-(I don't own MK, but you already knew that!)-
Chapter 25: The Tense String
"I'm getting' bored not utilizin' this armor, Kahn." Kano said as he grit his teeth. "When do I get to bust a few heads, mate?"
"All in due time." Shao Kahn promised from his throne. "Liu Kang is on his way, Sindel is useless to me, Raiden is dead, and all hopes of opposition against me are non-existent." The towering tyrant stood and stepped down two two stairs to the floor.
Relics of his age old exploits lined the walls, as well as the decomposed heads of all of his past foes along the walls. Kahn only desired to add Liu Kang's head to the side of his throne as a symbol of his supreme success.
As Kano checked his armor, Jade stood by totally still like a doll. Her eyes glowed entirely with green light. She had a silent malevolent gaze that even made Shao Kahn uneasy. On the other side of the throne, Quan Chi held the small son of Scorpion, Satoshi within a series of green rings laced in matching illuminated skulls.
"We shall crush them all," Shao Kahn stated as he paced toward Satoshi, "in an 'even and fair' game of Mortal Kombat. If any can get past you three, they deserve a chance to face me. They deserve a chance to face death in the flesh."
Quan Chi's deep voice rang out to Kahn. "What about Kitana and Mileena, my lord?"
"Dead to me." Kahn spat his words out. "I may have longed for a daughter before, but I shall do to them what their mother should have done before their birth." He paused and turned to face his newly acquired 'weapon', Jade. "Forfeit their lives." Kahn's sinister voice held traces of enjoyment. He could practically feel their bones shattering into dust in his palms as he closed his fists.
"And of Reiko?" Quan Chi questioned further.
This time Kahn was staggered. Reiko's name echoed through his helmet, but he did not alter his scowling expression for even the shortest of moments. "His mother would have time decide his fate. It is not my place." His gait toward the stairs slowed to a slug's pace. "I will be waiting for my challengers. If Liu Kang survives, today will be my grandest Konquest…"
As Kahn left the others on the lower level, he arrived at the apex of his fortress. All of Earthrealm was gloomy and dark, with no sign of life anywhere. All of the planet was in suffering, and in need of the loving embrace of Outworld.
Kahn heard the voices just as much as Jade did, but these days it was but a faint whisper. When Jade first entered the chambers, the voice was louder than it had ever been since the tournament in which Liu Kang defeated him. The same voice that led him to power, and made him into a god among gods.
Side Event 31: A Glimpse Into the Soul
"I swear upon my honor, there is greater power than you can ever believe!" A human looking man shouted as he fell to one knee and bowed his head to Shao. He was dressed in rags like a commoner and had yellow slit eyes like a reptile. "Tell lord Onaga there is power in the Kamidogu. If you merge the right realms…all of reality is yours!"
"Is that so?" The young Shao chuckled as he held his hammer over his shoulder. "Kamidogu, huh? Onaga Kahn will be proud to hear this news that the Kamidogu indeed exist. You are spared, for now."
The man bowed his head to the dirt before Shao. "Thank, you, my lord! My king! All hail Lord Shao!"
The barbarian laughed deeply as the praise continued. He turned to face his forces and began to walk through them. "Women and children are not to be harmed." He stated firmly. "Eggs neither." A light chuckle came from his army of filthy Outworld warriors. "If the men give you any issue, you've permission to rough them up, but not maim or kill. Am I understood?"
The cowering man lifted his head and pressed his hands together in prayer. "Please, Lord Shao! We will give no resistance…!"
Shao continued on. "We are here for the gold. Retrieve it and leave the residents alive. We will return another time for more. Let us not slack on Lord Onaga's new fortress materials!"
As the men cheered and ran through the reptilian city, Shao returned to the side of his steed. He'd no interest in controlling reality. He had no interest in being able to revive the dead, alter time, or becoming a god. He was entirely content with his position under the Dragon King Onaga, and his freedom to pillage and conquer in his name. As long as he returned to his bride Satele and his two daughters Talisa and Jolene.
He had a long ride from the realm of Zaterra, but it was well worth it. There was no blood to be spilled from unworthy challengers for him. It was all just a game.
As he returned home to his beautiful wife who had long white hair and deep brown eyes, he was welcomed to the aroma of fried pork and noodles. He embraced his wife lovingly to show her how happy he was to truly be home. He was even happier when his two well behaved daughters ran up to him to hug his leg. Talisa was the eldest with long dark hair, and Jolene was younger, with a few of her teeth missing since she was growing into her new set.
The warmth Shao felt was unlike any other. He'd give anything to protect the three of them…well, the four of them. That night he sat up before bonfire with his wife and held his hand over her stomach. His son was well on the way, and he would be able to retire his role as general and live on the countryside of Outworld as a respected man with a cemented legacy stained in blood and glory.
Shao had never smiled so much in his entire life.
The voice in his head during war was quiet, and he preferred to live his life that way.
Shao was among the most protected members of the military, and Onaga gave him his word that nothing wrong would fall upon his most trusted men, no matter if they were inactive or maimed in battle. This vow from such a powerful king kept Shao's smile stretched across his face like a strip of plastic over a mug, with no plans of ever breaking.
He delivered news of the Kamidogu to Onaga, he informed him of any recent findings and names of realms that potentially possessed them, and the king had nothing but praises for Shao. The respect between them was like a father and son.
It was no wonder Shao felt comfortable announcing his eventual retirement to the man he respected.
It was this bond that made Shao wonder how a man who was like a father to him could allow wrong to fall upon him. As Shao dismounted his steed, he returned to find his entire villa ablaze. It was as if the sun itself punished Shao's people directly. The clouds were opened in a massive ring shape, and the sun taunted Shao's misery with the brightest illumination he'd ever seen in Outworld.
As he trailed through the charred ruins of his home, his family, and his friends, he felt his soul ripping asunder. The voice returned. The chill of the air despite the heat sent goosebumps up his neck and spine. There was not even a scrap of familiarity in the remains of any pile of bones in the village, and the pain that panged through his chest brought tears to his eyes.
Kahn' large knees crashed into the rubble of his home and created a light plume of darkness around his legs. He grasped a single strip of material reminiscent of his wife's dress. He gazed at it endlessly, as dark droplets of pain stained his palm and wrist. She was gone. His children were gone. All he loved in life was burned away and there was nothing he could do about it. He'd never have his wife back, he'd never have his daughters, and he'd never see his son's face.
How could Onaga allow this to stand? How could Onaga not know such was going to happen?
'Onaga has betrayed you.' The voice in his head echoed. 'It is time we take control. Take back out other half and become a God. We will bring them back; we will conquer as many souls as we must to make whoever did this suffer!.'
The Kamidogu circled through his mind. If he had them all, this entire incident could be undone, but Onaga would never give him such a satisfaction, especially after this betrayal. Shao glowed green with smoke-like strands of translucent jade energy trailing off his shoulders.
'We will be a better Kahn, a stronger Kahn! We will control all! We are Lord Shao no longer….we are' The voice echoed in his mind, as Kahn screamed toward the heavens with his fists lifted. After Kahn smashed his fists into the ground and caused the entire ground to quake at his mercy with the ashes of his life blowing in every direction away from him, such as his purity of worldly outlook. 'Shao Kahn!'
As the teary eyes of the reborn tyrant lifted from the burned ground, his red eyes flashed green with pure rage.
(Side Event Ended)
At the Apex of Kahn's Fortress
Kahn recalled the events of his life long since passed. He remembered Onaga's official excuse was the civil war brewing with Osh-Tekk people was the cause of such an attack. It may have been an Osh-Tekk warrior, but one possibly acting under commands of one even greater, one like Onaga.
Kahn focused his rage on Onaga, and poisoned him so that he could easily take his place. The voice was much louder after that encounter, but his greatest surprise was during his arrival in Edenia.
The first time he saw Sindel…he knew it was no coincidence that she looked like Satele. He knew he was being given a second chanced, and despite his purest intentions, he had to murder her husband to have her.
Despite her being pregnant with just one child, he used Shang Tsung's sorcery to create a second, hopefully in the likeness of his youngest girl. He wanted to make the perfect family, and he had it, in his own twisted version of coping with reality.
All of his pain came rushing back once Sindel died…and despite his earnest attempts at being a father to Mileena and Kitana, they would never be Talisa and Jolene. The only pure thing in his life was Reiko, but he was to never know.
He could not help but feel that all of his efforts to soothe his pain only led to worse events that drove him deeper into madness and denial. Conquering worlds no longer gave him a rush, but he murdered out of habit. The food, the drink, the women never drowned his sorrows, but instead only increased his desire for the warmth of bonfire and the fried pork his wife made for him. No one could ever make it like her.
Men, women, Elder Gods, all of them were nothing but bags of flesh and bone to be broken open. Pillars of stone trying to push reality back into his eyes. Even Atlas couldn't hold back all of the denial swimming Kahn's mind. If only the One Being could give him peace of mind, if only he was given a chance to redeem himself of bloodshed, but it was too late now.
He wanted to blood.
He wanted to kill his 'daughters' and send them off to be with his real daughters. It was his way of keeping them safe from being ruined by the ways of men. He was not saddened by the loss of Sindel at all. If anything, crushing her would set his wife's image free from his mind. No other could possess such beauty.
Never again.
As Kahn gazed endlessly over the desolate Earth, he felt a single droplet of weakness trail down his cheek. He was finally home again, a destroyed, lifeless home. He wanted to bask in the stinging pain a little while longer, and transfer all of that pain onto those who opposed them. Liu Kang would know his pain finally. He would know the happy ending he sought with Kitana was just a dream, a dream to be burned away.
"This will be the night I become free." Kahn said to himself as the leaking weakness failed to bother him. A deep, dark chuckle rumbled from his powerful chest. "Yes, Satele, I agree. The end is near. Let us bask in this moment…"
Meanwhile…
"We are here." Baraka said once he reached the door before Kahn's throne room. He could smell Kano and Quan Chi beyond the doors, so he knew there would be a great battle once the doors parted ways. "I have fulfilled what I promised. I will leave now."
"Good!" Mileena hissed.
"Thank you, Baraka." Kuai Liang bowed lightly to him. "Will you stay to aid us in this battle? Your skills are impeccable; I am lucky to have survived a battle with you."
"There are some competitions that even I cannot win." Baraka said as he continued walking through the group without looking back. "Fight well."
"Get out!" Mileena hissed again. Baraka was quite lucky Sub-Zero held her back from going after him and killing him for all the abuse he brought upon her.
"Mileena!" Kuai spoke sternly. "Calm yourself!"
Mileena snatched her arm from Sub-Zero and growled. "Do not touch Mileena! You do not know the horrors she has faced! Baraka deserves this treatment!"
"Does he?" Kuai challenged. "Does it make you feel better to disrespect him for aiding us? Are you so distracted by the past that you cannot allow others to change their ways in peace?"
Mileena's emotions got the better of her. Her heart was easily excited for fits of rage, and she shouted at Sub-Zero while pointing in his face. "Do not dare say that to Mileena! She has done all of this for you! To save you! Do not make Mileena the bad person!"
While the two bickered, Scorpion shouted to drown them out. "Silence!" He drew his katana and moved to get between the two. "We move! Keep senseless bickering to yourselves!"
"I am simply trying to calm her down." Sub-Zero said calmly, but Scorpion responded by getting in his face.
"Our hope for a surprise assault has been destroyed by her shouting." Hanzo glared at Kuai Liang. "You should have left this alone, Sub-Zero."
"What is done is done." Sub-Zero said with his chin held high. "I will drop this with you, Hanzo. This isn't the time nor place for us to fight."
"You're smarter than your brother. Perhaps the younger generation is better for the Lin Kuei attack dogs."
Sub-Zero pursed his lips together, but he could not hold his tongue. "At least attack dogs have a pack."
"Both of you, shut up." Liu Kang interrupted, while still being escorted by Kung Lao. "We fight the enemy, not each other!" Liu broke free from Kung Lao and smacked Scorpion on his chest hard. "You are a fierce warrior with untamed rage. Your wife needs you to focus that on Shao Kahn. And you." He smacked Sub-Zero's chest next. "You are a leader, not a child. Act like one."
Now Liu turned his attention turned to Mileena. He stopped himself from slapping her chest. "And you," he paused, "whatever Baraka has done to you, I can assure you it will mean nothing if you die in this battle. The best way to prove someone wrong is not with cruel words, but focused actions and a steady pace forward. Hatred is the coward's excuse and motivation, forgiveness is for the mighty, and it is a goal constantly strived for. Now, are we prepared to act as one, or are we still going to be children?" Liu Kang looked around at everyone except Kung Lao, who agreed with him whole heartedly.
"So.." Johnny Cage raised his hand in the back. "Are we all gonna be cowards, 'cause I think a lot of the people here aren't gonna hug Shao Kahn and say they forgive him. I think we're here to kick his ass? Didn't anyone read the pamphlet…?"
"There is a pamphlet?" Sheeva said with a confused glare. "What is a pamphlet?!"
Instead of further humoring the idiocy, Liu Kang groaned and pushed ahead with Kung Lao. The two men pushed the doors open slowly, with Kuai Liang and Hanzo right behind them.
As the warriors flooded the room, they stopped at Scorpion's command when he and his wife spotted their son.
"Satoshi!" Harumi shouted as she saw her son suspended above the ground in bonds made of green translucent skulls.
Scorpion stepped ahead of the group as he locked eyes on Quan Chi. He ignored Jade and Kano just off to his sides. "Sorcerer…" Scorpion's white eyes filled with flames. "Let my son go!"
Quan Chi's black lips curled in utter amusement. He dreamed of Scorpion saying such words, proving that he was at the sorcerer's mercy. "I will, under one condition." Quan Chi left the suspense in the air as all of the other Kombatants had no choice but to respect the fact that Scorpion and Harumi had to protect their child. Quan Chi began to speak, and held his right index finger up. "You and your wife stand aside for this battle. When it is over, then I will allow your son to be free…and the two of us will settle things. Alone."
All turned their eyes to Scorpion.
Scorpion's fist clutched his chain until hid grip made the metal links grind.
"Scorpion…" Liu Kang spoke softly. "Don't-…"
Hanzo's grip on his chain loosened, and he turned his head away from the others.
"Hanzo…!" Harumi gasped, as she was caught between being horrified and relieved for her son's safety.
Kano's powered boots whirred as he flew a few inches above ground.
Frost strapped on her mask and took a deep breath. "Well, this is going to hurt."
Kano's laugher was altered by the cybernetic suit to sound more mechanical, but that was the least of the Kombatant's concern. On Quan Chi's order, Kano rushed the group with a barrage of missiles and bullets. The Kombatants scattered out of the way in fear of death, but those who ran about eventually met the pavement when the upgraded mercenary took them down in small groups in a matter of seconds.
Jade joined the fight. She kicked Mileena between the eyes hard enough to make her fold on the floor, and then Jade took Sub-Zero down with a series of staff strikes. As Kano and Jade cleared through the Kombatants as if they were nothing, Scorpion and Harumi stood off to the side nearly paralyzed in anger.
Side Event #32: Someone's Going Down
Among the injured, Sonya pushed herself up from the ground and coughed out blood once she regained consciousness from a single punch from Kano. She groaned and tried to get to her feet to continue the fight. Her legs were taken from under her as she was literately yanked by her ankle and tossed through the doors the group came in. She flew several feet and skid dangerously close to the stairs when she saw Kano flying for her. In panic, Sonya rolled onto the stairs and tried to rush down them toward the pit while Kano was hot on her tail.
The bottom of the steps was in sight. The hissing of the cybernetic suit got louder in her ears as the cackling Kano flew after her.
Sparks of missed gunshots burned her heels as she ran.
As she ran her heart begged for her lungs and legs not to quit. She turned a corner so sharply that her shoulder cracked on the stone wall before she proceeded to dart down the corridor.
Sonya crossed the threshold into another area, and as she turned to shut the double doors, Kano crashed into her.
Sonya yelled as she flew across the ground and rolled several feet. She spat up blood as she pushed herself up on an elbow. Her entire life flashed before her eyes when Kano came in sight again. He stood there, menacingly, slowly walking toward her with one large blade in his hand.
"I'm going to enjoy this a lot more than when I offed your brother. Oh, and your partner? She's not dead." Kano said as he revealed his full face once his cybernetic mask pulled back. Half of his face was still metal, but that was beside the point. "You'll die in peace knowing she's a loyal member of the Black Dragon."
Sonya didn't say anything. She was too busy trying to get to her feet.
"That's it, then?" Kano mused. "Gotta say I like my fish to squirm when I gut 'em, but you're hardly putting up a fight."
Sonya backed up along the pit. She had nothing to stop Kano, even if she knocked him over the side. He could fly, and that was going to be a problem. "Give me your best shot." Sonya spat bravely to her mortal enemy and put her fists up to fight.
As Kano rushed her with his knife out, Sonya resorted to her martial arts defensive training rather than brute force. As the knife came, Sonya swing her left hand up and slapped Kano's right hand toward his left shoulder and caused him to lose grip of his blade. At the same time Sonya sent a kick to his armored groin with her left foot, but she was not sure how much damage it would do outside of being distracting.
Sonya ran immediately after that, past the bloodstains of Mileena and Terra's battle. The lack of a body there disturbed her for a moment, but she was trying to keep distance between herself and the cybernetic psychopath.
As Kano flew after her, a sudden blue flash of light barred his path.
Kitana dropped down with Raiden's medallion still in her possession. She aimed with both hands at him and launched a torrent of electricity from her fingertips that knocked the cyborg down to the bridge of the pit.
Kano started resisting the effects and fought back to his feet. He walked into the thunder with his arms shielding him, but the layers of cybernetics peeled back the longer Kitana held the thunder.
"You are not needed in my future." Kitana spoke softly. "I will finish you now." With all her might, Kitana increased the amount of thunder she output, and instantaneously fried Kano's entire cybernetic suit. As the charred remains stood like a crisp statue, sections of it broke apart and fell to dust along the bridge.
Kitana looked back to Sonya with concern. "Are you alright? Where are the others? Is Liu Kang alright?"
Thankful for the assist, Sonya spat blood off to the side. "Liu's fine as he can be. The others are up ahead. Jade's gone crazy; she was helping Kano! What the hell is going on, Kitana?"
Angered, Kitana prepared her tessens for war. "It is about to be resolved. Come, we must hurry!"
(Side Event Ended)
Back inside the Prime Throne Room…
Mileena was seeing double after Jade sent her flying across the room. She was not fully healed from her war with Terra, so Jade had the extra edge of seeming to be perfectly fresh for Kombat. "Jade!" Mileena called out. "It is Mileena! Stop this!"
Quan Chi laughed at the plea of the half-Tarkatan. His hand affectionately brushed over the amulet attached to his belt as he spoke. "She cannot hear you, Mileena. Jade is under my influence…" The jewel glowed brighter as Jade approached Mileena with a murderous glare.
"Then your control will be broken!" Mileena growled as she summoned both of her sais. "Even if Jade must die!"
Jade paused in her steps with an amused grin. "Death is the only way this ends." She said coldly. "Just not your death."
Confused, Mileena put up her guard and decided to play this battle smart. Everyone else was down, including Liu Kang who was arguably still the strongest of them all. She had to stall, at least until they could regroup.
Mileena's game plan did not go into effect, however, as Jade surprised her with her left hand aiming for Quan Chi.
The amulet at his belt ripped away from him and flung into Jade's hand. Her eyes blazed with a green aura and soon her body did as well. She released a torrential wind in every direction that kept everyone off balance and blew about the unconscious bodies on the ground.
As the quaking and tornadic winds subsided, Jade simply gazed down at the amulet and pinned it to the steel rod of her staff. "I am here to collect…then destroy." She turned her eyes to the terrified Quan Chi, who lost his grip on Satoshi when his focus went fully to Jade. "Run." Jade stated with a deep, dark glare from between her narrowed dark lashes.
Quan Chi noticed Scorpion coming for him, and immediately the cowardly sorcerer ran away and found his path to another bridge. Scorpion was in hot pursuit, despite his wife's warning. Harumi hurried to Satoshi's side and cradled the boy to her chest as Jade marched past her.
"Shao Kahn is mine." Jade said in a doubled voice. "Then I will be closer to being one yet again…" She ran like the wind up to the next level just as Sonya and Kitana entered the room full of injured Kombatants.
"Jax?!" Sonya shouted out as she hurried to her partner's side. "Damn it, you alright?"
"Only hurts when I breathe." He said in a drained and pained voice. He had a few cracked ribs, but he was going to live. "Jade's booking it…get Liu up there."
"We gotta regroup. No use in putting this all on Liu." Johnny Cage said as he pushed up on his knuckles. He was without his sunglasses currently, but he could always replace those. "After that, someone owes me five hundred bucks for those shades."
"You covet such questionable materials…" Khameleon said as she was helped to her feet by Reptile. She allowed the male's embrace to linger once the two were upright. "Jade is different. More powerful than usual. We must stop her and stop Quan Chi before he escapes."
Kung Lao aided Liu Kang to his feet as the silent princess approached them both. "Princess Kitana," The monk bowed his head respectfully to her, "we are at the end of our journey. What would you have us do?"
His words ended when Kitana simply grasped Liu Kang's face and brought him into a kiss. She kissed him as she'd longed to truly do for ages now. She wasn't just kissing him for their budding attraction, but for their unconsummated romance in the past life. She had to let go of keeping history in tact; it was no longer the sort. She knew that to truly ensure the future, she had to save her best friend, her sister, and herself.
She loved Liu, and every single day that went by without his presence made her remember his funeral and how Shang Tsung and Quan Chi brought his end. Being together in the afterlife was not enough, and she wasn't going to let time nor fate keep them apart.
As their lips parted and her hands finished combing through his dark hair, Kitana finally answered Kung Lao. "We will change history." She said as she turned her eyes toward Mileena. "Sister. I leave these men and women to your command." She said as she stepped toward Mileena. "You are the most qualified general I have ever known. Do what is best for them, and for Edenia." She held her hand out to grasp Mileena's and squeezed it firmly while gazing into her eyes.
There was a silence between the sisters. It was almost like tension, but Mileena had a feeling in her gut that Kitana was going to do something stupid.
The princess pulled Mileena in for a tight hug and held her while swaying lightly from side to side. "I love you, sister. I always have. Ten thousand years I've wanted you to love me back, and I have enjoyed every moment we have truly been family." She whispered. "Take them away from here. Leave the rest to me. Am I understood?"
"K-Kitana..! No!" Mileena bawled as she buried her face to her sister's shoulder. "Mileena won't leave you!"
"Mileena…"
"No! We do this together!" Mileena shook her head from side to side. She began to weep lightly to her sister's shoulder in a mixture of anger and sadness.
Kitana slowly pulled apart from her sister. "Get the injured safe. Then hurry back. These people need you, and I need to confront Jade and Kahn."
"Not alone." Liu Kang moved away from Kung Lao, despite his bleeding hand. "I want to be part of this. I've been told what to do since this war started. Visions, tales of destiny—all of it." He cast his sights to the floor in disgust of the guidance he received. "I will fight with you. Kung Lao and Mileena can coordinate the escape routes and protect the injured."
Agreeing, Kung Lao reached down to assist Sonya in lifting Jax. "Agreed. Let's move."
Time was of the essence, and Mileena wiped her eyes and returned to her fierce expression. "Mileena will do her best and hurry back!" She turned and picked up the unconscious body of Sub-Zero and draped him over her shoulder. She carried the man with ease, and began to lead with Kung Lao to escape the fortress…
Once they were alone, Liu Kang faced the stairs leading up with Kitana. He reached over and placed his palm on her shoulder to reassure her. "How certain are you that we can win this fight alone?"
"Not certain at all, Liu Kang."
"Perfect." He said in amusement as he began to rush up the stairs. "Make sure I do not die, and perhaps I'll be able to ask you more about that kiss?"
"An in-depth conversation is needed, yes." She ran after him, while plucking her medallion from her chest. The cracked surface continued to form long fissures in it; Armageddon was not yet averted. The strings that played the tune of fate grew tense by the moment. Time had long since broken five of the six strings; but there was alas a final string tearing at its very fibers as the melody of mayhem made itself known in Kitana's heart.