Round 1

I sat meditating in my bedroom after a long night of being a hero. You haven't heard of me have you? Hard not to being as I single handedly dispatch demons of the Netherrealm on a semi nightly basis. No no, there's no need for applause really. Just doing my job. I lost my mom and step-dad to demons just like that years and years ago at this point. Before I could really stop it, my mind went back to a time where my life wasn't as fucked up as it is now. It landed on the vision of a girl. Cassie Cage. The daughter of the action movie star Johnny Cage but that wasn't the only reason that I was infatuated with her. She was one of the more popular girls in high school along with her friend Jacqui but that didn't stop me one bit. I harbored a small crush on her ever since freshman year but I never really acted on it as I feared her father would dropkick me into next week. We had become friends shortly into freshman year as we shared multiple classes together. One notable project was in chemistry class where she had rested her hand upon my shoulder as I was mixing some solution and was incredibly nervous that I might blow it up. Things got even better near the beginning of junior year. My mom happened to be a very good musician and some of that talent was given to me I guess. My dad was a piece of shit douchebag that abandoned me and my mother as soon as I was born. Found out that he had died when I was 10. It was me and my mom for all of my life. She did the best she could for a while before she met and married my step-dad. Cool guy. I liked him and he treated my mom well. Regardless, back to the music thing and why junior and senior year of high school were the best 2 years of my life. I was just sitting outside on the back porch fiddling with my acoustic guitar and, for some reason, I had decided to just play an acoustic song to no one in particular. No idea why. It just felt right at the time. After I finished, I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned around to see that it's Cassie, who I guess I hadn't told I could play guitar thanks to my mom. I guess I'd forgotten that we had agreed to hang out that day. That hang out session turned into a full blown date, complete with a good-bye kiss. We started dating afterwards and like I said, it was fantastic. Her dad even liked me…but her mom wasn't as cool. She didn't outright hate me but she was a very strict no nonsense military type woman. I think I managed to get more on her good side when she witnessed me and Cassie sitting under the stars while I just played my guitar one evening. Cassie mainly lived with her dad so I didn't have to see or deal with her mom all that much. I guess that's why we were drawn to each other. Both of us came from parents who were divorced or I guess in my case separated. But I guess the Elder Gods had decided that one day my life needed to become one fueled by rage.

It all began right after high school graduation. Cassie and I were at a mutual friend's party along with Jacqui and her boyfriend at the time. Sidenote, Jacqui's dad? WAY more intimidating than Cassie's mom. Anyway, the party's a great time. I didn't really partake in the weed smoking and banging in the basement as I would rather be hanging with Cassie and Jacqui…which was not acceptable to someone that wanted me all to herself. Her name was like Stephanie or something. And she did not like that the cute but middle class guitar player was with the continuous box office bomber's daughter rather than her, the head cheerleader. I recall leaving my drink unattended while I spoke sports with some acquaintances and the next thing I knew, Stephanie was on me pretty much trying to eat my face. That wasn't even the worst part. Cassie saw. And she didn't like it. I still have the scar along my eyebrow of where she hit me with a can. I tried to explain what happened but she was having none of it. She yelled at me that we were over and that she never, EVER wanted to see me again all while Jacqui tried to stop her. I spent the rest of that night trying to get her to speak with me to no avail. My mom had even stayed up with me to hold me while I explained everything. She wasn't really upset about underage drinking happening at the party but was more upset about the fact that I had basically been roofied. Long story short, charges were pressed against Stephanie and, thankfully, some witnesses testified against her and I believe she got punished for it. That still wasn't enough for Cassie to forgive me. One day, I found an envelope containing a necklace that I had given her for her birthday one year. That was pretty much the final nail in the coffin for me. That night was when it got even worse. I was spending time with some buddies and they were trying to get me to forget about Cassie with just an unhealthy amount of booze. I must have had at least a six pack or so because I woke up in my buddies' mom's garden. I stumbled my way home and what I saw sobered me up faster than any flavor of Gatorade or an IV drip. My mom and step-dad were dead. Massacred. Their blood coating the walls and everything. It looked as though someone had shot them with machine guns. I stood there in complete shock and then absolute fury overtook me. I remember shouting "SONYA!" at the top of my lungs before making my way toward my bedroom to retrieve an electric guitar for some reason. The same one Cassie had given me for my birthday. I wanted to beat Sonya to death with it. This was sheer and utter retaliation for what I had supposedly done to Cassie. I knew it. I knew she hated me for even thinking about wanting to date Cassie. I hadn't even made it 5 steps from the remains of my parents before I noticed another man standing outside. He was a taller man with white skin and long white hair tied into a long ponytail. He was wearing a black vest with gold embellishments along with green pants and silver boots. A glowing tattoo was also visible on one of his arms. His eyes looked like they glowed white too. There was a sheathed sword at his left side and one of his hands was resting on the hilt. He spoke in a voice that almost sounded like a calming breeze but had the potential to turn into a powerful gale if angered.

"Greetings Victor Harris," he said. I reacted instinctively. Only my mom was allowed to call me by my full name…her and Cassie.

"Vic. My name is Vic," I said angrily. "Move."

"And why, pray tell, would I do that? So you can go attack Sonya Blade for a crime she did not commit?" the man responded. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Who the fuck are you?" I snarled. He was keeping me from beating Sonya Blade to a bloody pulp.

"I am Fujin. God of Wind and a Protector of Earthrealm," he said still in a calming voice.

"Bullshit. What you actually are is in my way. Move," I snarled again and went to shove "Fujin" out of my way but almost as if he was actually the wind himself he pushed me back. It took me a second to realize that he hadn't actually made contact with me.

"Neat trick," I said. "Bet you can't do it again." I swung my guitar at his face and right before it was about to connect, Fujin parried it away with his sheathed sword.

"That guitar seems very special to you. I would recommend keeping it safe," he said.

"SHUT UP!" I screamed and aimed a kick at him. I guess he hadn't been expecting that and he wasn't able to maneuver away from it in time. I even saw his face make a "hmm" like expression as the kick connected. I pressed on to my advantage. I threw everything I could at Fujin but I wasn't able to get another hit in. I caught a nasty sweep to my legs and fell on my back hard. Thankfully not on the guitar but still. That shit hurt. Before I could attempt to get up, there was the sharp blade of a sword in my face.

"Do not make me," Fujin warned no longer in the calming voice as before. "I will if you refuse to listen to what I have to say."

"Fine," I snarled. "Why are you here?" Keeping the sword held out towards my neck, Fujin began speaking in the voice he had done earlier.

"Your parents were not killed by Sonya Blade of the Special Forces. It was not an act of revenge on what you did to her daughter," Fujin said. I felt the need to correct him.

"I didn't do ANYTHING! I wouldn't do that to Cass!" I yelled. Fujin nodded and continued speaking.

"I know that. I sense a good heart in you Victo- Vic. You would not stoop that low to harm the ones you love. Your mother and stepfather were killed by demons of the Netherrealm. I expected to tell you this before you saw but to my surprise, you went in the back door rather than the front," Fujin explained.

"Wait…what the fuck is a Netherrealm?" I asked, still angry about the death of my parents.

"It is a place where the most foulest of beings reside. Sometimes they are able to escape to other realms. Your parents were victims of this tragedy. I have taken the liberty of dispatching said demons before they could cause more harm. If I were to guess, they were really looking for you," Fujin said. He motioned his head off to my right. I turned and saw 2 bisected humanlike beings lying on the lawn spilling their entrails everywhere. Nearly made me puke. But something deep down was telling me that Fujin was legit.

"What...what am I supposed to do now? I have nothing left," I said, feeling myself start to tear up. My mom and I went through so much struggle together when I was growing up…and now she is just gone. Taken from me for no reason. By demons. I swear to every other god that apparently exists now that I will kill absolutely any demon that gets anywhere near me.

"That is another reason why I am here. I sense great potential in you Vic. I can take you to a safer place, one where the demons of Outworld and the Netherrealm will never find you but you must leave your life behind for now. We can depart as soon as we give your parents a proper burial and you gather anything you require," Fujin said. I thought about it for a long moment. Fujin didn't move as I did so but he had sheathed his sword and stood over me with his arms crossed. Eventually, I had agreed and took his now outstretched hand.

This brings us back to the present. All of those events I just explained to you happened around 8 years ago. I was nearing the age of 26 at this point. I had been training under Fujin for that entire time. What I didn't know 8 years ago was that I was a long long distant descendant of a tribe of aeromancers who had died out sometime ago. Yes, they were a group of people that could literally manipulate air. They had even worshiped Fujin as a benevolent God. That explained why I was able to get one hit on Fujin during our initial meeting. My speed had caught him off guard. Over the years I had learned to control a lot of air based abilities thanks to Fujin. I could create small tornados, launch a strong burst of wind from either my hands or feet and I could even hover a few feet off the ground. Fujin had a nice chuckle when I achieved that for the first time, panicked and promptly fell right on my ass. Probably the coolest thing I can do is create various constructs out of the air itself which had surprised Fujin. I mainly used that to practice with various weapon styles. The sound of someone entering my room had finally jarred me from my memories of Cassie.

"Out moonlighting again," Fujin asked in his calm voice. I opened my eyes and realized that I had been hovering above the ground. I touched down and turned to face him. He had his usual smirk on his face. Oh he knew what I had been doing a few hours earlier.

"You…you know about that?" I asked.

"You are not exactly subtle," he answered. "I thought it was someone new because of the bright lights emanating from the air constructs buried in the demonic corpses before I realized that they were yours. What is that by the way? Neon?"

"Yeah," I answered. Yes. I had recently found out that I could control neon too. After all, it was technically a gas. I continued speaking after Fujin had raised his eyebrows in curiosity.

"It's a gas. You typically see it used in signs on buildings in big cities. I sort of found out by accident a few nights ago. Demon chucked me into a sign and the gas sort of absorbed into me which turned my air abilities into various colors," I explained. The parts of my back and left arm twinged with pain as I said this. I had spent an entire day cleaning the bits of glass out of my clothes and skin. Wait…I just realized…I never told you what I looked like did I? Imagine Shaggy from Scooby-Doo right? Like the REAL Scooby-Doo show. I even have a chin goatee. Now make him a few inches shorter, give him some muscle and the hair style of a trash metal fan. Typically, I wore band shirts depicting various Earthrealm bands but when I moonlighted as a vigilante, I wore more traditional attire of say an armored heavy metal fan. Complete with unzipped leather jacket and sleeveless tank top. I usually tied my hair into a ponytail and hid my face behind a mask and a pair of mirrored eyewear.

"I am aware of what neon is, Vic. I have been known to dabble in a lot of Earthrealm's culture," Fujin explained.

"Well, then why did you ask Lord Fujin?" I asked.

"First, do not call me Lord Fujin. I am not partial to that. Second, I recall neon needed an electric current in order to produce the color. Can you do that without electricity?" he asked. To demonstrate, I reached out into the air in front of me and "captured" some neon particles. Then, I brought my hands together and then moved them away from each other, willing the air between them to form something tangible and solid. I clenched my right fist on this construct's "handle" and flourished it in front of me. Finally, I used my left hand and fingers to "activate" the neon in the "blade" of the sword I had just created. Within an instant, the blade glowed a soft blue color. I brandished the blade at Fujin who I saw had drawn his own blade and said "Show me what you can do." I smirked back at my teacher and friend and engaged him in a small sparring match for several minutes.

Several Days Later

I was yet again dressed in my vigilante attire hopping from building to building unseen searching for anything out of the ordinary. The fact that Fujin had taught me how to sense others had helped dramatically which in turn kind of confirmed my theory that he knew I did this whole vigilante thing. Why do this, you ask? So no one ever has to suffer as I had suffered from these monsters. These…bastards that had murdered an innocent woman and her husband while waiting for their son to return home from a night with his friends. The last thing my mom ever said to me was "Stay safe honey. I love you." Those words constantly repeated in my mind day after day and week after week. All she wanted for me was to be safe and follow my dreams. And she had been murdered and I wasn't able to stop it from happening. For a while, I blamed myself. Fujin had to stop me from harming myself on numerous occasions too. I might be selfish for admitting this, but I don't think Fujin fully understands. He was a God after all. He had been around for millennia but if you ask me, he hasn't grasped how mortal people like me can feel when we lose someone very important to us. And I had lost 3 in a very small space of time. Cassie included. She meant absolutely everything to me. I loved her and I could tell she loved me too even though she had screamed at me to get out of her life. I have no idea where she could be now or if she was still alive. These Netherrealm demons aren't picky in who they decide to kill either. Like right now. I could sense about 3 of them closing in on 2 innocent people. Not too far away either. Good. I quickly whipped up an air skateboard and used it to propel myself a little faster. I came upon a dark alleyway in a very well lit part of the city. The 2 innocent people I saw looked like a mother and her daughter cowering in fear against the alley's dead end. My suspicions were correct. There were 3 demons closing in on the 2 humans. As per usual, the demons were large hunched-over creatures with gray skin. They also have glowing orange eyes and glowing orange streaks throughout their body as well as spikes. I decided to take out the straggler in the back first. A silent tornado force gust sent the demon flying into the air where it was promptly sliced in half by an air construct sword. The two halves of the demon fell back down to the ground where they landed with a loud squelching noise and spilled bright orange blood and entrails on the sidewalk. The other two demons turned at the sound of their dead comrade's body hitting the ground and that's when I made my presence fully known. I had lept off the building, done a few arial flips and twists and landed with a soft thud in between the 2 humans and 2 demons. The mother from behind me said "It's him! That guy from the news." One of the demons had taken the opportunity to charge forward but I stopped him with a simple push backwards with a burst of wind. I glanced towards the street where I could see neon signs lighting up the darkness. Smirking under the mask, I reached out my hand and drew the electrically charged gas towards me and manipulated it to form daggers.

"Catch," said in a much deeper inflection than what I normally spoke in. One of the demons obeyed my words and turned away only to get absolutely skewered by multiple brightly lit daggers. The remaining demon tried to flee after it had witnessed both of its comrades get killed but I had willed the wind to bring the demon toward me. I grabbed it by the neck and squeezed. If I wasn't wearing gloves, this would be pretty nasty but I pressed on. I motioned my head toward the 2 women who still looked absolutely terrified.

"Say you're sorry," I said. The demon only screeched in response. My response was much more deadly. I used the air to form another small knife and slit the demon's throat slowly, savoring every second it screeched in pain before it finally went limp. I tossed the body into the nearby dumpster along with the 2 halves of the first demon I had killed. I left the other one pinned to the wall as a message to any other Netherrealm scum that thinks they can escape from me. I turned to the 2 women again. The woman's daughter looked no more than 15 years old. The teenager spoke first.

"Are you really him?" she asked. I frowned. I had just found out a few minutes ago that my actions had hit the local airwaves and also who else used air and brutality towards demons? I nodded.

"What name do you like better? They've been calling you The Rattlehead because of how the air seems to make your head vibrate or Thrash because of your outfit," the girl said, sounding very excited. I was about to answer when I heard a new voice. A voice I recognized very well although now it sounded like it was 8 years older.

"Don't move Eddie," it ordered. I even felt the barrel of a pistol get pressed against my back. I was more shocked than afraid. Could this be who I thought it was? My suspicions were confirmed when the voice spoke again.

"Jacqui, take those 2 away from here. I need to have a little chat with Snaggletooth," the voice, who I now knew was that of Cassie Cage. I then saw another person I had not seen since high school, Jacqui Briggs, walk forward and lead the 2 people I had just saved away from the scene. I did however hear the older of the two squeak out a "Thank you" in my direction. I turned to face Cassie for the first time in 8 years. She still had her signature undercut hairstyle that I simply thought was the hottest thing ever. It was made even hotter by the pair of black aviator shades she was wearing...at night for some reason. I blame her dad for that one. She was wearing a skintight bodysuit mainly colored black but with accents of blue here and there. Her helix pierced right ear was visible too and that had reminded me of the time I had accompanied her to get it…with the permission of her dad of course. The fact that she had kept it in all these years had reassured me that she hadn't forgotten me. For better or worse.

"So, you gonna say something or do I have to make you?" Cassie ordered before she blew a bubble from the gum she had apparently been chewing and it popped in my face. I smirked under my mask. Hearing her order me around like that apparently sparked something deep within me that I was unaware of. I had answered Cassie's question by shaking my head. Why spoil the surprise now plus I hadn't given any thought as to what to say to her after all these years. Something was telling me that "I'm sorry I disappeared after the death of my parents and left you with no clear explanation of what happened at that party" wasn't really going to cut it.

"Thought so," Cassie said and turned the pistol in her hand intending to pistol whip me. Not today Cass. Before she could even react I stopped her arm with a current of wind.

"What the fu-" she managed to say before another gust of wind threw her completely off balance and she fell over. I took the opportunity to use the wind to help me run up the wall of the nearby building. Didn't really need to do that, I just felt like giving my escape a bit of flair. I heard gunshots go off from behind me and the air currents were telling me that the bullets were going to miss me by several feet. I still used a counter breeze to slow the bullets down lest they strike someone Cassie didn't intend to hit. The top of the building was well out of the pistol's effective range and I turned to look down at Cassie aiming up in my general direction. I drew some more neon from the street nearby and formed a short glowing message with it. The message read "Nice to meet you sergeant." followed by a caricature of my head and mask. I "threw" the message downward where it attached itself to the wall right behind Cassie. While she read it, I hopped over to the other building across the alleyway and hid in the shadows. Trouble was, there was someone waiting for me.

"Evening," Fujin said softly and smirked. Dammit. How much do you want to bet he had been following me all night? He motioned to Cassie and the returning Jacqui down below.

"Friends of yours?" he asked. "Wait…I know the blonde one…yes…that is Cassandra Cage is it not? Hold on a moment…she is your former girlfriend? The one you believed you lost forever?" I nodded. Fujin proceeded to alter the air currents so the both of us could hear what the two women were saying even though we were several stories in the air.

"Damn, I almost had him!" Cassie exclaimed. "Nice to meet you?! That smug son of a bitch!"

"Sure Cass," Jacqui said. "You had the whole thing under control. Especially the part where you fired off shots that missed by a mile."

"The guy has wind or gas powers or something! Did you see the message? That's written in neon!" Cassie retorted and gestured at my message.

"You even captured the part of you that's angry all the time," Fujin joked. I scowled. Jerk.

"But…but he seemed…familiar. The way he held himself. And his hair…" Cassie continued. My heart skipped a beat. I had always had longer hair that I did keep in a ponytail while in high school. Came with the territory of being a big metal fan. Cassie was a big fan of it.

"Honestly…I was going to say the same thing. Must be a relative or something," Jacqui said.

"It was my fault," Cassie suddenly said and I was able to hear sadness in her voice. I had to steady myself against the nearby ventilation units.

"Cass, stop. We've been over this," Jacqui began.

"I shouldn't have yelled at him Jacq," Cassie said. Fujin smirked again while Cassie continued to speak.

"C'mon, let's go report this to my mom," Cassie continued after I heard the smallest sniff. Fujin cut the connection and folded his arms.

"Well, that was quite the revelation to me," he said. "And to you as well. That must be quite the weight off your chest. Seeing that your former flame is alive and well." I nodded.

"She looks so different now. Much more confident and happy with herself. Before, she was struggling to find a way to live up to her parents," I said remembering a time in high school where I had comforted Cassie after she experienced a small panic attack about it.

"Her father is the actor Johnny Cage, correct?" Fujin asked. "Which means her mother must be Sonya Blade…yes…yes that makes sense after the 1st battle with Shinnok years ago."

"You were there during that?" I asked. Some people I had run into during my moonlighting gig had mentioned it a few times. Typically it was stuff like "OH SHIT! THAT SHINNOK GUY IS BACK AGAIN!"

"Oh yes, but I was preoccupied with another task and was unable to save my brother Raiden from corruption. He is much more ruthless after cleansing the Jinsei chamber from Shinnok's evil. Come to think of it, I should see how he's doing. I am sure he will listen to me above all else. At least I hope he will," Fujin was saying more to himself than me. I had heard of his older brother, the thunder god Raiden. The appointed protector of Earthrealm. I had never actually met him.

"Now, while I don't disapprove of this whole night time gig you have of saving people, I will warn you to be careful. I may not be able to assist in the future. Apparently you have made quite a name for yourself," Fujin said and motioned toward a piece of paper that had been blown up to the roof. It was a wanted poster using a blurry photo of me. It read "WANTED! Masked Vigilante! Very dangerous, do not approach. If seen, inform the local authorities IMMEDIATELY." Great. This was going to be annoying now that I had the police and military after me. That wasn't really the thing at the forefront of my mind. What was replaying over and over in my head was Cassie's statement that she shouldn't have yelled at me.

After all of these years, she hadn't forgotten me just as I had never NEVER forgotten her.