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Fan Fiction
| MK Annihilation (Reprised) |
| Round 2 |
By: Jeremy J. Banks |
The Black Tower, Shao Kahn’s base of operations, was in uproar when Liu Kang defeated Shang Tsung. Now there was much celebration. Motaro and a host of his fellow Centaurions drank, sang, and danced in the main dining hall. Not feeling like celebrating, Rain and Ermac honed their skills in the tower gymnasium. Queen Sindel, exhausted from the battle, rested in her own private quarters. Sheeva stood guard at her door. Not only was she a general, she also served as the personal protector of Queen Sindel. In the cave beneath the tower, Shao Kahn sat contemplating his next move. The door leading upstairs opened and a tall robed figure emerged from the other side.
“Ah Father,” Kahn said with a huge smile on his face. “Annihilation has begun. We’ve claimed hundreds of souls already. My Soul Chamber almost has enough power to take all of the souls in Earth realm. It is indeed glorious!” Shinook, Kahn and Rayden’s father and a fallen Elder from the Earth, looked at his son and smiled with approval. “And what of my youngest and his mortals?” Shinook asked. “Have they been dealt with?” Kahn’s smile turned into the look of an ashamed little boy who had just been scolded by one or both of his parents. He somersaulted from his throne to face his father. “Brother dearest is of no concern to us,” he said confidently. “I personally took the life and soul of one of his own. He and his team’s spirits are devastated. They’re probably so worked up that they can’t even throw a single punch.”
Shinook morphed into a huge skull and shouted, “You allowed him to live! What the hell’s the matter with you! You know we can’t take any chances with Rayden and his mortals! Do not underestimate the power of the human spirit! Shang Tsung failed because of his incompetence! You will not make the same mistake!” “Taking the life and soul of the actor was only the first step to prove our power,” said a voice from the shadows. Shinook returned to god form and he and his son eyeballed Sindel who emerged from the darkness. “I have devised a plan that will make Rayden and his mortals forget all about their realm,” the queen continued. “And how do you plan to do that?” Shinook asked, slightly agitated. “Simple,” Kahn replied. “She will make them fall in love with her!”
“And what of his female fighters?” Shinook asked, still not convinced. “How do you plan to extinguish them?” “I will take care of Kitana personally,” Sindel reassured. “Our Lin Kuei cyborg Cyrax will deal with Sonya Blade.” “You see, Dad,” Kahn said placing his hand on his father’s shoulder. “There’s nothing for you to worry about. We got things worked out. Rayden and the fools who follow him do not stand a chance!” “All right son,” Shinook said. “We’ll play it her way. Just remember, if anything goes wrong and the Elders learn of our plot, we will all suffer the consequences!” With that, Shinook disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Shao Kahn returned to his throne. “It’s been a long night. Go and rest. We a have a great battle before us.” Sindel simply bowed and left the cave. When she returned to her quarters she thought to herself, “When all the souls of the Earth realm are captured and Rayden is defeated, I’ll annihilate you and rule Outworld myself!” Neither Rayden nor the warriors communicated once they returned to the temple. After the warriors put up their weapons and changed into some plain clothes, they met in the Relay Room. They all sat in front of a big screen as Rayden came in and stood in front of the screen. “Outworld Archives Video 101,” he began as a picture of Kahn and his generals appeared on the screen. “The Emperor Shao Kahn, my older brother, and his generals: Rain, Ermac, Motaro, Sheeva, and Kitana’s mother, Sindel.”
“That’s what I needed to discuss with you,” Kitana interrupted. “My mother resurrected. How is that possible?” “Your mother was brought back through black magic, Princess,” Rayden answered. “That explains why she’s on Kahn’s side now,” Kitana said. “Yes,” Rayden agreed. “If I am correct if you defeat her in Mortal Kombat, her soul will be at peace. As far as Kahn is concerned we are all pathetic and weak. As you know, like me, he is immortal. But unlike me, he sustains his immortality by obtaining energy from the souls he captures.” “Does he know you know this?” Kabal asked. “Yes, he does,” Rayden answered. “Well if it’s souls the Emperor wants, souls shall we provide. Hmm, Elders? Elders?” The five Elders of the Earth appeared almost immediately after their servant called for them. “What do you need, Lord Rayden?” Wind asked.
“We need to plan another tournament, here on Earth,” Rayden answered. “What good will another tournament do?” Sonya asked. “Simple,” Stryker added. “If we invite the world’s best fighters to compete, Kahn will be tempted to come and take their souls. Once his death-masked ass shows up, we catch him and his generals! Ain’t that right, Rayden!” “Most definitely, Stryker,” Rayden agreed. “Right after we all spend some time training.”
All of the warriors began to openly protest. “Training!” Sonya exclaimed. “What the hell does training have to do with getting that death-masked bastard and finding out if we can bring Johnny back!” She placed her head down in the seat and started to cry. “She’s right, man,” Liu said. “It’s six days till whatever this Annihilation is happens. We need to be concentrating on getting to Outworld before then and taking Kahn and his generals out.” “Have you all forgotten that I’m powerless in Outworld?” Rayden asked. “We were careless tonight and it cost us one of our most valuable fighters. I know you’re all hurting. Hell, I’m hurting, but we need to exercise being more focused in this fight. Sonya, I’ll need you to go tomorrow and locate your partner Jax. We’ll need his help in the dark days ahead. That is all. Good night.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Sonya mumbled angrily as she dried up her tears. The fighters all rose from their seats and left the room. The Thunder god looked at them and held his head down in shame. Afterward, the Elders walked with Rayden towards his private quarters. “Liu Kang is overeager, Kitana’s in a world of her own, Kabal is a loner, Stryker is a bit arrogant, Sonya’s impulsive, and none of them really trust Sub-Zero,” the god protested to his masters. “I can’t depend on ‘em all not to befall the same fate as Johnny.” “Maybe what you’re not admitting to yourself is that you really don’t trust them nor yourself,” Fire said. “Don’t tell me you’re all seeing things from their point of view again,” Rayden said slightly agitated. “Despite all we’ve taught you and what you’ve experienced, you are still a long way from truly understanding the human race, Lord Rayden,” Water said. “Maybe you need to practice believing in yourself and your team, son.”
“I believe in all of you, Elders,” Rayden said with a subtle smile on his face. “But we can’t fight this battle for you now can we?” Earth and Wind asked. “No, you cannot,” Rayden answered. “The Almighty Lord God prohibits it.” “Meditate and sleep well tonight, Lord Rayden,” Love said. “Good night.” “Good night, Elders,” Rayden said as he walked into his quarters. As Rayden closed his door, another memory came into his mind. He saw himself being taught about the human race by his father and the other Elders in an Outworld “classroom”. He sighed nonchalantly and climbed into his bed. He then thought to himself, “Another day, another battle. But no victory.” He fell asleep thereafter.
Sonya got up early the next day. The tears kept coming as she made her way to the vehicle bay. She was about to leave when a hand grasped her shoulder. “You know I lost my whole family when Kahn took over,” Kitana said softly. “I dealt with it by constantly fighting to end Kahn’s reign of terror. I just keep pushing. That’s why I seem so nonchalant most of the time.” “It just hurts, Kitana,” Sonya said, still sobbing. “I know you’re trying to help but nothing you nor anyone else can say can make me feel better and bring Johnny back. And now he’s sending me out to ask someone else to risk his life. It’s just hard for me.” “Whenever you need someone to lean on or talk to,” Kitana continued. “I’m here for you. I was when we all met at the last tournament and I still am now.”
“Thank you, Kitana,” Sonya said. She took a final look at the princess and boarded the large spherical craft known as the Velosphere. This device, a creation from the minds of Rayden, Nightwolf, and Kitana herself, was capable of transporting two humans or non-humans anywhere on Earth in mere hours. Nightwolf constructed two spheres in case of emergencies. They were scarcely used because of their low power supply and the fact that the Dragon jets were particularly three times faster. Sonya traveled inside the Velosphere for three hours approximately. It moved underground so she wouldn’t have to worry about anyone seeing her. But little did she know that the Outworlders were monitoring her every move.
Aboard his craft, Cyrax instructed the ninjas that accompanied him to proceed westward. His plan was not to intercept Sonya, but to kill her and Jax at the same time. The Velosphere stopped under the military base that Sonya and Jax had met and trained together at many years ago. She worked her way from the basement to first floor. As she dodged guards and looked around, she eyed a covered figure on an operating table in the laboratory. She entered the lab and said, “This mess reminds me of Frankenstein.” “Who’s there?” the person said on the table said. “Jax, it’s me!” Sonya said removing the sheet from over him. She noticed that her longtime friend had been “operated on”. It seemed as if robotic arms had replaced his regular arms. “What the hell have you done to yourself this time?” Sonya asked, agitated.
“Cybernetic strength enhancements, babe!” Jax answered enthusiastically. “These babies take what you’ve got and quadruple the muscle capacity!” “You’ve got a real confidence problem, you know that?” Sonya stated, still agitated. “Is that right?” Jax asked nonchalantly. “What'cha doing here anyway? I thought you were still in that tournament thing.” “The people we were competing against started acting like damn fools and now we have to defend the Earth from ‘em!” “What do ya mean defend it?” Jax asked, now agitated. “I’ll explain on the way!” Sonya said. “Now let’s go!” “Where we going, woman?” Jax asked. The door to the laboratory exploded. Jax and Sonya ducked under the operating table.
When the smoke cleared Cyrax and several ninjas stood in the doorway. “What in God’s name is that?” Jax asked, puzzled. The accompanying ninjas flipped over the cyborg and got into their fighting stances. “Death is the only way out,” Cyrax said in a grim tone. “Major Briggs, Sonya Blade, Shao Kahn will indeed be pleased!” “Shao what?” Jax asked, still puzzled. The ninjas ran towards the friends yelling. “I’ll take homeboy, you get those dojo rejects!” Jax said. Sonya back kicked two of the ninjas causing them to fall. Cyrax jump kicked Jax, knocking him to the floor. “I take it this ain’t something we can talk about, aye brother?” Jax asked jokingly. Cyrax grabbed Jax with one arm and lifted him onto his back. “I guess not,” Jax said. The cyborg threw the officer onto the operating table, causing its legs to break.
Cyrax yelled “Silence, fool!” and then attempted to stomp Jax in the face. Jax rolled out of the way and stood up to face his enemy. “Come on with it, dammit!” Jax shouted at the robot angrily. Sonya swept one ninja and high kicked another one in the face. A third ninja hit her with the handle of his hama. She was stumbled back but gained her balance and roundhouse kicked the ninja in his stomach. Cyrax did a combination of kicks on Jax and knocked him over the broken operating table. Cyrax then turned his attention to Sonya who was still fighting off ninjas. A dizzied Jax shook his head and shouted to his partner, “Sonya, heads up!” Cyrax shot a Green Net at Sonya. She retaliated by throwing a felled ninja in the crossfire. The net hit the ninja causing him to start disintegrating.
As the ninja disintegrated, Jax grabbed the broken table. “Hey you worthless bag of nuts and bolts, catch this!” he shouted as he flung the table at Cyrax. Cyrax corkscrew flipped over the projectile and stomped down on it hard. Jax raised his fists and said solemnly, “Let’s do this.” Cyrax attempted another jump kick and shouted, “You will be annihilated!” Jax moved out of the way and simply said, “No.” The cyborg again attempted a combination of kicks but Jax blocked each kick perfectly. Cyrax then attempted to catch Jax with a jab to the face but Jax caught his arm and gave him a hard punch to the abdomen. “Yeah, bitch, now what!” Jax exclaimed boastfully.
Sonya downed three more guards with her Ring Toss and ran towards her partner with two more ninjas on her tail. She kicked one in the jaw and knocked the next out with a pan she picked up off the floor. Jax had backed Cyrax into a corner and proceeded to pound the life out of him. As he performed these devastating combos, he grunted, “Cybernetic strength enhancements! This nigger is getting some!” Cyrax kicked him back and walked away slightly dazed. He shook off the dizziness and fired another Green Net. Jax caught the net with one of his metallic arms and threw it to the floor. Sonya then, using Jax’s shoulder for a boost, flipped over her partner and the cyborg.
As she came down, she grabbed Cyrax and threw him into a structure of chemicals. A small fire started and the ninja rose slowly through the smoke. Sonya then saw her chance. She picked up some sulfur from a shattered jar and blew it into the fire, causing the cyborg to become engulfed in flames. Cyrax then fell to the ground lifelessly. The two partners then stood over their defeated enemy. “Damn, girl,” Jax said happily. “Ya barbecued his ass!” Cyrax’s eyes blinked rapidly and a robotic voice said, “Self destruct mechanism initialized. Ten seconds, nine seconds.” “Does this mean what I think it does?” Jax asked dumbfounded. “Well, I sure in the hell ain’t staying around to find out!” Sonya said as she started to run. “Come on, Jax, hurry!” “I’m coming, I’m coming!” Jax said as he started behind her.
Cyrax began to laugh as the final seconds of his life ticked away. The cyborg exploded, destroying it and the base as well. “What a rush!” Jax said as they ran to the Velosphere. Sonya got inside and turned to Jax. “What the problem is?” she asked frustrated. “You getting in or not?” “If it don’t have wheels or wings, I ain’t fooling with it,” Jax said, almost terrified. “Get your ass inside, Jax, now!” Sonya demanded. Jax boarded the Velosphere and they started off. Sonya introduced Jax to Rayden and the others once they got back to base. Sonya showed him the headquarters and Nightwolf taught him how to operate the space age technology the Kombatants used. Rayden approached him afterward in the training dojo. “We’re all really glad to have you here, Jax,” the Thunder god said. “You don’t know how much this means to us and especially Sonya.” “I’m happy, too, Lord Rayden,” Jax replied. “When do I get into some more action?”
“Well, you seem emotionally and physically well enough,” Rayden stated. “But I’m afraid you still have a great deal of training to go through, man.” “What do ya mean, training?” Jax asked, alarmed. “I can fight just as well as anyone else here! I don’t need no damn training!” “Knowing how to fight is one thing, friend,” Rayden said. “Discipline is another. You need to exercise self-control and keeping your head in the fight.” “Don’t you dare start that crap again?” Sonya said as she approached them. “Who in the hell do you think you are to telling my friend he ain’t got no discipline? We’re not dogs, Immortal! You can’t boss us around like you do a canine! As far as I’m concerned, we’re all as ready as we can be!”
“You are far from ready,” Rayden replied. “You have to learn how to stop depending on martial arts and chi in order to win a fight. You must use brains as well as brawn.” “Look I heard all this before,” Jax interrupted. “Look at these babies! They’re state-of-the-art! There’s no way in hell of me losing a fight!” “Those damned things are not your strength, Jackson; they’re your weakness! Faith in yourself is all you really need to win.” Rayden pleaded. “I think I’ve heard enough,” Jax said, walking away angrily. “You see, Thunder god,” Sonya whined. “Now you’ve pissed him off.” As she walked away, Rayden thought, “I just can’t seem to win with these people.” On the other side of the dojo, Kitana stepped over to talk to Sub-Zero, who was practicing on a punching bag.
“Let me ask you something, Sub-Zero,” Kitana said softly. “By all means, Princess, ask,” Sub-Zero insisted. “Do you consider Earth realm your home now?” “Yes, I do,” the ice ninja answered. “There is nothing left for me in Outworld and my clan has abandoned me. This place is my only real refuge from the storm.” “But you and I will never really feel at home here,” Kitana protested. “Our special abilities and ages set us apart from Liu and everybody else.” “Ah, yes but we too, are still just mortals exactly like them,” Sub-Zero said. “Thank you, Sub-Zero,” Kitana said. “I knew I could count on you to give me a decent answer.” Kabal and Stryker moved some weaponry into a special storage depot for Nightwolf later on that day. “Hey, Stryker?” Kabal asked. “Yeah, man,” Stryker answered.
“You ever think about what Rayden said about us being reckless and stuff?” Kabal asked. “I try not to, Kabal,” Stryker answered. “Rayden really knows how make a guy feel like dirt with that mess. Telling us we ain’t fighting right and going on. What the hell does he want from all of us, perfection?” “Hate to interrupt the shoptalk, boys,” Nightwolf said as he approached them. “But Rayden’s called an emergency meeting in the Relay Room about the tournament next week. There are several details he wants to iron out.” “So what else is new?” Kabal said sarcastically as they left with the shaman. “I’ve sent a spy to Outworld to see that news of our little tournament reaches Kahn,” Rayden said once all his fighters entered the room. “There can be no foul-ups this time. I’m not losing anybody else. I blame myself for Johnny’s death more than anyone else does. I need you all to keep your heads up in this fight. There is no real battle plan, people. We’ll all just watch the fighters compete and then when that bastard shows up, we get on him like white on rice.”
“Great plan, man!” Jax exclaimed enthusiastically. “Whose ass ya want me to bust first?” “You’re staying here, Jax,” Rayden replied. “You’re still not ready yet. We can’t have you running into a fight unprepared and being defeated.” “What a load of bull!” Jax protested. “I’m as ready as any of these other fighters are. How in God’s name do ya expect me to help ya if ya don’t trust a brother?” “How indeed?” Wind asked who was present at the meeting with the other Elders. Jax left the room with Sonya hot on his trail. Rayden held his head down in shame once more before saying, “That is all. You may all go. All I want you all to do is rest tonight and prepare to capture Kahn next week.” The Kombatants rose and left dismayed once more. “He’s getting worse,” Liu whispered to Nightwolf as they all departed the Relay Room. “I know, Liu,” Nightwolf replied. “This whole Johnny Cage situation has him going nuts.”
Once the last fighter had gone, Rayden turned to the Elders. “Is he right, Elders?” Rayden asked determined. “Am I losing my mind?” “No, Lord Rayden,” Love answered. “You’re simply taking out your frustration over Johnny Cage’s death on them and it just isn’t right,” Water stated. “I’m riding them all because I just don’t want to see the same thing happen to them,” Rayden pleaded. “I love them all too much to lose them.” “We know, son,” Earth said. “We just want you to stop expecting so much perfection out of them, that’s all,” Fire said. Rayden bade the Elders goodnight and went to his quarters. Far away in Outworld, Shao Kahn sat at his throne reminiscing. He remembered how he and Rayden used to play in the small hills on the outskirts of Edenia before it was changed into the Outworld.
A small tear ran down the mighty Emperor’s cheek. He desperately wanted his pain to end. Suddenly, one of his Shadow priests burst into the throne room and threw his mind off the memory. “Excuse me great Emperor but I have something here that may be of great use to you,” he said waving a scroll. Without warning, Kahn shot the priest with a Nova blast, rendering him unconscious. He somersaulted out of his seat and stood over the monk’s body. “I just hate it when these worthless slaves drop in unannounced!” he exclaimed. He picked up the scroll, unrolled it, and read over its contents. It was inscribed: “FIGHTING TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD FRIDAY, MARCH 15 AT GRAND CANYON SQUARE THE BEST FIGHTERS ON EARTH ARE INVITED TO COMPETE. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT KURTIS STRYKER AT 555-3200.” “So my brother thinks he can lure me into a trap, aye,” Kahn said evilly. “Well, we’ll just see who traps who!” He then laughed maniacally at the top of his lungs.
The end of round ii
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