will have my revenge!" Scorpion said before delivering several flaming punches to Sub-Zero, leaving several burn marks on the man. Sub-Zero tried to punch Scorpion, but the spectre grabbed his arm and struck underneath the elbow, breaking the arm. He then kicked Sub-Zero's knee, breaking the leg. Scorpion then moved to behind Sub-Zero, and Roundhouse kicked the back of his head, sending him to the ground again across the courtyard from him. Sub-Zero struggled to rise up. He coughed blood before forcing his leg back into place and forcing himself back to just barely standing; he turned around to face Scorpion when a spear-like blade attached to a chain stabbed him in the stomach. The chain that went across the courtyard was coming from Scorpion.
"GET OVER HERE!" Scorpion said as he grabbed the chain and yanked it towards him. Sub-Zero is pulled in with the chain before being grabbed by the neck by Scorpion. Scorpion then reached his hand just below his face mask and pulled upward, pulling his entire face off and revealing a flaming skull. He opened his skull mouth, and a large jet of flame shot out, covering Sub-Zero's head. Scorpion let Sub-Zero drop to his knees as he continued firing the flame; it soon engulfed Sub-Zero's entire body. He continued shooting fire at Sub-Zero even long after the screams of pain had stopped; it had to have been over a full minute of continuous fire streaming before Scorpion stopped. A giant flame was now there, in it was the silhouette of the still burning skeleton that was Sub-Zero. Scorpion pulled the face that he had pulled off back over his face. The silence that had happened during the burning was broken by the slow clapping of Shang Tsung.
"Quite impressive. Scorpion wins. Now let us go ahead and begin the next round, Liu Kang vs. Scorpion." he smiled, Liu Kang walked out to the courtyard.
"I can see it in your eyes, Scorpion; you do not wish to fight anymore, do you?" Liu Kang had asked the spectre.
"Fight!" Shang Tsung had said, but the two fighters just stood there, looking at each other and the flaming body still between them.
"...I yield." Scorpion simply said
"What?" Shang Tsung asked in confusion and irritation.
"I told you before that I have no interest in your tournament, Shang Tsung." Scorpion said, "I only entered to get my revenge, and now I have gotten it. So I will not fight in this tournament any longer."
"You WILL fight Liu Kang, spectre." Shang Tsung said, becoming angry.
"I will not." Scorpion said, staring Shang Tsung in the eyes.
Shang Tsung growled in frustration and stood up from his throne; he cast a spell and launched a flaming skull directly at Scorpion. However, a lightning bolt came down in front of Scorpion, and Raiden appeared. The thunder god fired a lightning blast and destroyed the skull.
"ENOUGH!" Raiden shouted in a thunderous and echoing voice.
"You break the rules of the tournament, Raiden." Shang Tsung said, "You are not to interfere."
"It is you who breaks the rules of Mortal Kombat, Shang Tsung. I am upholding them. It is within the rules that any combatant that requests to yield a fight must have their request granted." Raiden said
Shang Tsung showed clear disdain at Radien's words but knew the thunder god was correct.
"Very well. Scorpion yields. Liu Kang is the winner of this round. But now, Liu Kang, you must face the champion of Mortal Kombat. The warrior who has brought Outworld nine victories in a row. You must now face...Goro!" Shang Tsung announced; the sound of heavy footsteps got closer and closer to the courtyard.
"Goro! Goro! Goro!" some of the fighters were chanting in anticipation; Goro walked into the courtyard, wearing a red cape. He then grabbed the cape and tossed it off of him into the air, making those same fighters cheer for him. Scorpion teleported away. Raiden looked at Liu Kang.
"You are the last Earthrealm fighter, Liu Kang. The outcome of this fight and the next one will decide the fate of Earthrealm." Raiden said
Liu Kang nodded and readied himself, "I will not fail."