The Dragon King

Along the tenth platform of the NetherRealm, Shelia's group stood around the pillars Chan was once chained to. Shelia fell on her knees, rubbing her hand across the blood along the ground. The other three warriors observed the chains, cuffs, and even the pillars themselves, searching for any clues they could find.

"He might have departed from here," Hydro said as he dropped the chain.

"I can only pray," Shelia agreed, struggling to keep her composure. She used her finger to trace any direction for where the blood trails off. Though faint, her finger leads her east, continuing toward the lower levels of the realm. "He went that way."

"To the lower levels?" Hydro questioned. "No one would go that direction. Not even by accident."

"Unless they were being forced to run that way," Shelia said. "We haven't come across any other bodies since we left the bridge. That could only mean he's still being followed."

"Why are you so sure he's still being chased right now?" one of the other members asked.

"The brotherhood can be...challenging to deal with. I've had my run-ins with their kind after the incident at the Russian Colosseum. They take desertion far more seriously than the Lin Kuei. They can track their enemies with little effort."

"Was Chan really that dangerous to them?" another asked.

"I wondered the same thing," she said. "Yeah, he helped in their downfall, but to go through the trouble of hunting him down all the way to the tenth plane is unnatural."

"And what if he's been killed?" Shelia smirked as she reminisced on her past with the Shaolin.

"Chan wouldn't fall to them," she said. "Not based on what Kitana told me. Which means someone more dangers is after him. And if he's in the lower planes, so are they."


"Did you say...the Dragon King?"

"Yes Chan," Ashrah said dryly. "Onaga was once the ruler of Outworld. That is, before Anomaly and I took him down and bound his soul to the NetherRealm."

"You caused this!" Chan shouted. Ashrah frowned.

"You blame me for your death?" Ashrah questioned.

"The Dragon King was the one who brought Anomaly on this path. The same path Kitana tried to follow."

"And what do you intend to do about that, boy?" Onaga wondered.

"I've fought Shao Kahn before. You'll be no different."

"I won't allow it," Ashrah says as she folds her arms."

"I don't need your permission," Chan growled. He felt his powers return to him. Ashrah smiles and keeps her blade sheathed. Chan falls back into a portal and appears standing back to back with the woman. He uses a swift roundhouse kick to her arm as she guards her chest. She raises her knee and slams it against the boy's leg. She seemed surprised to notice that she did nothing but cause the boy to stumble forward. She checked her boots to see if light magic was interfering with its power. Chan uses this distraction to swing the back of his fist against the woman jaw. Onaga laughs as he watched the woman hit the ground.

"You would find this humorous?" Ashrah questioned as she spit the blood from her lip.

Chan runs to the woman and swings his boot toward her skull. However, a shield of light guards the woman from his attack. Chan was confused by the spell, opting to infuse his legs with his flare. He tries to kick the woman again, but he's knocked back by a shoulder charge from the Dragon King himself. Chan quick pushes himself from the ground before creating another portal directly below. He reappears atop of Onaga's back, powering his hands with his dark flares. The Dragon King remained still, awaiting the boy's next more.

"Stop!" Ashrah plead. Chan hesitates. "Have you never faced a Lord before? If you use your magic on him, you will die!"

"I'm already dead," Chan said.

"You're not!" she exclaimed. "You are still alive, Chan! The light still resides in you."

"Get off my back, boy!" Onaga grabs Chan by his arms and slams the shaolin on the ground. Chan yells in pain before his wounds slowly regenerated. "I did not call you here to fight us. I called you here to help us."

"You're the voice?" Chan grunted.

"Oh, you mean this voice," Onaga asked with a different tone. "Yes, you fool."

"You were Kitana's voice. The voice she thought to be the one being. The same voice Master Shujinko spoke of once." Chan raised himself from the ground. "You're after the Kamidogu as well."

"Of course," Onaga said. "My conquest began decades before I was cast down here. I required the help of many warriors throughout the years in aiding me in my conquest. First was Shao Kahn, then Shujinko. When his quest was interrupted, I reached a stalemate. I realized the Edenian girl who came here was doing the same thing. I was able to track her movements, even in death. She held a different kind of Kamidogu. One I'd never known."

"The Kamidogu blade," Chan said.

"Kamidogu blade? Huh." Onaga pondered on his words.

"Wait," Chan said, "you were able see Anomaly on the other side?"

"The other side of what?" he questioned. Chan explained to him the things Anomaly told him. Onaga acknowledged the shaolin's story, piecing it together with his own.

"How fascinating!" Ashrah exclaimed with an awkward smile. "That explains it all."

"It explains what?" Chan asked.

"Why I've survived," she said. "When I awoke here, I had memories of things I've never done. People I've never met. This weapon," she explained as she presented her blade, "it was already in my possession. And yet, I've only had it in what I thought to be a dream. Is it possible I returned from that place?"

"It is very possible," Chan said. "Queen Sindel, Shao Kahn, even brother Lui Kang. All of them returned from the dead."

"Queen Sindel?" Ashrah exclaimed. "I was there when she died. Her soul bound to princess Kitana that day. Yet, princess Kitana...huh."

"But that doesn't explain why you called me. Or why you want the Kamidogu in your possession. How were you able to see what's occurring outside of the NetherRealm."

"Enough!" Onaga yelled as he towered above the boy. "We've come to you for one reason and one reason alone. You are going to lead us out of this realm."

"How do you figure I can do that?" Chan asked, seemingly agitated. "I would've escaped long ago if I could."

"I've found a way," Ashrah said. "With this very blade, I can slay dark beings, such as your acquaintances, and purify my own heart. However, that would not be enough to save Onaga. I own him for what I did. That's why I need your help. Have you noticed anything strange about your presence here?"

"You mean how I can't be devoured?" he joked.

"The light," Ashrah said. "Your soul is impure, but your heart still remains as it did before your death."

"All of the most vile, dispicable beings of this realm will hunt you down. So long as your heart has light, darkness will always be drawn to it."

"And with your light and my Kris, we'll purify all of our souls be cast out of the NetherRealm."


End of Chapter 32

(Upcoming-Escape)