Chapter 13: Doing the Right Thing
On the dawn of the final day of the tournament, the remaining fighters all get ready. Sonya, Jax and Johnny plan to leave with the Lin Kuei to fight against the Cyber Initiative and the Black Dragon, while Raiden, Nightwolf and Kung Lao remain to fight in the tournament.
"Alright guys. We're fixing to head out. Good luck with the rest of the tournament. Shouldn't be too many assholes left." Sonya said to everyone.
"From what I have seen, there are Kintaro, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Li Mei, Kitana and Shao Kahn himself." Kung Lao tells them.
"All of them are formidable foes. Kitana is on our side, but she will go easy on us if she were to fool Shao Kahn." Raiden said.
"This should distract them long enough for us to make our move against Sektor and Kano. And perhaps my brother Bi-Han will be there." Kuai Liang said.
"He'll most likely be there. Like you said the other day, we have a common enemy being Sektor. But I doubt he will want to work with us." Sareena points out.
"What about Scorpion? When will y'all restore him?" Jax asked.
"When you leave Outworld, me and Fujin will–" Liu Kang gets interrupted by a vision. This time, it's not a good one. In fact, it's worse than the one from the other day. "By the gods! No!"
"What? What did you see, Lord Liu Kang?" Kung Lao asked.
"Kitana… she's been captured. By Shang Tsung and Mileena!" Liu Kang tells everyone.
"What?! You gotta be shitting me right now! How did this happen?" Johnny asked.
"Kitana was supposed to free Kotal from his prison in the flesh pits, but she remembered that Mileena was created by Shang Tsung. Kitana's hate for her runs too deep and tried to kill her. But she and Shang Tsung took her prisoner and are going to bring her before Shao Kahn." Liu Kang said.
"Mileena. The monster who led Outworld to a disaster after her father's demise by my hands. She will be an even lethal threat." Raiden points out.
"We need to save her. Shao Kahn will lock her up in the tower and plan her execution. If Kitana dies, no one will be able to take her place as Kahn." Kung Lao said.
"I wish that were the case, Kung Lao. But I cannot interfere. I am still bound by the rules. And none of you will be able to rescue Kitana. Jade and Li Mei will not succeed. The Special Forces and the Lin Kuei need to stop their enemies from launching an invasion and raising an army." Liu Kang said.
"But no one else has their memories restored." Sonya said.
"On the contrary, Sonya. We do. Kitana has succeeded into turning Li Mei and Jade. They have their memories back and are spying on Shao Kahn as well. They can help us." Nightwolf said.
"But now because Kitana has made this mission complicated, we need to accelerate our plans." Raiden said.
"You're right. It is best that Sonya, Kuai Liang and the others get to their own quest. Me and Fujin must tend to ours." Liu Kang said.
"If I recall correctly, Kotal was locked up in those flesh pits. Shao Kahn has upped security now that Kitana has been exposed." Jax said.
"They cannot do this alone. Jade and Li Mei will need help." Kung Lao said.
"You're right, Kung Lao. In fact, I have an idea. I know who can help." Liu Kang said. This gets everyone's attention, all of them are wondering who he could be referring to.
In Shao Kahn's throne room, Kitana is on her knees as her hands are shackled in chains. She looks up and stares at Shao Kahn in hatred. Shao Kahn is not happy with her treachery.
"So, you could not be bothered to keep out of things you should not be aware of." Shao Kahn stares at Kitana.
"You of all people in Outworld should know. When one keeps secrets from another, they lose trust in one another and have the right to question them. You yourself taught me that. And yet you kept secrets from me. Having Shang Tsung make a hideous clone of me who claims to be my sister." Kitana said in anger.
"Because you lack the boldness to stand up, Kitana. You would have been my most reliable fighter. But your unwillingness to kill when I command it leaves me with disappointment. Now I have a true daughter!" Shao Kahn said. "Your work exceeds all expectations, Shang Tsung."
Shang Tsung smirks and bows from Shao Kahn's praise.
"You are nothing but a madman!" Kitana said.
"Madman? Ha! That's what your real father Jerrod told me when I invaded your home realm Edenia!" Shao Kahn tells her.
"You….. You know of my real father?! You have been lying to me all of my life?! The fire god was right about you! You did kill my real father!" Kitana lies, claiming she didn't know. Kitana did not want to reveal about her knowing about Jerrod and Sindel before Shao Kahn even told her, otherwise, it would have raised the warlord's suspiciosions.
"I will deal with Lord Liu Kang once I win this tournament." Shao Kahn said.
"Then finish it. Kill me, and you will regret it." Kitana said. Shao Kahn picks her up by her head.
"I don't fear anyone, Kitana. And I won't kill you. Not yet. Once I merge all realms at once, you will watch as everyone, including your people suffer, then I will kill you. You were weak like your mother when she committed suicide. It was her that begged me to spare you. Now I see that doing so was my greatest mistake. No matter. I will fix that." Shao Kahn said before dropping her to the ground and kicking her in the stomach. "Take her to the towers! Make sure she is secured! Let no one enter the towers!"
Two Tarkatans take the injured Kitana away to the towers to be chained up. Unknown to everyone, Li Mei and Jade were listening to everything.
"Kitana. She does not deserve this fate. We must help her." Li Mei said.
"I am her guardian, friend and sister. I failed before. I will not fail again. This time, I have you with me, Li Mei." Jade said with a hand on her shoulder. Li Mei smiles as they go rescue her.
Li Mei and Jade secretly followed the guards to the entrance past the armory and in the towers themselves. But as they do follow them from a good distance with no one following them, they hear a noise.
"Psst." A voice calls out, getting their attention.
"Did you hear that?" Li Mei asked.
"Psst. Over here." The voice called out. The person's hand sticks out and gestures for them to follow that person. They slowly get out their weapons, prepared to fight whoever is calling out to them. They enter someone's private chambers and this person appears to be one of Shao Kahn's guards. The guard looks both ways to make sure they aren't being followed before this person closes the door.
As soon as the guard closes the door, Jade immediately pins him to the door, his back facing it, with Jade pointing her blade at the guard's face.
"Speak your mind, guard! Why are you following us?" Jade threatens him while Li Mei brings out her sais.
The guard holds his hands up and he slowly reaches for his helmet and mask. Jade and Li Mei stare as this person is pulling his mask up. This face was not what they expected. Jade immediately pulls back and recognizes who it is. It's none other than her friend Alex, disguised as one of the guards.
"Hello, Jade." Alex said.
"Alex?" Jade said. The first thing she does is pull him in for a tight hug. Alex smiles and embraces the hug. Jade pulls away and looks at him as she places a hand on his cheek. "What are you doing? You should not be here. How did you even get this far?" Jade tells him.
"I just knocked out a guard and took this thing. It's my disguise. I need to talk to you." Alex explained.
"That was a dangerous thing to do. Shao Kahn's fortress is heavily loaded with guards and warriors. Something could have happened to you." Jade tells Alex.
"I know, I know. Look. Liu Kang told me to come here. He said the plan is in danger of failing." Alex said.
"What do you mean? Jade? How do you know this boy?" Li Mei asked, not recognizing him.
"It's a long story, but there's no time. Kitana was supposed to free Kotal, but apparently she chose to kill Mileena instead. That's what led to her getting imprisoned. Liu Kang had a vision." Alex said.
"Me and Li Mei are on our way to free her this time. We can handle this. I appreciate your help always, Alex, but you cannot be here. What if someone such as Shao Kahn sees you?" Jade asked.
"He won't. Look. We lost the element of surprise, and they're forced to improvise. We can still surprise those assholes. Do you trust me?" Alex looks at her.
"Always." Jade said.
"Good. Listen to me carefully. We don't have a lot of time. Jade. Liu Kang wanted me to give you two of these." Alex grabs Jade's hand and gives her two memory viles. "Those are memory viles. This is what I want you to do." Alex whispered in Jade's ear, giving her instructions before pulling away.
"Are you sure about this?" Jade asked.
"Absolutely." Alex tells her. "Once you're done, get out of there as fast as possible. Kung Lao will be at the tournament with Raiden and Nightwolf. Sonya and Liang are off doing other things."
"And what about me? Am I to play a role in this plan of yours?" Li Mei asked.
"And what's your name?" Alex asked.
"Li Mei."
"Li Mei. Nice to meet you." Alex gives her a friendly smile. They both shake hands and nod to each other.
"What do you like for me to do?" Li Mei asked.
"We need to get into those flesh pits. I don't know how to get there. But the rest of you do. Some assholes may come for us, but we gotta be ready. We need to free Kotal." Alex tells her.
"It is a risky move, but we must regain the advantage. If Kotal is free, then he should regain his Osh-Tekk army." Jade said.
"It is our only chance. If what the fire god says is true, then I believe it is time to start trusting him completely." Li Mei said. "We must hurry. We need all the time we can get."
Alex and Jade nod. Li Mei was the first to exit the room. Jade follows her a few seconds after, but before she opens the door again, she turns back to Alex.
"Something wrong, Jade?" Alex asked. Jade said nothing and smiled. She walks up to Alex and gives him a kiss on the cheek. He couldn't help but blush. "What was that for?"
"A kiss from a guardian, friend and sister." Jade smiles before she hugs him again. "Be careful, Alex. It's dangerous in Outworld. Be safe. Promise me."
"I promise you." Alex immediately nods, noticing Jade's concerned glare.
"Good. And one more thing. It is good to see you again, my little brother. I hope to meet Cassandra and the team one day." Jade smiles as she puts her hand to caress his face. She exits the door. Alex puts his helmet and mask back on as he follows. Jade continues her way to the towers while Alex and Li Mei head to the flesh pits.
In the armory, the Tarkatans are just about finished putting away all of the shotguns and other ranged weapons that Shang Tsung received from Kano.
"That is all of them." Baraka said, putting the last one away.
One of the Tarkatans was curious to see how they work and pulled out a shotgun. He looks at it and when inspecting it, he aims at another working Tarkatan and accidentally pulls the trigger and the shot hits another Tarkatan's head off completely. He drops down, dead and bleeding out.
Baraka growls out of anger and thrusts his hand blade through the chest of the Tarkatan who fired the gun, plunging his heart out and he in turn falls dead. Baraka picks up the shotgun and turns to the other ones watching.
"These are not toys! They belong to Shang Tsung! The next one to touch them, I will feed you to the Beasts in Shao Kahn's pen! Do I make myself clear?! Now return to your posts!" Baraka orders them.
As Baraka is busy putting the weapon away, he hears the gates open and close behind him. Baraka notices this and growls before following, knowing Shao Kahn's orders.
In the Towers, Kitana is chained to a pillar whie guarded by Queen Sheeva. The queen Shokan who trained her and guarded her alongside Jade and vowed to protect Sindel before her death.
"You have betrayed your own family name, Kitana. And in doing so, you have lost your honor. Death is the only solution to reclaim honor." Sheeva said.
"That is not true, Queen Sheeva." Jade said, getting their attention.
"Guardian Jade. You are not welcome here. Shao Kahn made his word clear that no one enters the tower." Sheeva tells her.
"Those who disobey Shao Kahn will pay for their disobedience with their lives!" Baraka said as he was coming in, having followed her while he was distracted.
"We have different concepts of honor, Sheeva. And you, Baraka, are a good guard dog. But even as the leader of the Tarkatans, you must learn to heel." Jade smirks.
"I do not take orders from you, Jade!" Baraka yells.
"You will suffer for your treachery." Sheeva said. Jade begins to fight them two on one.
Baraka brings out his blades and swings at Jade, who uses her bo staff to block his deadly swings before swing her staff at his stomach and kicks his face four times before dodging attacks from Sheeva. Sheeva slams a fist to the ground and swings an arm, which Jade jumps over and slams the endpoint of her staff on Sheeva's back and shoulders before spinning and swinging her staff at Sheeva's head and back, sending her forward. Sheeva recovers, only for Jade to do two more dance kicks to the head, sending Sheeva down. Baraka comes in, only for Jade to wave her staff on the ground and sends a spark at his feet, nearly tripping him and allowing Jade to do a pal strike to his right shoulder, poke his knee with her staff and knee his chest, cracking it and sending Baraka back.
Sheeva grabs Jade, slams two fists on her shoulders, lifts her and punches her face three times before slamming a fist on her head and throwing her down to the ground. Jade gets back up, only for Sheeva to slam her fists to the ground, and does two backhand strikes to the body, punches her face and left rib cage and grabs Jade. Sheeva then punches her across the face and backhands her three times before sending her back with a strong punch to the chest, cracking it. Baraka then knees her back and kicks her in the head, cracking her skull. Sheeva grabs Jade's leg and throws her down, chest first, picks her up and kicks her in the chest, sending her back more. Jade was not going to give up that easily. Sheeva jumps to stomp on her, but Jade avoids it and does an overstrike to the head with her staff, teleports behind her and stabs her shoulder with a razor rang blade cracking it greatly and making it bleed. She teleports again and kicks Sheeva in the throat. The razor rang spins in the air, so Jade jumps up, grabs it and slams it on her left thigh. Jade then does a strong kick to the chest. Sheeva is sent backwards, defeated.
Baraka jumps in the air, roaring and ready to strike the killing blow on Jade. But she smirks and was prepared. She spins her staff at Baraka's chest and face several times, stunning him before Jade slams it at his groin area. Jade then teleports behind him and slams an endpoint of it at Baraka's back, cracking it and breaking a few of Baraka's ribs, defeating him as well.
"Good boy, Baraka." Jade smirks. She brings out the two viles that Alex gave her and spreads them over Baraka and Sheeva as they flow into their respective minds. They are barely awake as they start remembering everything. While they do so, Jade turns to Kitana.
"Jade? What are you doing here?" Kitana asked.
"Letting you know that everything is going to be alright." Jade smiles at her closest friend. "Listen. Liu Kang asked Alex to tell me to come here. And restore their memories."
"Liu Kang sent for Alex?" Kitana asked before she realized. "Jade. That was careless of me. I am sorry. My hatred for Mileena got the better of me." She looks down in shame.
"Do not worry. Have faith in your new lover, Liu Kang. But if he hurts you, he shall answer me." Jade said. They both start hearing footsteps."There is something you must do."
Jade whispers in Kitana's ear, telling her a secret. She steps back and nods to her.
"Go. Save yourself. Warn them. Let Liu Kang know that I'm alright." Kitana tells her.
"You have my word, Kitana." Jade gives Kitana a hug before she makes her escape before anyone notices. Baraka and Sheeva begin to wake up.
"This place. This is the tower. The tower of Outworld." Sheeva said.
"How is this possible? We were in the Netherrealm." Baraka points out.
"Sheeva. Baraka." Kitana calls for them, getting their attention.
"Kitana Kahn. Why are you in chains? How are we here?" Sheeva asked. Both of them are very confused.
"We do not have a lot of time. This is the New Era. Listen very carefully." Kitana tells them.
Close to the Tarkatan War Camp, Li Mei and Alex are sneaking by the outskirts without a single problem. The camps were filled but are now becoming empty. Half of the Tarkatans are leaving with the other half staying.
"Why are they leaving? Where are they going?" Alex asked.
"To the colosseum without a doubt. Shao Kahn is about to start the final day of the tournament. And to announce Kitana's execution." Li Mei said.
"Well then we better hurry. How do we get to the flesh pits?" Alex asked.
"We can cut through the camp and use it as a shortcut to the Living Forest." Li Mei points out.
Li Mei and the disguised Alex walk through the camp without any problems. Li Mei remains confident in the plan Liu Kang has forged, whatever it is. They walk through the camp with little to no suspicion. But Alex is slightly afraid. He was told about how the Tarkatans have noses like bloodhound dogs and eat any meat, humans included. As the two walk by, Li Mei remembered something.
"I remember these camps. They were burned to the ground by Kotal after he became Kahn. And that all the Tarkatans went extinct." Li Mei said.
"Yeah. But Kronika brought them all back and recruited all the bad guys. Thank god Kitana persuaded them and the Shokan led by Sheeva to our side. Outworld allied with Earthrealm." Alex said.
"You seem young for someone quite your age. I must ask. Why are you helping us? Why do you know Jade?" Li Mei asked.
"Jade is a friend. I trust her and Kitana. And for your other question, it's about doing the right thing. I know deep down in my heart that I know what to do. Do what you think is truly right. If you don't make the right decision or decide too late, then chances are you could never forgive yourself. What's best for you and whoever you care about deeply." Alex explains.
Li Mei carefully listened to him and nods in understanding. "I…. all I want in my life is what is best for my people. When that war started between Kotal and Mileena, I had to get them out of there, otherwise, they would be victims in the crossfire of the war. Earthrealmers were kind enough to grant us sanctuary."
"I was told. Don't be afraid to show who you really are." Alex advised her.
Li Mei and Alex reach the Living Forest. Alex even more freaked out by trees with faces.
"Oh god. This place is even creepier. But I've seen worse things than this." Alex said.
"The Flesh Pits are not far now. We should be there shortly." Li Mei said as they continue walking.
"Good. The sooner the better so I can get this fucking armor off. I hate this thing." Alex said in disgust.
They were making good progress. That was until Li Mei started hearing noises. They hear footsteps approaching. They look behind them and see six Tarkatan warriors as well as Reptile, Kollector and D'Vorah approaching the two.
"Li Mei. Shao Kahn has been looking for you. He is starting the final day of the tournament. And he has a special announcement to make." Kollector said.
"Special announcement?" Li Mei asked.
"You must return with us. We are going to celebrate with Kitana. She is going away… forever." The Tarkatans said, ready to feast on her remains.
"Where do you think you are going?" D'Vorah asked her.
Li Mei and Alex look at each other, trying to think about what to say. That was until Alex stepped up to explain. "Shao Kahn has ordered Li Mei and I to bring Kotal to the colosseum for his execution. He wants him to watch as his Osh-Tekk swear eternal loyalty to him and make Kotal watch as Shao Kahn plans to merge all of the realms once he gains victory over Earthrealm."
The three look at each other with slight suspicion. "Hmm. I do not recall Shao Kahn giving you those orders, guard. But if that is what he wishes, then very well." Kollector dismisses them.
"Wait. I smell something." The Tarkatan warrior said. He sticks out his long tongue, ready to taste whatever she's smelling. The smell was getting stronger as he got closer to Alex. "I smell….. HUMAN FLESH!"
The Tarkatan thrusts his blade into Alex's right shoulder, causing him to scream in pain as he backs up. The same one who just stabbed Alex is about to attack him, only for him to be grabbed by the arm and thrown by Alex….. Into the mouth of one of the trees with a mouth and the tree catches the Tarkatan. The tree proceeds to continually chomp on the Tarkatan five times before doing one more strong chomp on the Tarkatan, devouring him and leaving only his legs as they spew out blood.
The other Tarkatans then all glare at Alex for what he did. He could only stare with a horrified look on his face.
"Oh shit. I am so sorry." Alex sounds horrified and his eyes have widened, knowing how badly he just pissed them off.
The Tarkatans roar as they charge at Alex and Li Mei. Alex ducks a swing to the face and punches one's chest two times before doing a roundhouse kick to the head, knocking him out before punching the second one in the throat, knees his chest and punches him across the head knocking him out. Li Mei does backflip kicks on two of the Tarkatans before kneeing a third one in the chin, knocking him down before Li Mei stomps on his head. All the Tarkatan warriors are knocked out.
"You consult with Earthrealmers now? Shao Kahn will be most disappointed in you as he always is, Li Mei." Kollector said.
"I could care less for his thoughts. Now, I am fighting for what I think is truly right." Li Mei stands in defiance.
"Then you will fall by Shao Kahn's hand! I will be collecting those items for myself!" Kollector said.
"I got the guy with the six arms." Alex said. Li Mei nods to him as he separates to fight Kollector while Li Mei fights both Reptile and D'Vorah.
"Man. I never seen your kind before, but you look like a low life." Alex said.
"Before Shao Kahn raised me up, Outworlders despised the Naknada. Now they fear us. And soon you shall too." Kollector said before they fight.
Kollector draws his golden mace. Alex fights bare handed and without his powers. He has always been taught to fight with or without his powers since joining the Special Forces. Kollector throws an uppercut and swings his mace horizontally, which Alex bends backwards and ducks both attacks. Alex delivers a low kick to his right shin, a side kick to the right rib cage, an elbow strike to the face followed by a punch to the chest. He avoids some mace swings before rolling behind him and elbowing his lower spine, knees his back, front flips over him, grabs his neck and throws him down, back first.
Kollector pulls his mace towards him and swings it under Alex's feet. He jumps over the chain, but Kollector pulls it back, and the mace trips Alex. Kollector thrusts a blade down, which Alex dodges and kicks him back. Kollector brings out a sword and a sickle to swing at Alex. He grabs both of the Naknada's arms, but Kollector's two extra arms grab Alex's waist and kicks him away. Alex slides back and recovers. He was ready. Kollector throws a flaming chain at Alex, but he runs and slides under it and gives Kollector's right leg a strong kick, breaking it, and sends a haymaker up his chest, cracking it greatly, and punching him across the face and finishing him off with a reverse roundhouse kick to the head. Kollector is sent backwards, drops his weapons and falls down defeated.
"Not so tough now without your toys now, huh? Your name means shit in Outworld." Alex smirks and roasts him. Li Mei continues to fight D'Vorah and Reptile.
"First Kitana. Then Jade. And now you. A pity that cowards would betray the might of Shao Kahn. Pity is for the weak. Something that all earthrealmers carry. Perhaps Shao Kahn will allow me to give you your parting gift. A kiss of death." D'Vorah said.
"I don't fear you, bug. Neither do I fear reptiles." Li Mei stands her ground.
"Those who betray Shao Kahn do not get second chances at redemption. You, Kitana and Jade will be the first examples." Reptile said as they continue fighting.
Reptile swings his claws and palm strikes at Li Mei, only for her to dodge them all. D'Vorah swings her stingers at her, which Li Mei blocks with her sais as she traps them and stabs her pincers before stabbing D'Vorah's shoulders with the sais. Li Mei then leaps forward and does multiple punches to the face and multiple chop strikes to the chest and stomach. Finally, Li Mei does a jumping backflip kick to the chin, cracking D'Vorah's jaw, sending her back, easily defeating her.
Reptile comes in and yanks Li Mei over with his long tongue by her arms, making her drop her sais and punches both of her ribs and uppercuts her jaw with a palm strike, and allowing him to execute a a chop strike to the right shoulder, the head and in the chest, cracking it and sending Li Mei back. Li Mei kicks back up. Reptile climbs the trees and jumps off to claw her in the face. Li Mei rolls out of the way and does two palm strikes to the rib cages, breaking both of them, does a punch to the forehead followed by a chop strike to the head, cracking it, and finally kneeing his jaw and kicking his chest, cracking and nearly breaking both of them. Reptile is sent backwards and defeated as well.
"I deserve redemption. And you should be thankful that I am letting you live." Li Mei said.
After the fights, she is approaching Alex, who is caressing his injury from the Tarkatan that stabbed him.
"You're hurt. Are you alright?" Li Mei asked.
"I'll be fine. I've dealt with worse things than this. I've been stabbed before." Alex said. His hand glows yellow and spreads a little of heat from the fire over his stab wound to cauterize it. Liu Kang and Fujin made sure to give Alex more than enough elements just in case.
"How are you doing that?" Li Mei asked, amazed.
"I'm a demigod. You wouldn't believe me if I told you what kind of god." Alex said as he temporarily healed his wound. "Alright. Let's get going. The Flesh Pits should be around here somewhere."
"It's this way." Li Mei points to the direction they were originally facing and they continue onward. Li Mei and Alex continue their way to the Flesh Pits
Kollector and the others wake up and see Li Mei and Alex both gone.
"Shao Kahn will not be pleased by this. There goes another traitorous hag. Shao Kahn would like these for his own collection." Kollector picks up Li Mei's sais and the three leave.
Meanwhile, Alex and Li Mei reach the Flesh Pits. They reach downstairs and they can smell blood.
"I've seen worse things. This cannot be that bad." Alex said. But he is wrong. As they reach the Flesh Pits, he immediately becomes grossed out by seeing so many bodies, guts and blood spilled and blood-stained tools on the ceiling. "I spoke too soon. Good thing I have a strong stomach."
Li Mei sees Kotal behind the barrier and still shackled to the wall and runs to him. "Kotal!"
"W-who are you? Why are you here?" Kotal asked.
"My name is Li Mei. I'm here to rescue you." Li Mei said. "We need to figure out how to get rid of these barriers."
Alex sees two objects projecting the barrier to keep Kotal from escaping. "I got it."
He fires energy beams from his hands and destroys the projectors and proceeds to do the same for the shackles. Kotal falls to his knees, still weak from how long he may have been locked up. Alex seizes the opportunity and opens up another memory vile and spreads it all over Kotal and it flies inside his mind.
"Liu Kang. We need a portal." Alex calls for him as he puts the vile away.
As Alex does so, he is immediately grabbed and flung backwards. He lands on his chest and he looks up and sees it is Goro. Prince Goro smirks, having caught them red handed. A portal opens up behind Kotal and Li Mei.
"Shao Kahn knew someone would come for Kotal, so he instructed me to make sure no one tries to free the Osh-Tekk traitor from his prison. I always knew you would be weak, Li Mei." Goro said as he comes closer.
Alex had to think fast. He knows that they need Kotal alive and well. And he certainly wouldn't want Li Mei to die, trying to seek redemption. He looks at his disguise he's still wearing and immediately discards it. He starts running towards Prince Goro, sees a table, runs on it and jumps off of it and jumps off of Goro's head and lands in front of him.
"Go! I'll take care of him!" Alex yells for them.
"We can't leave without you!" Li Mei argues as she is carrying Kotal with an arm around her. Alex sighs and thrusts his hand forward and wind fires out of his hand and Li Mei and Kotal are pushed into the portal as it closes. Alex is left to face Goro.
"Ha. An Earthrealmer such as you is going to stop me? You're no monk. You're no Kung Lao. I fear no one, even in defeat!" Goro exclaimed.
"Kung Lao is always a better fighter than you were. Anyone would be a better fighter than you were. And I'm willing to lay down my life for them. I'm not afraid of you." Alex tells him.
"You should be. You're a child. Children fear me. Gods should and will respect me. I will be his most special warrior." Goro said before they begin to fight.
Alex activates his powers and glows yellow. He was ready to face the Shokan prince and wasn't afraid of him. Alex runs towards him and ducks a punch and punches his right rib cage, his stomach and jumps and does two kicks to the chest. Goro slides backwards and is surprised by Alex's speed and skill. He chuckles as he loves a challenge. Goro leaps forward and slams his fists onto Alex, but he narrowly dodges it, thrown off by how fast Goro is. Goro grabs Alex with his lower arms and punches him across the face four times before throwing him to the ground, back first. Alex rolls out of the way from a stomp and shoots an energy beam at Goro, hitting his right rib cage, cracking it. Goro hits a wall and growls.
Goro runs forward and throws punches at Alex. He parries two of them, but he gets hit in the face, across the head, another punch across the face followed by a backhand strike across the chest, sending Alex back. Alex gets back up and begins to defend himself. He avoids several of his punches, grabs a fist, then does a backflip kick to the chin followed by an uppercut to the chin, an elbow strike to the right shin, and another backflip kick to the chest. Goro growls more as he shoots fire at Alex from his hands. His eyes widened as he holds up his hands as he absorbs the fire. Goro is surprised by how an Earthrealmer could be touched by his fire power and not be burned to death. Goro dashes forward and tries to do an uppercut on Alex, but he uses the wind and pulls Goro in, stumbling him forward as Alex does three spin kicks to his back, cracking his spine.
Goro was not gonna give up that easily. He suddenly backhands Alex across the face, sending him back. He gets back up, only to be scooped off his feet and is met with a strong punch to Alex's chest, cracking it greatly as he spits up blood. Alex hits the ground once more. He manages to find the strength to get back up. Goro was about to jump and stomp on him, only for Alex to jump backwards. Goro grabs Alex with his lower arms, slams his upper fists on his head, cracking Alex's skull and starts to crush him. Alex grabs his hands and starts burning his hands with the additional fire he absorbed. Goro screams in pain as he is forced to let go. Alex shoots fire at his chest and burns it a little. Goro slams his fists to the ground and slams two of them onto his shoulders, cracking them. Alex grits his teeth in sudden anger and shoots fire at his face, jumps and kicks his knee, breaking it entirely. He then charges an energy punch and hits his chest, cracking it and breaking a few of his ribs and jumps and does a fiery punch to the face, cracking Goro's skull and sending him back. He is dazed as Alex then shoots an energy beam at Goro, sending him into a wall, finally defeating him.
"Or maybe Shao Kahn's most disappointing warrior." Alex roasts him. He pants, but then his head started hurting a little. All of a sudden his eyes turned black with green pupils for a brief moment before they went back to normal.
"Whoa. What the hell was that?" Alex said. He shrugs it off as he could only think about getting out of the Flesh Pits. "L-Liu Kang. I could really use a portal right now."
Just as he said that, a portal covered in sand opens right behind him. Alex's face is covered in some bruises as he feels plenty of pain from Goro. His arms and chest hurt and is a bit dazed. He gestures to his shoulder that was wounded earlier from the Tarkatan. Alex makes his way through the portal as it closes as Goro remains passed out.
Note: This is personally one of my favorite chapters, because of how funny it was regarding the Tarkatans and Alex's reunion with Jade and meeting Li Mei and the fights. I hope you guys liked it as well! We're almost near the end of the story.