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Fan Fiction
| Legends of the Lin Kuei |
| Chapter 29: Ultimate Kombat |
By: Shaun Penney |
From a far off distance, a loud clash of thunder roared the dark clouded skies. The fury of nature had heard the call of Mortal Kombat. In the center of the imaginary city lied the combatants. Each looked their opponent dead in the eyes. Tendrils of intensity shook in each of their minds. Some wanted peace, others wanted destruction, but in a small way, they each would get what they want, in combat.
NightWolf and Reptile circled around each other cautiously. Reptile’s yellow and black eyes glared while his green skinned face hissed through its metallic mask. Night Wolf’s face blazed in revenge for the murder of one his beloved wolves.
Princess Kitana and Khameleon stood identical in height and figure. Khameleon hissed as well her disgust for the Princess of Edenia. Kitana only kept her breathing slow and deep. She would need all of her strength to bring with her to the fight.
Quan Chi only cracked his knuckles and smiled a black lip grin. The challenge, made by the younger Subzero, almost made him boast a laugh. But he tightened his stance and let the Lin Kuei warrior have his moment.
“Your brother may have been able to defeat me Subzero, but I assure you, you will not” said Quan Chi. Subzero’s eyes glowed a vengeful dark blue. There were to be no more excuses this night. Subzero would not allow this dark sorcerer to walk away alive for what he has done to Earth Realm.
“Nothing can prepare you Quan Chi, for what I am about to do to you!” yelled the cold warrior starting the battle. His fist came forward lunging forward. Quan Chi stepped up and knocked Sub’s arm out of the way flaring his own hands into Sub’s chest and face. Sub kept his forearms in front of him holding tightly against Quan Chi’s ultra fast punches.
Reptile kicked forward and spun his leg around Night Wolf. Night Wolf ducked down and thrust his leg up towards Reptile’s face. Reptile crossed his arms down and locked his wrists around Night Wolf’s leg. With a heavy breath, Reptile twisted the controlled leg and threw Night Wolf into the nearby rock split closest to him. Night Wolf landed on his side but quickly jumped back up with another spin kick towards the reptilian creature.
Kitana attacked first with a spin of her palm striking across Khameleon’s face. Khameleon whipped her body around wrapping her arm inward then shooting it out hitting Kitana upside the chin. Kitana’s head rocked back a bit as she stepped back and came forward again catching an elbow to her skull. Kitana hopped up and landed her knee into Khameleon’s side. Khameleon moved away and snapped her foot up only hitting Kitana’s forearm.
Subzero and Quan Chi moved to the center of the arena undisturbed by the other fights. Subzero never had the chance to study Quan Chi’s style, but from the looks of it, Quan Chi wasn’t about to let up on letting him determine to fast. Quan Chi spun himself up in the air and landed both feet on Sub’s chest. Sub felt his body hit the ground the second he was hit. Quan Chi flipped backwards in the air and began spinning his arms around as his spikes whirled through the air almost cutting the night in half. Sub tumbled backwards to his feet. He dropped to a knee and stuck his leg out barely colliding into Quan Chi causing the white face killer to lift his leg and slam it into the ground. Sub rolled out of the way and held his fists up.
NightWolf kicked forward hard. Reptile blocked with his arms out pushing NightWolf’s leg away. NightWolf turned around and met with a fist in his mouth followed by a firm backlash of Reptile’s snap kick in NightWolf’s gut. NightWolf bent over half out of breath. Reptile came down with an elbow across NightWolf’s spine. NightWolf hit the ground with barely an arm to stop his face from slapping the stale pavement.
Kitana’s hands came around Khameleon’s shoulders while her leg bent back and struck the upper part of Khameleon’s mid section. Khameleon pushed the Princess back and dove her body forward jump kicking in the air striking a boot across Kitana’s face. Kitana’s cheek stung swabbing her vision for a second. Khameleon turned on the offensive and round housed her same leg over and down on Kitana’s neck. Kitana barely lift her arm enough to catch her foot and turn her body inward landing her elbow into Khameleon’s stomach. From there Kitana grabbed Khameleon’s head and through her over and onto the ground. Khameleon ran into the ground with her arms flat out enveloping the blow. Her foot went straight up and struck Kitana in the forehead. Kitana stumbled back as Khameleon popped back up on her feet.
Subzero tossed his leg out nailing Quan Chi directly over his face. Quan Chi moved back but then ripped his spikes out slicing into Sub’s chest. The metal split some of Sub’s garb and part of his chest began to bleed. Sub tried to ignore it and came up hard with a fierce uppercut into Quan Chi’s chin. Quan Chi only felt mildly dazed by it and slammed both fists like a sledgehammer over Sub’s head. Sub fell to a knee but blindly through a punch into Quan Chi’s groin area. Quan Chi kneed Sub in the face making him roll back. The injuries on the Lin Kuei warrior were building, but he wasn’t about to give up on his oath to save Earth Realm.
With a heavy throw of might, Reptile tossed Night Wolf up into the air and over a small stair way leading up to the balcony level. Night Wolf’s body crunched awkwardly onto the floor rolling backwards. Night Wolf felt the point of each step sting the back of his head and back as he tried to hold himself from it. Reptile boasted with a high jump and targeted his foot down like a hammer. Night Wolf pushed with his feet and rolled forward. Reptile hit two steps but quickly turned around. Night Wolf returned to his stance and stared wildly at the reptilian creature.
“Ata kiape Tengashala!” yelled Night Wolf. He screamed his native tongue for vengeance and for power. Reptile only hissed in response and ran straight at the Indian warrior.
Kitana dove around a wall just as Khameleon’s foot bashed the edge chipping a firm piece of rock out of the tall wall. The two ladies spun around each other and formed again for graceful attacks. Khameleon crescent kicked up at Kitana. The princess slapped her foot down and straight face punched Khameleon in the face. Before Kitana could pull her arm back, Khameleon wrapped her own arm around her’s and began pressuring Kitana’s elbow out of it’s socket. Kitana wrenched quietly in her mind the sheer pain ensaring her physical limb. She fought back the urge to scream and only cautioned her eyes to sense the next attack. Khameleon gave a straight face punch of her own. Kitana grabbed the woman’s fist and yanked herself down to the ground dragging Khameleon down with her. As the two fell down, Kitana slipped her legs inward and kicked Khameleon away from her, flipping her body into the chipped wall behind her. Khameleon’s back slammed hard as her head bumped into the tough pavement. Kitana held her arm and clenched her teeth. Khameleon was on her feet again in no time.
“Disgraceful whore!” yelled Khameleon.
“You will get what you deserve Khameleon” said Kitana calmly. Her words only angered Khameleon further into her fiercest fighting frenzy.
High Aerial attacks turned Quan Chi into a fast moving target. His spins and twists made Subzero turn at least twice an attack narrowly missing each arm blade to his face. Concentrating on the precise movements of the sorcerer, he let a single arm face out and froze a dazzle of ice crystals towards a segment of the ground while Quan Chi was in mid air. Subzero cart wheeled out of the way as Quan Chi landed directly on the solid icy ground. His feet quickly gave way and the sorcerer turned upside down smacking his head on the floor. Subzero leaped into the air and twisted his body around spinning his legs around propelling them right over Quan Chi. Quan Chi’s senses were mildly loosened up but still not enough. He kicked his feet back and Subzero’s own legs came down cracking the piece of the floor breaking the ice out. Both fighters eagerly popped their bodies back in the air clashing at each other like a pair of wild animals angrily fighting for supremacy.
One arm flying by the ice warrior met his face with a crack by Quan Chi’s skull. Two flash kicks to Sub’s face met the sorcerer with three gut punches and a sidekick to his ear. Neither warrior had the intention of losing their grip on what was most important to them selves, complete and total victory in Mortal Kombat. Every evil smirk given by Quan Chi made Subzero attack even fiercer then before. He knew though close at hand that his ice powers were needed most of all to aid him in this battle against his most lethal opponent. Sub jumped backwards ice cloning him self as Quan Chi busted the statue with his bare fist. The statue cluttered to the ground by Quan Chi’s feet. Sub then rushed forward and made a dash into the air throwing his leg out straight. Quan Chi’s smirks became twisted frowns of annoyance as he lifted one hand into the air and shot out a green like energy substance dispersing all around Subzero. Subzero felt a raw feedback and his body launched itself back from where he started as he hit the ground harder then he normally would have. Quan Chi clenched his fists and began walking over to the Lin Kuei warrior.
“I grow tired of playing by the rules assassin. That is why Mortal Kombat will eventually be the downfall of all you humans,” said Quan Chi. Sub held his chest as he tried to rise to his feet. Quan Chi, standing tall and immovable, rammed his leg into Sub’s face knocking him back to the floor again.
Khameleon’s eyes burned in rage as she pushed her body forward, grabbing Kitana’s face and slamming the back of her head against a hard granite wall. The impact almost shook the wall sickly pleasing the creature’s hunger for blood. Kitana reached out forcefully whipping her arms around trying to break free of Khameleon’s clutch like hold. Khameleon only drew her head back and repeatedly banged the Princess’s skull into the wall until her own blood could easily be dripping out her dark long hair. Khameleon then let her fall to the ground as she watched the wounded Princess crawl with her head almost split open. Kitana opened her eyes and felt her head boil in pain. Across from her almost well out of her reach, she saw, one of her fans still spread out each edge sharp as a knife. She began to crawl towards it hoping that maybe, if she could stay conscious enough, she could take a hold of it, and use it.
Night Wolf and Reptile were threw dancing around one another. Night Wolf held his arms out like he pointing a bow at Reptile. Magically the air sparkled and visibly Reptile could see Night Wolf holding a bow with a dark arrow attached to it. Night wolf pulled back on his magical weapon and released a spirited arrow aiming straight at Reptile’s head. Reptile grabbed his mask and tore it off revealing his dark scaly face and fork like tongue. The arrow streamed through the air as if cutting the wind in half speeding fast towards Reptile. A sharp hiss spurted out of Reptile’s mouth followed by a ball of slimy spit smoking its way out collapsing over the dark arrow. The arrow melted back into nothing and Reptile’s acid vanished into the ground smoking away into nothing. Night Wolf, distraught by Reptile’s quick wit, leaped into the air and pulled out his beloved tomahawk from the wind as if the spirits themselves were helping him. His war cry could be heard by the night echoing loudly in the city. Reptile stepped up and embraced his enemy’s attack. Night Wolf came down lashing his weapon down. Reptile instinctively brought his left arm up as the blade dug hard into Reptile’s touch scaly skin. The blade still broke into him tearing Reptile’s flesh open as his green almost fluidic blood came spurting out. Reptile hissed loudly and responded with his free arm launching it straight up and into Night Wolf’s chin. The uppercut sprang out busting Night Wolf’s chin wide open and sending the native warrior straight to the floor rolling twice before he realized what hit him. Reptile held his gashed arm and spit his tongue out angrily. He wasn’t going to give this Indian another chance to strike like that again.
Subzero felt the pain in his body shoot around him like a thousand needles piercing his nerves. He had all but faced an army of Centaurs, his own flesh and blood brother, and now the ruthless sinister Quan Chi, who had all but claimed Earth Realm for himself, and for who he supposedly served. Still, as if stricken with an undying curse, Subzero picked himself up and prepared himself to face Quan Chi once more. The blackness in Quan Chi’s eyes gazed through the Lin Kuei Warrior as he rushed up and knee kicked Subzero in the chest. Subzero kneeled down heaving his breath out. Blood came from his lips, from his brow, from his chest. He felt like his own blood had been raining down on him almost compelling him to give up. Quan Chi himself could sense that, it made him smirk again.
“How limited you must feel knowing you can do nothing to stop your precious Earth Realm from becoming mine. You call yourself a warrior? Look at you! Not even an ounce of strength left in you to stand. Raiden has chosen poorly. You are no savior, you and your brother will both die tonight, and I will take this realm and annihilate everyone in it!” he yelled crushing his elbow down on Subzero’s back. Subzero fell face first as his eyes closed momentarily.
Black flashes entered his mind surrounded by white lightening. Screaming skulls and waves of ice all colliding together swirling like everything was being stirred. He saw his parents again dying at the hands of his own teachers. He saw in his mind how his life had been shattered and reformed and shattered again. The soul of his friend Smoke, lost to the cruelty of Mortal Kombat. Now this. Now everything was coming full circle.
Kitana inched her way towards her weapon. Khameleon stood at one side and dug her leg hard into Kitana’s side smacking her ribs inside out. Kitana gritted her teeth and still she inched her way closer to her weapon.
Night Wolf opened his eyes seeing stars in the sky part out through the thundering clouds. The spirits spoke to him, like silent whispers clinging to be heard. Reptile began walking over where Night Wolf was, ready to break his neck and feast upon his head.
Subzero cleared his mind and parted from the pain he had been feeling his entire life. He had let the guilt of everything over take him for a long time. His brother, his best friend, his allies, even the god of Thunder, all of them had a place in this world alive or dead. All of them had their own screams let out. Screams had to be heard…then let go of. Subzero raised his head and stared up at the dark sorcerer still showing his dark blue eyes had not faded away. Quan Chi raised his arm and brought down his curved blades attached to his arms. Subzero let out his last guilty scream and turned his whole arm into an ice spike. With a great heave of breath, Sub rushed his arm up and stabbed Quan Chi up under the ribs piercing the sorcerer all the way up to the top of his left shoulder. Quan Chi stood in anguished surprise. Subzero let out another breath and broke his hand free from the long ice spike. He stood up and met the sorcerer eye to eye.
“This is for everything you’ve ever done,” he said coldly. Quan Chi’s eyes widened, his body inside and out felt the raw coldness of that long ice spike numbing him head to toe. Then, Subzero gave Quan Chi an uppercut of his own.
Khameleon gave one last blood curtling kick to Kitana’s ribs, but it wasn’t enough to keep the ten thousand year old princess down. Broken ribs or not, she lunged her body out and rolled forward picking her fan blade up. Khameleon rushed forward trying to stop the princess. Kitana held her fan blade tightly and with a whip of her body, she turned full circle slicing each jagged edge right through Khameleon’s neck. Kitana spun herself completely as her back now faced Khameleon. Khameleon stood as if stunned, her eyes frozen in shock. She was motionless. Kitana, with her back still turned on her enemy simply took her left leg and threw it straight up and backwards back kicking Khameleon’s head right off her shoulders. Her head flew through the air and slammed against a wall not even bouncing when it hit the ground. Khameleon’s body soon fell after. Kitana then dropped to her knees, letting go of her weapon and holding her side.
The skies continued to part slightly for Night Wolf as he jumped to his feet and threw his head back. Reptile stopped for a split second confused as to the action of the Indian. Night Wolf opened his mouth wide and howled out as his arms spread out. Though his chest was completely exposed, Night Wolf had no worries. Reptile, ignored the unrelenting yell from the Indian and decided his next strike would kill his enemy. Reptile came forward, but then just as fast, he stopped again. From within Night Wolf came a dozen more howls, both from within and around the Native American. Reptile looked around and saw nothing at first. Then to his own surprise he saw a lone wolf dive straight out of Night Wolf, intangible at first, then in full form. The dark gray wolf leaped out and onto the ground staring at Reptile with an uncanny growl. Reptile’s yellow eyes went wide as he then noticed more wolves coming out of the darkness showing them selves around Night Wolf. Night Wolf leaned his head back forward revealing that his own eyes went pale white. His stare and heavy breathing made Reptile almost quake in his outfit. Each Wolf stared intently at the creature and by the lead wolf’s action all the wolves began chasing down Reptile. Reptile, hissed and spit his acid out, but he wasn’t enough to take down all of them. One by one each wolf came at him, jaws spread out and teeth clenching down hard all over Reptile’s body. Night Wolf stood and watched as Reptile was shredded little by little by his wolf companions. Vengeance had now been served.
Subzero let loose a volley of punches and kicks at the dark sorcerer each connecting with hardly a block from Quan Chi. Subzero expelled everything he had then gave one lasting uppercut sending the sorcerer spinning back and to the floor. Quan Chi, still conscious and breathing, stood up and glared at the Lin Kuei, still not convinced he was defeated. Subzero held his arms out in his stance and glared back.
“You are beaten sorcerer, there is no place for you here now. Prepare to find your self in the netherealm” said Subzero charging up another ice blast. Quan Chi crossed his arms out and unleashed a portal behind him. The portal exploded open and began shaking the ground. Subzero lost balance for a second then regained his ground seeing the sorcerer breathing heavily.
“You FOOL! It never ends Lin Kuei assassin. I will return, and you all will DIE in this city!” he yelled. His arms lifted out and streams of green energy dispersed from within him all colliding with different points of the small city quaking the ground even more. Subzero had to maintain his balance even harder this time as he still watched the sorcerer expel his power out. Subzero had had enough. With a stricken yell Sub unleashed his ice blast at Quan Chi. Quan Chi laughed, though holding himself in utter pain, he jumped backwards and fell through the portal. The ice blast went through just as it closed vanishing into the darkness from which it came. Sub looked around and saw that the city had begun to shake and collapse. Fires dispersed everywhere blowing out large areas where towers were standing, now crumbling away and falling. Huge chunks came crashing down towards Night Wolf, as his eyes returned to normal. He ran over and found Kitana still holding herself trying to walk. Night Wolf wrapped an arm around her and the two tried to keep balance together.
Subzero started moving away from the arena floor as a huge piece of tower came throttling down. Subzero rolled out of the way just in time to see the piece collapse and splatter all over the floor. Sub looked up and saw he was becoming quickly surrounded by this calamity that Quan Chi left behind. A thousand thoughts raced through his head all of which centered around his sister. He began turning in circles trying to figure out where everyone had gone. He didn’t see anyone. Fires pulsated and spurted out rooftops and out balconies, the ground continued to shake unrelentingly. Subzero wasn’t sure where he was going to go. Then, he saw him.
Like a shadow illuminating through the fire atop the only standing structure left, Scorpion appeared staring straight down at the young Lin Kuei warrior. Subzero almost gasped. His head ached and his body had all but completely been run down. Accept for the adrenaline he picked up since the imaginary city began to collapse, he wasn’t sure he had anything left to give in a fight. But the undead ninja looked like he was death coming to collect. His pale eyes almost glowed through the fires around him. Subzero took a few deep breaths and finally accepted what he had to do. He had to face Scorpion and pay for what happened to him.
He had hoped that the undead ninja would become an ally, but it appeared that Scorpion was still locked in a curse that had him still deciding fate each day. And still he stood, waiting for his opponent to approach him. Sub took one last deep breath and began to walk forward ready to meet his destiny atop the quickly collapsing city. Suddenly he felt a hand grab at his left shoulder. Sub turned around and to his amazement, he saw it to be his brother. At first he thought his own brother was going to take him down again, but he then realized that his brother had a different look on his face. Not the look of an enemy on a quest for vengeance only a short time ago, but rather his real flesh and blood.
“Brother” said the younger Subzero. The elder Subzero looked at him through his metallic mask still with the same colored eyes as his younger reflection.
“He is not your fight brother. His battle is with me and only me.” Said the elder Subzero. Sub looked confused. He didn’t understand why his older brother was all of a sudden caring about his family. He saw him walk away towards their sister, but he didn’t see what happened while he was fighting Quan Chi. Subzero looked behind his brother but he could not see his sister anywhere. Where did she go? What did she say to their brother? Sub’s head began to spin.
“I don’t understand, why—“ said Sub, but his brother cut him off.
“You have to escape here brother. You were right. We must be Lin Kuei for the right reasons, not the wrong. I must face Scorpion alone. Our demons must be faced. Now go brother, leave here,” he said. The elder Subzero took his hand away and began to walk towards where Scorpion looked down. The undead ninja made no motion, only a cursed stare at his real opponent. Sub, still confused at his brother’s sudden change of heart took a step forward. He didn’t want this. He didn’t want to come so close to finally reuniting with his siblings and have it all taken away again like a nightmare. He urged himself to step forward.
“Subzero, you have to—,“ The elder Subzero turned his head around one last time.
“I SAID GO!” he yelled. Sub looked stunned, then saddened. Subzero gave his younger brother one last deep stare then he turned back around and began his trail up to where Scorpion was awaiting him. Sub began to walk backwards as he saw his brother climb up top and walk towards Scorpion. More of the city began to collapse around all the fighters. Sub didn’t know why, but in his heart, he knew that his brother had to finish his fight with Scorpion. It was an ageless fight, a battle among the proudest of two clans. And both warriors were ready for it.
Sub tried to watch through the blazing fires. He saw them face each other on top of the last standing structure. Neither warrior bowed to the other. They just stood motionless for a moment, then each of them got into their respective stances. Sub’s heart began to pound away as he slowly kept walking back. Then he saw the shadow of his brother, and the shadow of Scorpion engage each other. Just then a loud explosion erupted just in front of where Scorpion and Subzero began fighting and the fire and smoke engulfed Sub’s view of them. His arm came up above his eyes as he yelled for his brother.
“SUBZERO!” He couldn’t see anything. The smoke and fire was too great. Whatever was happening behind it, Subzero could not know. He felt like collapsing and passing out. His mind fluttered away much like the city was doing at the same time. He was tired, tired and worn out. He felt another grab at his shoulder. This time it was Night Wolf with the Princess held by his side.
“Come Subzero, we have to get out of here,” he said. Subzero shook his head clear and then gave one last look behind him. Still too much smoke to see. He finally gave up and followed Night Wolf and Kitana away towards an opening still unbroken by the falling city. Scattered pieces came crumbling down around the three fighters of Earth Realm. Night Wolf and Subzero kept a close hold on the Princess as they all dived through the entrance of the city and scrambled away. The Princess fell to her knees as Night Wolf jerked her back up to her feet pushing her further away from the disaster that quickly started to tumble in on itself. Sub turned around again and saw, from a short distance someone standing atop the entrance, looking back firm and steady. Sub knew it was his sister, watching him, watching everything. She had been watching since the beginning, always in the shadows, always elusive. Always never seen until now. Whatever she said to their brother made him fight the deserved fight. His sister was a more a mystery now then ever. He watched as his sister looked back at him. Then like a cat in the night, she leaped away and vanished into the smoke that surrounded the city. Sub breathed heavily again then joined Night Wolf and Kitana as they continued through a broken trail back to the temple of light. Behind them the imaginary city created by Quan Chi collapsed and broke down into shambles filling the night’s sky with a soft eerie glow that then dwindled away into nothing.
Subzero, Kitana, and Night Wolf all stayed close to one another. Though no words were spoken the rest of that night, they all knew they had won in Mortal Kombat and saved Earth Realm. It was only Subzero who thought, at what price was paid to save Earth Realm? As he sighed into the night, he knew, he may never know the answer to that…
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