Chapter 3: Grudge Against Scum
Dawn of the second day of the tournament in Earthrealm. So far, Johnny Cage has defeated Reptile and Baraka. But before he could chase after Sonya, Fire God Liu Kang restores his memories. He remembered going through both tournaments, defeating Shinnok, marrying Sonya and having Cassie. The divorce and the time war.
Johnny was shocked, saddened and angry at the fact that they're forced to go through the same events they went through before that costed them everyone but him and Sonya. He was saddened that Cassie doesn't exist in this time period and fears that he may never see her again. But his friends convinced him that they can bring back everyone, including his daughter Cassie. Johnny is at least glad Sonya is alive again.
Speaking of Sonya, she sneaks away from her chambers early in the morning to find her friend Jax. Jax was taken hostage by Shang Tsung and Kano when he was trying to explore the island. She is willing to do anything to save her close friend, capture Kano and escape the island. Anything to avoid having to deal with his other crimes as well as dealing with Shang Tsung and Johnny Cage, unaware of her previous life.
Sonya sneaks past the guards and walks over the huge pit. Down below, she sees many human heads and bodies stabbed by the countless spikes below. She couldn't help but feel grossed out by what's happening. She wasn't sure if this was all too real. Unfortunately for her it is. Sonya continues her way into a lair, with many torches, skulls, bones and prison cells. The lair of Goro himself.
"Jax? You in here?" Sonya whispered. She walks against the walls, making sure that no guards are around. She doesn't hear any noise, but then hears moaning. It's coming from the cell right next to her. Her eyes widened as she sees Jax. He's all beat up, covered in many bruises on his face and arms. Here, he has his normal arms. He is equipped with arm brackets to make him stronger.
"S-Sonya?" Jax asked. His vision is a bit blurry.
"It's me. What the hell happened to you?" Sonya worries.
"Y-you shouldn't have come. Get outta here." Jax said.
"No. I'm not leaving you here. I'm getting you outta here too." Sonya defies him. She activates her ring gauntlets and shoots the cell open. She was about to walk in and help her friend, but she hears footsteps.
"Sonya Blade." Shang Tsung suddenly said, getting her attention. She glares at him as he approaches her with Kitana, Jade and Bi-Han/Sub-Zero. "I have been expecting you. I'm impressed more by your charming personality and fierce spirit. I knew you would come here."
"Look, creepster. I told you I don't want any part of this so-called tournament. I just want to rescue Jax, find Kano and get out of this shitty place." Sonya stands in defiance.
"Oh, but you are a contestant. Anyone who steps on my island becomes a contestant. No one leaves until it is over." Shang Tsung said.
"You're hiding that rat bastard aren't you? Where is he?!" Sonya demands.
Shang Tsung said nothing. Instead, he points two fingers behind Sonya. Sonya turns around. She sees a small red light glowing and coming her way. Sonya knows that kind of light. On a cybernetic eye. Kano the Black Dragon leader. He smirks and blows a kiss to her.
"Hello, sweetpie. Did you miss me?" Kano mockingly asked.
"You. You're coming with us when I'm through with you." Sonya threatens him.
"Go ahead. Do your worst. Threats don't scare me, love. I've dealt with worse things than you." Kano smiles.
"Sonya Blade calling for reinforcements. Come in. Come in." Sonya holds out a radio, trying to call out for support, only for Bi-Han to use his ice powers to freeze it completely and it crumbles into tiny pieces.
"No one escapes from here. Those who tend to will feel my wrath." Bi-Han tells Sonya. He begins to approach her with an ice dagger in his hand, but lightning strikes between Sonya and Bi-Han. Liu Kang appears alongside Raiden. Liu Kang grabs Bi-Han's wrist with the dagger and palm strikes him backwards, electrocuting him a little.
"Stand down, Bi-Han. The tournament has not resumed yet." Liu Kang tells him.
"Lord Liu Kang. Raiden. How nice of you to join us. I was just here to remind Sonya that she and her friend are contestants in the tournament since they stepped on my island." Shang Tsung chuckles.
"True. Once Mortal Kombat is declared, it cannot be refused. You can, however, allow us to heal Jax's wounds. It would not be fair to allow a fighter to participate while suffering injuries." Raiden tells the sorcerer.
"Of course, of course. We were just leaving. I will allow you to heal him, but Sonya Blade has to face Kano next when the tournament resumes." Shang Tsung said.
"You want me to fight that asshole? Fine. But after this, he's mine." Sonya claims.
"See you at the tournament, Sonya Blade. I look forward to it." Shang Tsung makes his leave. Bi-Han stares at the fire god as well as Sonya and Jax before he leaves. Kitana gives a sneak smile to Liu Kang before she leaves as well.
Kano walks past Sonya, who chuckles again and winks at her as he follows the sorcerer. Sonya hears Liu Kang healing Jax's wounds, and assumes he is hurting him. "Hey. What do you think you're doing?!" Before she could approach, Raiden stops her.
"Sonya Blade. Stand down." Raiden tells her.
"That's my friend. That guy's–" Sonya tries to reply.
"Helping him. Do not worry. We are all on the same side. We share common foes." Raiden explains.
Before Sonya could answer, she sees Liu Kang finishing healing Jax of all his wounds. Jax looks at his arms and sees not even a scratch on him.
"Wow. That's amazing. Thanks, man." Jax said as the fire god helped him up.
"Whoa. I didn't know gods could do that." Sonya is surprised.
"It is my pleasure, Jax. Sonya has told me about you." Liu Kang said.
"I hopped aboard the ship hoping to find Kano. I was ordered to find you and bring him in." Sonya smirks as she fist bumps her best friend.
"Man, am I glad to see you, Blade. But goddamn. Your obsession with that one-eyed bitch is gonna get you killed." Jax said with a slight annoyed tone in his voice. He does feel bad for her when Kano killed her partner and friend, but he knows restraint. He may have trained Sonya personally, but he has a hard time getting her to control her stubbornness.
"Fear not. I believe Sonya will defeat Kano in the tournament. After all, she could use some help." Liu Kang said.
Sonya turns to Jax, wondering what to do. Jax nods to her in response. "Alright. We're in. Let's kick some fucking ass." Sonya nods to the fire god. The four of them exit Goro's lair and return to the tournament, where the third match is about to begin any time.
At the same battlefield from last night, Liu Kang and the others meet up with Johnny Cage, Nightwolf and Kung Lao. They all stand aside each other. Sonya turns to Johnny and is surprised he's not even trying to flirt with her. Yesterday, he had the face of a cocky, egotistical jerk, but now he suddenly has a serious, less humorless look on his face and he's no longer wearing his suit. He has on khakis, a blue shirt and a military vest. She wonders where he got those clothes. But she couldn't put her thoughts into it.
"Champions of Earthrealm and Outworld. The tournament will now resume. As like the previous night, I will be choosing the next participants of my own liking. Sonya Blade. As promised. You will be facing Kano." Shang Tsung announces.
Sonya approaches the battlefield, cracking her knuckles, ready to beat the hell out of her archenemy. Kano bends down and takes a dagger out of his boot. He walks into the field and smiles at Sonya.
"This good friend here of mine brings back memories, doesn't it? Drew an X on your partner's heart and cut a line on his neck and ripped out his heart. Kano wins. Fucking beauty." Kano insults her, trying to trigger her.
"You're gonna regret all those words you said earlier." Sonya tells him.
"Give it up. I know how to beat you." Kano said as they fight.
Kano swings his dagger at Sonya, who dodges the two swings and grabs it and tries to punch him, but he grabs her fist. Sonya knees him in the chest followed by kicking him in the stomach. Kano stumbles, allowing Sonya to uppercut him in the jaw and does two cartwheel kicks to the head. She then does a kick to the right knee along with a backhand strike to the face. Kano recovers and backhands her in the forehead followed by a punch to the face, but Sonya responds by doing two roundhouse kicks to the head. Before she could do a shoulder bash, Kano grabs her and kicks her in the stomach twice before slamming both hands onto her back, sending her into the ground before kicking her in the head like a soccer ball, sending Sonya back.
Sonya is a bit dazed but manages to shake it off. She recovers and gets back up. Kano suddenly fires his optic laser to kill her, but she narrowly avoids it and tries to approach him. Kano jumps forward and does a cannonball move, sending Sonya back more, cracking her chest a little. She rolls back up and was ready. Kano takes out another dagger and jumps to stab her in the head, but she rolls out of the way and kicks one of them out of his left hand. Kano turn around and tries to stab and cut her, but she once more grabs the blade hand, kicks his other hand away and kicks him right in the eye, cracking his skull and making him spit up blood a bit. Kano stumbles, allowing Sonya to knee him in the stomach and grabs his throat with both of her legs and she throws him down, chest first, cracking it and he spurs up more blood. Kano lays there defeated.
"Do you know how to choke on your blood when you lose? You're about to learn." Sonya said angrily. Johnny quietly whistles and crosses his arms, impressed that Sonya still has the skills. Even Kitana is impressed.
Kano stares at her with a weak smiles on his face. He sneaks out something from his pocket and throws it down. It was a smoke bomb. Sonya tries to stomp on his head, but he was already gone.
"Ah! God damn you!" Sonya yelled in anger. "Hey, old man! Where the fuck is he?! Bring him back!"
"I have no precise idea on his whereabouts. They are beyond my control. But do not worry. Perhaps you'll get your chance someday." Shang Tsung smiles.
Sonya growls out of frustration before she walks away from the field. She is huffing in so much anger about how badly she wanted to bring Kano in for all he did. Before she could walk away, Jax stops her.
"Hold up, Sonya. He's right. He's out of line, but he's right." Jax tries to tell her. "That asshole will get his just desserts one day. I want as much payback as you do. You gotta lighten up. That stubbornness of yours is gonna get you killed."
Sonya scoffs off as to say whatever. Johnny secretly rolls his eyes, remembering the times they fought back when they were married. Unknown to her, her past version put an end to Kano once and for all. But now he's back.
Liu Kang and Raiden talk alone with Kung Lao.
"Raiden. Do you think it's possible that all enemies such as Kano could perish during the tournament? Even with my visions, I don't know if they are absolute." Liu Kang wonders.
"I do not know. Some of my visions have come true before Kronika messed with time. It was not possible for us to end all evil during the tournaments. But as Kitana said, old evil may return but new faces may emerge. Have patience, Liu Kang. You will master your newfound powers and visions. I shared my visions with you, and you can improve where I could not." Raiden tells him.
"But I do understand Johnny's point. Some may never be born. But I do know we can bring back the generations that were born after Shao Kahn's demise. We can try to save other lives." Liu Kang said.
"And change everyone's fate for the better." Kung Lao added.
"Yes. A fate better than the one we previously suffered. But we also choose our own fates, Kung Lao. Don't forget that." Lord Liu Kang agreed.
"No one is perfect. Not even I was and never will be. I learned to never doubt myself again. Neither should you. More on that later. Let us return to the tournament." Raiden reminds him. Liu Kang nods as they do so. Shang Tsung is about to announce the next match.
"Now it is time for the second match. Johnny Cage. You will face… Guardian Jade." Shang Tsung announces. Jade steps up and has her bo staff out, ready for the fight. Alex, watching from the hourglass, is glad to see Jade alive and well again.
"Alright. Showtime." Johnny approaches the field to battle Jade. "Don't take this match too hard when I beat you. Nothing personal." Johnny said.
"In your dreams, earthrealmer." Jade said.
"Your loss then." Johnny said. He tries to activate his green shadow powers, but they briefly glow, but not all the way. Johnny is confused by this. He knows he has mastered it in the Old Era. He has no idea why. He has no time to figure it out. He has to fight Jade without it.
Johnny goes for a swing kick to the head, which Jade ducks and blocks a punch and an arm swing. Jade slams the endpoint of her staff onto his chest and swings it at his face before she kicks him in the back of the head. Johnny stumbles but regains his footing. He jumps over the staff and kicks Jade in the face and she goes sliding down, but Jade jumps back up. She throws a razor rang which nearly misses his face. Jade jumps forward with her staff and kicks Johnny in the chest and throws the staff down on his head, cracking his skull a little. She then jumps over Johnny, grabs his shoulder and throws him down on his back. Jade was about to slam her staff into Johnny's head, but he jumps backwards where she blocks another kick, but was not prepared for a shadow backflip kick to the chin, sending Jade flying, and cracking her jaw.
Jade gets back up and stares at her enemy. Johnny does a downward punch to the head, but she dodges and blocks a shoulder bash with her staff. She hits him with the middle part of her staff, slams the endpoint at his chest, making him slide backwards and suddenly comes forward, does a dash kick to the chest, taking Johnny by surprise. Jade swings her staff at both of Johnny's shoulders and slams it on his right shoulder, cracking it greatly, trips him with her staff, scooping him off his feet, allowing Jade to dance around her staff and kick him in the back, making Johnny go backwards. Johnny gets back up, but caresses his shoulder and goes for two jump kicks to the head, but misses, allowing Jade to slam her staff on the right side of Johnny's head, cracking it and making him spit up blood, slamming it into his crotch, causing Johnny a lot of pain. That part makes Jax, Kung Lao and Nightwolf cringe at the pain. Even Alex, who's watching the match, shivers and cringes at what just happened. While he does laugh at Johnny's expense he can't help but feel bad. Jade finishes him off with a strong kick to the chest. Johnny flies backwards, defeated.
"Heh. Too easy, So easy, you're not even worth the effort or trouble to finish off." Jade smirks before she walks away.
"Winner: Jade. That is one warrior of Earthrealm defeated. Only five left. Will they continue to lose? The next match will be announced in a few minutes." Shang Tsung said.
Jax and Sonya go over to check up on Johnny, who is having a hard time standing no thanks to the hit to the nuts. "Oh fucking god. What just happened?"
"Staff lady just kicked your ass." Jax smirks, trying to hide his laughter.
"You okay there, hotshot?" Sonya asked, a little worried.
"Oh let's see. Being pissed off and embarrassed that I got beat by a lady with a staff, that may qualify as a no." Johnny sounds a bit irritated. Sonya and Jax both snicker. "Oh. ha ha. Laugh it up, why don't you?"
"Oh come on. Don't be such a baby. It's just a staff to the nuts." Sonya smirks.
"Easy for you to say, sweetheart. You're a lady." Johnny said. This causes Jax to chuckle as the three reach back to the other warriors.
Note: Yup. So Kano has returned from the dead. Not a whole lot to say about this chapter but I do plan on adding some villain victories during the tournament. Since pretty much everyone has been wanting to play as villains more often in the story modes in the modern games. Hope you guys liked it!