A/N: It was stated in a previous chapter that Hanzo remembered encountering Shujinko in the Netherrealm and training him, thus Shujinko taking his form while also taking in his wrath. I guess I forgot to mention it in the last chapter, but...
Kung Lao never saw Shujinko train with Hanzo, nor did he have his revenge on Quan Chi. In Konquest he does, which doesn't make sense since he wasn't supposed to know until the events in MK4 when he idiotically stated he killed his clan in front of him and a stunned Kuai before Scorpion tackled Quan and sent them both to Hell...
I almost forgot about the second time Shujinko went into the Netherrealm to restore his taint, his ability to travel to other realms.
In a way...it could just be a temporal flux, like the Nexus from Star Trek Generations. On one hand it's non-canon, yet I forgot to highlight Scorpion meeting Shujinko, so I guess Lao skipped over that spar, but I won't kount his vengeance; so I think Midway just fucked up here.
Con't V - The Ways of Chaos
Li Mei led Kung Lao and Hanzo thru the Kuatan Jungle, a more desolate route she suggested to get to the ancient portal undetected by Onaga and his undead cronies; as a skilled warrior trained by the late Bo' Rai Cho and native of Outworld, she became quite the navigator in all the wildernesses of uncivilized realm. She summarized to stay on firmer ground and away from the marshes and swamps as they could be infested by various deadly creatures such as the pseudo-alligators and huge kobras lurking about. She even stated this was once a home to a forgotten, extinct species, and civilization had been abandoned by Kahn and his vicious Saurian minions.
Minutes later, Li Mei stopped the explorers as she beheld the circular gateway with the metallic frame; Kung Lao konfirmed it was the same one he saw back in Earthrealm and the Nexus. Amongst the dense overgrowth and foliage, it was nearly blending in with the humid environment.
A nearby bush ruffled and the trio hesitated and braced for the worst, thinking it'd be a wild denizen belonging to the swampy terrain. However...
Luck wasn't on their side as archers emerged from the bog and brushes with their black bows drawn! They surrounded the startled, bewildered group, even as they witnessed a slender male walk up to them! He was covered in thick leaves and vines, obscuring his molded outfit, although his shades were unaffected as he took them off.
"Onaga seemed a lot more klever than you thought!" he growled.
"Johnny...! What're you-!" Lao kould hardly speak. He was stunned as he noticed one of his friends being enthralled by Onaga, even after death!
"My scenic plan worked well," he remarked. "Just the perfect trap I needed to make you three one of us...!" He sneered as if he was a predator that spotted fresh meat, his irises flaming.
"Kung Lao! Johnny only wants to kill us so we can be mindless slaves like him! All wraiths are bound to their up bringer!" Hanzo warned, recapping his experience as one.
"...I don't want to fight you, Johnny."
"Oh, I wouldn't want to fight me neither...!"
Hanzo stated words won't work on Onaga's servant, similar to Quan Chi's; in other words, it must be resolved in kombat! He should know. Even though Lao recalled Hanzo attaining his lost humanity despite the dormant wraith in him. Johnny was indeed desperate on finding the last Kamidogu, as it was konvenient to find Hanzo instead!
He lunged in with a Flashy Kick, but Lao outmaneuvered him with a spin jump which led into a chain of several Shaolin Drops, before Cage avoided his aerial slam. Cage ducked Lao's Hat Throw then the warrior Teleported behind his opponent, making them size each other up before unleashing some exchanging punches and kicks. Cage unleashed his Nut Breaker which stunned Lao for a few seconds but was flexible enough to counter his next strike. He kast out a green orb, before Lao Teleported and attacked Cage from behind with a flurry of punches! Lao became swifter as he gained momentum, even when he threw his hat into Cage's skull before flipping over it while his hat stayed in place, until he Teleported to stab the spinning wheel into his spine!
Cage wasn't down and out yet, as he became more ferocious. Lao avoided his Triple Orb, only to be too close to Cage's counters! He even smacked Lao's head against one of the fractured statues, stunning him. Little did he knew, a heart-shaped glow emanated from Lao's side, recovering his injuries. He was backed toward one of the taller statuettes, till he Teleported on top, hung and swung from a vine! He repeated the same strategy on the other vine and continued to pummel Cage with a few Shaolin Drops before he blocked. He made a Tornado and slam punched him to the ground. Then he Teleported quickly and klosed in for the kill with a Whirlwind Kick in rapid legs while he spun in a vortex!
Lao managed to knock the wind out of Cage's body, which was now immobilized. "You'd best to surrender, if you know what's good for you."
A few darts flew! Kung Lao with his keen senses deflected them with another Tornado! He abruptly stopped as he and his allies were stuck in the center of another violent vortex! One with thicker, more volatile, force tossing all the archers around before scattering and splattering over the jungle floor!
After a minute, the way was clear, and in dropped Fujin from the thick canopies aloft! "Well, this is a nice, shady place!"
"Agh-Lord Fujin!" Lao bowed low in deep respect; he was astonished to see him in the midst of Outworld.
"Can the formalities, Kung Lao," the Wind God held him up with a single digit. "You need to head for that portal."
"Right, let's go." Hanzo said.
"What about Li Mei and... him?" the Oriental motioned to the fallen Johnny.
"I'll take them straight to Earthrealm. I know the Order forbids foreigners, but we have desperate times here. I'm not sure how to deal with a revenant, so he must be kontained. Go, hurry!"
Hanzo and Lao nodded to each other, indicating they were ready, before they ran into the gateway. The portal activated in a violet hue before they dissipated!
Fujin konfirmed aloud that Johnny must've been searching for the last Kamidogu, and Hanzo, Fujin and Lao knew exactly what it was, since it was foreign news to Li Mei. Fujin silenced her, as there may be spies lurking about, just like Johnny, as Sonya and Jax, some Special Forces agents, were still about. Fujin heard a low snarl coming from the reanimated corpse. Cage was about to rip his own head off! Until Fujin nipped him in the bud by giving him an aggressive backhand, making him still again! "Damn you, bastard! He was about to pull off a Hara-Kiri!"
Li looked at him dumbfounded, then rubbed her chin in thought, "I believe it has to do with a-"
"Suicide!"
He then put a steady hand on Li's quivering shoulder and replied with a grin, "Hold on tight!" He swayed his arms until a bright blue rip appeared amongst a gust. He gestured her to head in first and a sudden rumble of thunder followed with radical flashes of red lightning and a few zigzagging bolts. The Wind God hesitated as he looked up, "Brother...?"
He soon shook off the disbelief, despite having his feet buzz.
The distant vegetation was bent as a Tarkatan wearing a spotless white tee bore his fangs...
Lao and Hanzo escaped into the Nexus... Though they needed to regain their footing as they stumbled.
After catching their breath, Hanzo pointed to the goldenrod portal, "That must be the Chaosrealm. I remembered wandering there, in search of one of my fallen comrades. I needed Shujinko's assistance to find his body. It had been decayed, but luckily, he retrieved his intact mask for me as evidence."
Lao's mind seemed to be elsewhere, "I'm surprised Onaga sent a Revenant, Johnny, alone."
For a brief moment, Hanzo's mind flashed back fighting him in the first tournament, then he sighed, "Orders were orders and they are always bound to them. I was only consumed by revenge, but I was always enslaved by Quan Chi. It fed my ardency as I was hunting for the Lin Kuei fugitive, Kuai Liang. We tend to be puppets enamored by our master's words. And if I'm correct...I believe Onaga follows Order as he too oppresses free will; it is certainly anarchy to the erratic Chaosrealmers."
"So... how are they? Do they seem violent? Psychotic?" He pictured them as escaped inmates from the world's worst mental asylum.
"That depends. They are unpredictable. We must always be on our six."
They proceeded to the yellow portal, as Lao remembered in his dream. Although he was tempted to take the Earthrealm Kamidogu, thinking Onaga might use them united as a power source. Hanzo held his hand back, as he hypothesized the dragon may be watching them from afar.
They emerged from another gateway and into a disorienting world... The sky was an eerie mix of a lifeless lime and grey. There were disheveled, tall rows of what appeared to be like barbed wire, while some elaborate structures with diamond-patterned windows stood.
To the former monk, the atmosphere felt like a surrealistic nightmare, out of context, alienlike, and sometimes made his head feel light... He kould've sworn he saw the same sphere of energy in that fuzzy voice speak...
"You must continue your search in this realm...the realm of Chaos."
"Chaos!?" Shujinko appeared alarmed.
Damashi remained unfazed, "The nature of this realm is one of constant turmoil. The beings here have opposed order and structure, Chaos is their religion."
"Kung Lao... Kung Lao."
He heard his name, but it wasn't until Hanzo shook him that got him out of his funk. "Oh, Hanzo..." He held his head as if it was drifting away. "I feel so out of sorts here. This realm is making me feel a bit queasy and out of it. Still...we must find Havik...!"
He trodden behind the Shirai Ryu hitman while he kontinued to hold his head with one hand. He couldn't bear to look at the pale greyish mint, as the sky seemed to irritate his headache more. He could've sworn he saw bolts of energy fizz thru it, or maybe he was just seeing stars as an aftereffect from being hit. He barely noticed the pitch-black tombstones, even those with demon horns, or the koffins that were klosely shaped like rockets. Or the savage denizens running around as if they were scorching or had their heads chopped off!
"I... must be losing my mind...!" It wasn't just his vision that was foggy, nor the distant landscape with the tall, slanted buildings, but as if his brain was blurring and had a lesser grip on reality.
Hanzo had to escort him thru the toxic landscape, and it was quite fortunate only he was immune and as steady as those other leaning Pisa-like structures. While his vision cleared for a short while, Kung Lao was fascinated by the black-yellow designs from the automatic doors to the illuminating steps, to the colossal center pillars holding up the gleaming ceilings of the same texture.
"Hanzo...this...almost looks futuristic."
"Perhaps this realm had been developed more rapidly than Earth or the Netherrealm. It almost feels time is moving faster, as if you can't perceive time here; the people are just as frantic as the flow of nature itself, even many kases of extreme restlessness."
On the subject of sudden and tantivy, Lao hardly noticed Hanzo carrying him over his shoulders as they stepped into the bright, circular platform which warped them off their feet as they beheld themselves on a different landscape from the endless void below!
Still, it didn't take long for the ninja to find a bulky armored man which could've resembled a Crusader in ancient Earthrealm! He found the sinister guard standing before walls of barbed wire holding up vented rooves adjacent to side doors attached to a pair of gigantic orange slabs with ends pointing inwards.
Lao's mind zoned out again...
"You have two choices, stranger." The strong man retorted. "State your intentions or hear the shattering of your spine."
"I wander in search of holy relics, madman. Do not block my path!" Hanzo, or was it Shujinko defied him...
He held his chin. "Ah...a wanderer, eh?" His expressions seem loose and his became flimsy. "I am Havik, a cleric of Chaos! I would never think of confining a spirit such as yours."
"Thank you, Havik. I am Shujinko. I am a newcomer to the realm of Chaos."
"There are many newcomers as of late... Seidan Guardsmen, for instance. They seek to restrict the flow of our water...something we hold sacred. Water was not to be controlled. Its shapeless, fluidic nature is a blessing.
"I make you an offer, Shujinko. Take these four Chaos pendants. Defeat each of the four Seidan invaders and place a pendant around their necks. The pendants will shatter the bondage of Order and reveal to them the perfection of Chaos. Only then they will cease the enslavement of our water. Do this for me, and I will teach you the ways of Chaos as well."
"Who are these 'Seidan Guardsmen'?"
"They are soldiers of an oppressive realm that have come to impose their Order. They seek to control and alter our water supply for their own ends. Their presence here is offensive. Only if it suits you at the time. I will not have it any other way. May Chaos break the rules that bind us, my friend."
Lao kould've sworn his soul was leaving his body, as he not only felt he was having an out-of-body experience, but he kept having visions on Shujinko taking out each of the Seidan Guardsmen which looked very similar to Vikings, standing at the four corners of a newfangled facility with numerous pumps descending deep into the turf as they glowed with neon sky-blue energy! Before his mind receded back to Shujinko with Havik again at that same place.
"You have converted the Seidan Guardsmen into the ways of Chaos. They shut down their facilities and came here for guidance. I proposed to them a mission in their home of Seidan, the realm of Order. They have already embarked on the quest. I thank you for your assistance," he presented with a bow with enclosed hands.
"You said you would show me the ways of Chaos if I can free their minds." Shujinko stated.
The Crusader was disgusted, his voice booming with ridicule, "As if I would honor a deal! You should know better than to bind a man of Chaos to his word. I will free myself of this oppression! Fight!"
Lao's mind was so delirious, he saw double-vision; two Haviks, one in his red garb with the other opposing him in orange yellow. At times, it made out to be Hanzo, though he only registered a sort of mirror match as he copied his disorienting skills! The most astonishing were his Torso Spin in which he rotated the upper part of his body while flailing his arms without the use of his legs; the Cracking Legs Projectile in which he descended into an indistinguishable angle while firing a streak of energy from his hands, without any kare of breaking a limb; his sudden leap like a monkey's; a grab at the enemy's head to be hit by a stomp after turning his leg in 360 degrees; and a Head Snap when he literally broke his neck and back into place which to Hanzo was a way of restoring energy in a bizarre fashion! His fighting pose was awkward, as his legs looked bent like a crab's or spider's, while the upper half moved like a snake charmed by a flute; it seemed like he WAS using his Snake fighting style!
Hanzo took him on with little to no problem, as he was a seasoned resident of the Chaosrealm; no doubt since he was damned, adapted, and bound to the unrelenting Netherrealm. His wrathful counters were just as ruthless of Havik's despite applying to the laws of physics.
Liu Kang's second had some hallucinations of Ermac fending off Havik, even though the former was moving and attacking the same fashion as Hanzo!
The cursed ninja was able to defeat the cleric.
"Well done...!" He kongratulated.
"Well done!?" Shujinko was indeed taken aback by the sudden konflict. "You tried to kill me!"
"Nonsense. How could I teach you the ways of Chaos, if there was an agreement, a structure to the lesson."
The traveler spread his arms. "Ooh... I think I understand. I was learning from the unpredictable nature of experience, not from a structured tutorial. I did not realize you had no intentions on harming me when you attacked, and therefore I learned to adapt to what I perceived to be a real threat."
"You are correct, except...I would have killed you if you had given me the chance. I was quite serious. Because you have survived my assault, however, I give you this key to an ancient labyrinth. May it unleash Chaos upon your journey."
The vision shifted back to Hanzo after Havik handed a small, golden key to Shujinko.
"You fleas have always been this insane. As if treating a fight as a friendly conversation or a turn-on."
"Indeed, we do! It feels like decades since the last time I saw you, Scorpion!"
"Hanzo, please..." he said humbly.
"Fair enough. You still a chained wraith of the Netherrealm!?"
"No. I had already broken my shackles as I restored my humanity, after my bondsman, Quan Chi, was slain by my own hands!"
"Intriguing... You seemed a lot stronger, and livelier than I recognized."
"Kung Lao and I are here to find you. The Dragon King of Outworld, Onaga, has risen once more."
He literally spat to the turf in disgust! "Onaga! The accursed serpent binding his followers into submission, controlling his massive undead legion; no longer having a strong will nor life to break away from his enslavement! The Chaos that would ensue from the resistance would be a blessing to this realm. Onaga must never gain the upper hand in this struggle.
"It will take more menace than just me alone. I suspect Hotaru would be on the denial of freedom, recruiting his revolting henchmen to perform his and Onaga's bidding. If I can just find my komrades, Darrius and Dairou, it would make an easier feat. Never let Hotaru and the Seidan override the ways of Chaos!"
"Of kourse," Hanzo replied with a bow.
Kung Lao was still sitting, hunched over with his hat low enough to kover his eyes.
"Hmm, your Earthrealmer friend here could use some assistance, may I konvert him?"
"-At least escort us to the nearest portal."
"Just head back from whence you kame. I need to gather my men for the upcoming battle! It has been too long I was in an exhilarating war!" He roared as he raised his arms, as if stretching from a well-rested sleep.
Hanzo didn't leave any greeting; instead, he karried Kung Lao back to the portal, although the hat thrower barely had enough endurance to gaze onto the large pool of caramel-colored liquid...
"Shujinko, you have found the Chaos Kamidogu!" Damashi spoke to his messenger who appeared to be more muscular, unlike his linear self. His outfit also expanded in size, even churned from an earthly blue to a goldenrod suitable of the Chaosrealm.
"Yes! I found it in a labyrinth not far from here. But I feel strange. I feel like I have changed."
"Indeed, you have. Many years have passed since you first entered this realm. I suspect the labyrinth you encountered contained some time stirring agent. Time has passed, but you have not perceived it."
"Many years?" He began to glance at himself, "By the Gods... I do feel...older... It must have been that strange liquid I stepped through."
"That is a distinct possibility. It matters not. You should return to the Nexus and place it on the altar. You have done well, Shujinko. The Elder Gods will be pleased."
Lao's hallucination faded once his body slightly lurched while Hanzo carried him up the steep stairwell and back into the Nexus portal.
A/N: I was going to include another scene, but I kinda figured it'd be too long... And too much work!
The Chaosrealm was pretty interesting, even Havik, which is strange becuz while I prefer organization over disarray, I seem to like the kleric better as he's a bizarre, though awesome moveset, is never bound to rules, and appreciates freedom, even though to the Seidan it's anarchy. Strong will doesn't seem to be the Orderrealm's way of life, thus Havik's disgust over Onaga's enslavement. Besides...I know a lot when it comes to having a former guardian, and several others I hate that control, manipulate and begrudge what I like and what I do! As they think it's either too overstimulating or they just want to force me into conformity!
It was tough writing this! I needed to take a breather; 616's playthru was alright, even though AnonymousAffection's walkthrough was more in-depth.
Capture! from Strider, the Genesis, version'd play as Lao faces off Johnny; Hara-Kiri from Deception'd chime when Johnny attempts to kill himself if it weren't for Fujin, Konquest Mode: Chaosrealm would follow when Lao and Hanzo venture into it, Chaos Clergy - Havik's Training would play afterwards when Hanzo/Shujinko spar with Havik, and the Konquest Komplete jingle shall finish it off.
I'm not a fan of MKX, but I figured the Kuatan Jungle was a nice touch for the second revenant fight; interesting environment and interactions too.
I'm trying my damndest to konnect as many elements of my brainstorming as I kan; I don't want to make the story overwhelming for me and those following it. So, more shall be further delved into later.