5Deep within a long since abandoned fortress, a laboratory of sorts remained. This had been the home of a maniacal sorcerer, who weaponized souls and created horrific abominations the likes of which no one could have even begun to fathom how a mind could be so twisted. In this lab, one of Outworld's greatest warriors and one of their worst were created. However, who held which title was still somewhat debated. Yet… there was another. Hidden beyond the tubes of failed and drowned clones of the Ex-Empress, hidden deeper into the lair than even the Emperor even knew existed, there was one last experiment. Shang Tsung has long since abandoned it, believing it to have been a failure. However… he hadn't noticed the slight surge of soul energy every now and then. If he had paid attention, he may have noticed this, but there were far more important things to deal with.
Now, twenty-three years had passed. The Emperor was long dead, Shang Tsung was long dead, the sorcerer Quan Chi was dead. Yet every now and then, there would be a faint spark of soul energy. Granted, no one was here to notice this, but over the past twenty-three years, the experiment had been given brief sparks of power, very slowly growing in strength, as if something was trying to bring the spark needed to bring life.
Then… one day…
There was a loud CRACK, followed by the sound of rushing water as the tube gave way to some unseen force. A figure was dropped onto the ground, and began gasping for air.
"What… Where am I?" The figure asked, rising to his feet. Cautiously, the figure made his way to where the only door in the room was. Hesitantly, he opened the door, prepared to fight should someone attack him.
No one did.
"Hm…" The figure mused. It began to make its way through the lab, looking at the dead and rotting clones of-
"Mileena." The figure blinked, stopping and getting on one knee, looking at the remains. "…I'm sorry." The figure noticed there was a single sai on the ground, discarded by someone. The figure picked it up and sighed, before knowing he had to move on. As he began to walk off, he froze and turned around, looking at the decaying bodies. Mileena? How did he know that name? Whatever…The location he found himself in seemed like no one had been here in decades, a thick layer of dust and cobwebs shrouded everything in an eerie gray, on top of the darkness the whole place seemed to be swallowed by. The figure looked around before finding a torch, and hoping for the best, dragged the sai across a decorative steel lion head. It took a few tries, but finally a spark hit the head of the torch, and the room was illuminated in an orange-ish glow.
"That's better." The figure remarked, and continued his journey. He found himself walked through a long hallway, stone columns eternally supporting the seemingly invisible roof (or at least, invisible in the dark). Something else of note was how quiet it was. The only sounds being the slapping of his feet on the floor, and the faint crackle of the torch.
"I've seen this before… but where?" The figure mused to himself. "It's like a dream, but, this is real."
What could've been hours or days passed by as the figure kept walking. He didn't know where he was going. It was hard to tell sometimes, especially when the torch would fizzle out and he either needed to re-ignite it or find a new one. He had stopped and rested, trying to get a grip on what was happening, but to no avail. He would see… flashes, of… a pyramid? It looked like a large temple, surrounded by death and gore. Bodies were everywhere, and there was a man with a hat, dressed in blue and white. He kept attacking. Why? What was that stranger's problem? Sadly, he didn't get an answer, and believed he never would. Continuing his trek, the figure came to a large set of doors, it took a few shoulder hits, but the doors finally moaned as the opened, letting the orange light caress a room that hadn't been entered in years. The figure blinked, and made his way inwards. There was something… calling to him. Something at the end of the room. As he approached, he saw faint outlines of something. People? No, that couldn't be it, one of them had four arms. Were they ghosts? Maybe.
"Perhaps the ones who were before I was." The figure blinked, looking around, holding his torch up. Something gleamed in the distance, and the figure realized this is what was calling him. He kept walking, and as he approached the end, a golden throne began to become visible in the darkness. "That's… mine."
The figure made his way up and sat on the throne, feeling himself sinking into the seat somewhat. The man grunted and pulled himself out, walking around the base of the throne, looking for an indication of where he was. He yelled in frustration when he didn't find anything, throwing the sai off into the darkness, but the sound of it hitting something caught his attention. Forging on into the darkness, he came to a stop when he saw what the sai had hit. It was the base of a statue, with a faded plaque on the bottom. While one could barely make out the letters, the figure could see one word.
"Goro." He remarked. Blinking, he held his torch up, now seeing the titanic statue illuminated faintly, showing a being with four arms. Two of them folded in victory, the other two pumping in the air. "You must've been the guy in charge around here."
Picking up the sai he heard something… wind! Picking up a little bit of speed, the figure ran to where it was coming from. He burst through the rotting wooden door and came to a stop as he looked around. He was outside, that much he knew. But again, where? The buildings nearby were old and falling apart, but they seemed almost like temples. The figure frowned. Still not knowing where he was. But happy to at least be out of the dark. The sky was a faded blue, with some clouds keeping the sun from fully illuminating the world. He looked around at the ruined island and kept wandering the grounds. He had a weird feeling again, he felt like he needed to follow an invisible force to a specific location. Looking around, the figure kept wandering until he stopped and looked up in awe at a what seemed like a courtyard. Off in the distance a very run-down throne sat, and what seemed like the charred remains of people on their knees. There was that flash again, and he briefly saw two figures locked in combat. But this wasn't what he was looking for. He kept running, looking for… something. He skidded to a stop when he saw another statue. This was of a towering figure with a giant hammer and a helmet on his head. Said helmet was resting on a stand in front of the statue. The figure looked at his hands, seeing the bumps and spikes on the back of his hand, then looked at the statues, seeing them on this figure. He ran a hand over his chest, seeing he was similarly built. Blinking, the figure slowly picked up the helmet and turned it over. It had clearly seen battle, but had upheld its strength. He slowly put the helmet on, and found it was far too big for him. But… it seemed right. Like he was supposed to wear this helmet one day. Finally, something clicked in the figure's mind, an idea, or just a possibility. He looked up and said one word:
"Father?"
Four Days Later…
There was a loud crack of lightning as the Elder God Raiden appeared. With him were five of Earthrealm's Warriors, Jacqui Briggs, daughter of Jax Briggs, Takeda, son of the blind swordsman Kenshi, Kung Jin, cousin of Kung Lao, and Cassie Cage, daughter of Johnny Cage. Who was also here.
"Right, so why are we here again?" Johnny asked for the fourth time, looking around at the somewhat familiar surroundings. "I kinda hoped I'd never have to see this place again…"
"He is alive." Was all Raiden said, before heading off in a seemingly random direction. "I can feel it."
"Who?" Cassie muttered, she wasn't too happy that the thunder god showed up without warning, told her and her team to prepare of something of great importance, then gave them two minutes before warping them wherever they were. Also, it was two in the morning, and they had been sleeping.
"Aside from Jin the lucky asshole…" She mentally grumbled. Due to his training, Jin needed at most ten minutes of sleep, then he could go for up to two days without it.
"Shao Kahn." Was all Raiden said. This did get a reaction out of Johnny though.
"HOLD UP!" He shouted, causing Raiden to stop and turn around. "You mean to tell me that Outworld asshole that is responsible for most of our friends' death's is alive!? HOW!?"
"I do not know Cage." Raiden replied in a serious tone. "But he is alive, he had a magic aura unlike any other. It has returned, and has returned here."
Cassie wasn't paying attention. She and Jin had headed off in one direction while Jacqui and Takeda went the other way, leaving Raiden and Johnny to yell at each other.
"So, Shao Kahn was the emperor of Outworld before Kotal, right?" Cassie asked. Not having paid too much attention during history.
"Yeah, he ruled for centuries, and killed a lot of people." Jin frowned.
"How'd he die?"
"It's unclear. Apparently, he broke the rules of the Mortal Kombat tournament and the Elder Gods destroyed him."
"Dumb question: how is he back then?"
"Similar to how Shinnok returned. Dark magic. Possibly." The archer shrugged. The two kept walking along a path. Jin holding his bow at the ready and Cassie's hand over her gun. If Shao Kahn was anything like what Raiden had told them he was like, they didn't think they'd be able to take him in a one-on-one. Well, that's what Jin thought. Cassie figured she might stand a chance.
"Whoa…" Jin breathed, looking at the courtyard the pair walked into. "This is it…"
"What?" Cassie muttered, annoyed with herself for ignoring most of the history briefings.
"This is where your parents fought. This is where Liu Kang and Kung Lao fought." Kung Jin explained. "This is where Mortal Kombat happened."
Cassie blinked, thinking about what Jin had said. She hadn't thought about it like that. She looked at the ruined buildings, wondering if this is where her parents first met. She had been told that they didn't get off to a great start, but she couldn't help but wonder what it was like back then. She turned to ask Jin something, but saw Kung Jin was on his knees, seemingly in a trance of sorts.
Kung Jin sat in silence, feeling the energy of the surrounding arena. The island itself seemed… dead. He sensed Cassie's energy, and five other signatures. Jacqui, Takeda, Johnny and Raiden- Wait. Five signatures?
"Hey, Takeda." Jacqui said, getting the Shira Ryu's attention. "Check this out."
Takeda walked over to where Jacqui was looking at an apple tree. Surprisingly, the tree was still alive, and apples were hanging off of its branches.
"Wanna try one?" She smirked.
"Eh, if you wanna get time off due to violent stomach cramps, go right ahead." Takeda rolled his eyes. He turned around to return to the writing on one of the walls, reading about the history of Mortal Kombat.
Munch.
Takeda blinked, unsure if he had just heard something. He shook his head and looked back to the writings.
Munch.
Okay, now he had heard something. It sounded like someone eating something.
"Jacq, don't tell me you're eating those apples." He grimaced, turning around. Only to see that Jacqui wasn't near the tree.
"I'm not…" Jacqui said, hesitantly turning around. There was another 'munch' and they turned to where the sound was coming from. They looked to one another, and nodded, slowly making their way towards the sound. The two had been told about the fury of Shao Kahn, but there was no way he could be hiding in such a small corner.
The two of them looked down, and saw a figure look up at them. The three locked eyes, looking form one to another.
"It's… It's just a kid." Jacqui blinked. "He can't be much older than six…"
"Who are you?" The figure asked, looking up at them, his eyes narrowing somewhat from behind the helmet he wore. Takeda got down onto one knee to try and seem less intimidating.
"I'm Takeda, that's Jacqui." He said. "Who are you?"
"…" The tiny boy didn't respond.
"Do you know how you got here?"
"…"
"Are you hurt?"
"No. No fool could hurt me." The boy said defiantly as if he was a battle-hardened warrior. Takeda looked with a bemused look and reached out with his telekinesis, but suddenly pulled back gasping in shock.
"Takeda! What's wrong!?" Jacqui exclaimed, shocked.
"He… he's Shao Kahn." Takeda breathed.
Hooray, another story! Before you ask, no. I'm not abandoning any of my other stories. I saw this idea on a reddit comment thread and thought that this would be a fun story. That's all I have to say for now. Now, back to the DBZ Death Battle fic… Hopefully that'll be done in a day or two.
