Mirror World

Ashrah and Tesla circled around one another. Ashrah with her blade in hand. Tesla with a bright light seeping between the cracks of her fist. Chan and the others watch from a distance, not wanting to interfere with the family drama. Chan knew what Tesla was capable of. He placed his hand over his chest as the phantom pain returned.

"I knew you couldn't resist it," Tesla said.

"Speak for yourself," Ashrah retorted. "Shinnok sent you to take me out?"

"You're a danger to us all," she stated. "You killed many of your kind. And for what? A dream?"

"I was never meant to stay here, and neither were you. How could you still serve them after what they did to us?"

"Don't spin this on me, sister," she says. "You knew the consequinces of betraying the brotherhood. Now it's time to pay your due."

"I've had enough of your madness," Ashrah says as she raised her Kris. "If you must die, so be it."

Ashrah thrusts her blade toward Tesla. The Sorceress raised her leg up, pointing directly at the blade as it soared over the women. Ashrah ignored the pain from her now broken fingers as her power over light slowly healed them. Using her other hand, she conjures a ball of light, forcing it into her sister's abdomen. The pressure emitting from the close-ranged projectile forced Tesla back a distance. Tesla catches herself, keeping on her feet the whole way. As the air returned to her belly, she lifted her hands, conjuring two rings of fire. They all recognized the ability as the same one used by Anomaly many times.

"Two truths, one lie," she says. "One will kill someone, the other will do nothing." Tesla fires the rings in two directions. One toward Chan, the other toward Shelia. Ashrah doesn't hesitate to dash toward Chan as the light from her boots boost her in front of the Shaolin to take the brunt of the blast. The attack does nothing to her, as she expected. What they didn't expect was Tesla's other ring of fire having no effect on Shelia either. The young warrior stood paralyzed as the projectile vanished. Her allies called to her, but she heard nothing.

"What game is this?" Ashrah questioned.

"To prove your lie," she groaned.

"What lie?" she asked further.

"That you would die for the ones you love. Yet, you chose to sacrifice yourself for a boy you never knew while I remained on the run thousands of years."

"I sacrificed my life to serve Quan Chi as you did, Tesla."

"Another you would continue to risk your life for as well." Tesla raises her palm up. Red Symbols started appearing below Ashrah and her allies. Ashrah pushes Chan away and braces herself for Tesla's attack. Balls of fire arose from the ground, some burning the woman as her light did it's best to fight back and protect her body. Chan swirls his arms, but he looks over his shoulder as Onaga grasps his arm to stop him.

"Shouldn't we help," Chan asked. Onaga grinned.

"Let them have their fun," he said. "You save your energy for what comes next."

"Why are you so focused on Belokk?" Chan asked. Onaga raised a brow. "Belokk's the biggest target you'd need for Ashrah's spell, but he's not the only one. I saw the reaction she had when she'd slain Bi Han."

"Tesla would be more than enough to activate the spell," Onaga said. "That is why she wished to slay Belokk instead."

"And that's why you laughed, isn't it?"

"People are fools," he said. "To delay your own destiny for the sake of progressing another? Ridiculous."

"That's her sister," Shelia exclaimed. "How could you say that?"

"Her sister is trying to take her life!" Onaga shouts. The two remained silent. "In this world of ours, you can never trust another. Everyone desires something more than the life of another."

"That's a lie!" Chan snaps back.

"Then why did you throw Earthrealm's victory for the sake of your brother?" Onaga said. Chan stuttered as he struggled to find the right response.

"We didn't throw Earthrealm's victory," Shelia said. "We prolonged that deal when we allowed some of Quan Chi's allies to live that day."

"A day that seems to have finally arrived," Onaga said. Chan's heart sunk as he heard his words. Onaga grins. "Did none of this cross your mind this whole time?" he wondered. Chan stayed silent.

"But…" Shelia choked.

"Billions of poor souls, suffering because of your selfishness. And now, you seek to sacrifice many more to stop the inevitable event."

"We can bring them back," Chan muttered. Onaga leaned closer.

"What was that?" he asked.

"We can bring everyone back," he repeated. "The pyramid will grant the power I need to do it right? We could just take it and use the power to bring everyone back from the Dark Realms."

"You fool," Onaga scoffs. "You think I would help you obtain the same power I and everyone in the realms is after?"

"You can't get that power without our help, but you know Anomaly's truth means that only I am capable of stopping her."

"Do not be fooled by my restraint, shaolin," Onaga warned.

"She tricked you into death. Just as Shao Kahn had done on the other side. You can't stop her on your own." Chan sighs. "I want you align with me and help me take her down."

"With everything you know about who I am and the rule I've had, why do you trust me to help you?"

"I've had my share of time around Outworld and its people. The idea of good and evil is a distant memory for me. I know you wish to use the Kamidogu to merge the realms and release the One Being. Anomaly does as well. I'm hoping for it, because I believe we'll be three of the remaining six warriors in the end." Onaga snickers before erupting into a maniacal fit of laughter. Shelia and the others felt a bit frightened by the strength of his voice.

"You are a fool to believe such a thing," he says. He rubs his chin as he reflects on the conversation. "However, it would be amusing if I turned out to be the fool for believing you." Onaga pulls out the Kamidogu relics within his possession and hands them over to Chan. The boy was stunned by the Dragon Kings odd gesture. "Have you ever used a Kamidogu before?" he asked.

"Only a conterfeit," he said. "I've seen the affects of using one—what its done to the mind of others. I don't want to fall into that same prison."

Ashrah continued on as she thrusts her Kris toward her sister. Tesla's ease of motion made it difficult for the woman, however. Quick use of her darkened flames allowed her to stall Ashrah long enough to move in behind the woman. She latched her arms around Ashrah's neck, attempting to crush it completely. She increases her strength by using the dark magic residing within her. Ashrah repeatedly slaps against the girl's arms. She could feel her strength failing her, and the realm was becoming a blur. As she slowed down, a gust of air slammed into the roof of the girl's mouth. She stumbles forward and falls to her knees she knees as her faint voice clasped for air. She frantically rubbed around her reddened neck as if in disbelief of what had occurred. She lifts her left knee, but it is immediately kicked inward by Tesla. The angle of the kick also caused Ashrah to shatter her toes. The woman cried in pain as she fell over, her voice still faint. Telsa slams her boot into Ashrah's abdomen. The air that had just entered her body was immediately taken out. Tesla stepped atop of the girl's broken leg and grabbed her left wrist. With a swift twist, she dislocated the joint of the hand.

"You should've stayed, Ashrah! Why?" She twists the hand back in place before dislocating it once more. Ashrah yelled as her right hand was undecided on which part of the body she should comfort. "Why won't you give up!" Telsa grabs the other hand. For a split second, the girl hesitated, but it was too late. Ashrah grabbed her hand, and a white aura traveled into Telsa's hand. The dark energy within her had dispersed. Ashrah squeezed her sister's hand, causing her a great deal of pain before letting go. She lifts herself up as best she could, standing only on one leg as her other leg and arm slumped down.

"Damn it Telsa," she said. Telsa tries to attack the girl, but found that her nerves were locked in place.

"How could I fall for that," Tesla muttered.

"You gave me no choice, sister!" she cried. "I told you time and time again. You have to stay away from me, and you just wouldn't listen.

"You could've killed me from the start. Why did you prolong this meaningless fight?" Tesla asked.

"I wanted to fight you for as long as I possibly could," she admitted. Telsa's face changed. She was at a loss for words. "I didn't want this. I knew I had to take your life to leave this place. I tried to find another way. I tried to keep you alive like I always have. But no more. I have to live. For him." Ashrah points to Chan. "I fight for a greater purpose now. If the realms are to be saved, he must be freed from this realm."

Tesla's eyes trained on Chan. She reminisced on the encounter she had with the boy years ago. The time she impersonated the famous actor, Johnny Cage, as part of her search for her sister. She tried her best to remain anonymous as she looked everywhere, but never discovered where Quan Chi had sent her. Then, she bumped into Chan. As she raised herself from the ground and saw the boy being raised up by his friends, something felt off about him. Her heart rate was rising as the spell seemed to fail her—or so she thought. They still referred to her as Johnny Cage when praising her. She played it off as best she could with one word responses, but the cautious looks on their face was beginning to worry her more. Kira turned her back and whispered in Chan's ear. She saw the butterfly knifes on the girl's waist. She assumed Quan Chi may have found out where she'd run off to. Chan approached and...she ran. She turned the disguise off. Blood dripped from her hand. She flailed it around, messing up her outfit. She was never going to get out of the situation. However, she found hope. Raiden approached with the intent to slay her for her actions. Instead, he gave her mercy and gave her passage into the NetherRealm under one condition: to ensure Chan's success in the Tournament. That was her opportunity. And it was taken away by a new master.

She smiles before feeling a sharp pain to the chest. Ashrah's stared on with her puffy red eyes. She swiftly pulled her hand back, dropping the Kris by accident. Telsa fell to her knees. And Ashrah was the last thing she saw.

End of Chapter 35

First and foremost, I did not expect to wait this long to drop this chapter. As I've said before, it was pretty much complete besides the middle section. However, the day I planned finish and drop the chapter, a "crisis event" occurred and because of it, there was no way I could physically (and eventually mentally) continue writing. I've tried to finish this chapter two other times between October and now, but work got in the way of those deadline. I'm feeling a lot better now overall, thankfully, and I'm confident I will complete this arc before Christmas, with just one chapter left. The final Arc will begin releasing in February 2024. I'm unsure if I will keep the number of chapters are start combining them as of now. If I were to combine chapters, it would be chapters 37+38 and chapters 39+40, but if I were to do this, the chapters would probably exceed 4k words, with the latter likely reaching 7k due to the scope of the two chapters. Expect Chapter 36 on December 22nd.

(Upcoming—Nexus)