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Fury and
intensity ran through his blood as Kenshi raised his sword. He charged after the man who had manipulated him, the man who
had taken the souls of his warrior king ancestors, and the man who had taken his vision away. The man no other than Shang
Tsung, the shape shifting sorcerer.
Shang charged after him as well, his own sword raised. When they were close enough
to one another, they swung their swords at each other and they collided with one another. From there, they swung their weapons
at each other again and again, both playing offense and defense.
After a few minutes of this, Shang did a sudden back
flip and kicked under Kenshi’s chin in the process. Kenshi flew back a bit and landed on his side. Shang Tsung did a
couple of more back flips before standing back in his fighting stance.
Kenshi picked himself back up, his katana still
in his right hand. Shang smirked as he watched the swordsman get back on his feet.
“You may have taken me down
easily last time,” said Kenshi. “But this time, it won’t be so easy.”
Shang smirked even more.
“We’ll see about that.” At that, he put both of his hands out and a large fireball shot out straight at
Kenshi. Kenshi immediately felt the immense heat coming towards him and he rolled forward going towards Shang and out of the
way of the fireball.
As soon as Kenshi was a foot away, Shang brought his sword to the side and swung it sideways.
Kenshi jumped back and the sword was only close enough to rip a small portion of his suit on his side.
Kenshi lifted
his sword up to his face and once again, he and Shang exchanged weapon attacks at one another. It only resulted in their swords
constantly colliding at one another.
Then, after what seemed like a while, their weapons clashed with such a forced
that both lost grip of their swords at the same time. The weapons flew away from them and landed a few yards away.
Immediately,
Shang threw a quick jab at Kenshi’s jaw and connected with it. Kenshi’s head flew back sideways, but then he managed
to quickly recover and block the next incoming punch. Kenshi blocked a few more of Shang’s punches before Shang lifted
his leg up to knee Kenshi in the stomach. Kenshi sensed it coming and immediately grabbed his leg. With one quick twist, Shang’s
body was lifted from the ground and turned 360 degrees before Kenshi let go to drop him on the ground. Shang landed hard on
the ground, but managed to roll himself out of the way and get back on his feet before Kenshi executed another move.
Kenshi
ran towards his adversary once again. Shang stood at his spot awaiting the swordsman’s attack. As soon as Kenshi jumped
in the air and put one leg out to kick him, Shang quickly put his hand out towards him and immediately an eerie whistle from
the wind was heard. Kenshi suddenly felt some of his strength suck out of him like a vacuum cleaner. Shang stepped aside and
watched Kenshi land hard on his side and rolled back a couple of times. What had just happened stunned Kenshi for a few seconds.
He shook his head, determined to not lose that easily, and slowly began getting himself up.
“What did you.............do
to me........” Kenshi asked feeling his head spin in circles.
Shang laughed before replying, “You should
know by now that I infest souls. What I did was take a little part of your soul, weakening you and giving myself more strength.
I would take all of it right now, but I’m really enjoying this little battle of ours.”
Kenshi growled through
clenched teeth as he got himself to his feet. More rage consumed him as his mind drifted back to the day his ancestors’
souls were enslaved. He made a promise years ago to free them and he would fight as long as he can to free them, even if it
meant his own death and that his own soul would be enslaved by Shang Tsung.
With all the strength that was still left
in him, Kenshi ran back over towards Shang and when he was close enough, he swung his right fist to Shang’s face. Shang
blocked the move and immediately followed with an uppercut to Kenshi’s chin, another swung to his face, an uppercut
to his neck (knocking the wind out of Kenshi in the process) and ended it with a knees connected to his abdomen. Kenshi was
just about to collapse to his knees, but then Shang put his hand out and another ball of fire emerged out of it. It hit Kenshi
with an intense force that sent him flying back a few yards. When he landed on the concrete ground again on his side, the
immense pain took over Kenshi’s body and he found himself unable to get himself up as easily as he did before.
He........he
took me down, Kenshi thought to himself. Perhaps I don’t have what it takes to free my ancestors. He bowed
his head down feeling ashamed of himself.
Shang walked over to the fallen Kenshi and looked down at him. “Face
it, swordsman, you are nothing but a fool to think that you can take me down.”
He lifted his foot up a bit and
kicked Kenshi hard in the face causing him to turn on his other side. At this point, Kenshi didn’t care if Shang beat
him to a bloody pulp, his shame was fully filled inside of him.
Shang continued on. “I will admit, you are quite
a warrior for a blind man. Unfortunately, you are not strong enough to beat me...no one is.” He gave another hard kick
to Kenshi’s stomach. Immediately, Kenshi coughed up some blood.
“Now, this battle shall end for that I
have other things I must attend to.” Shang took out his hand and his eyes began to glow bright green. “First,
I took your vision. Now I shall take your soul.”
Immediately upon hearing that, Kenshi’s mind suddenly
began racing. All of the events that had occurred to him in his life came to him, mainly the more recent ones. And all of
the people he’s met came to him and he could hear their voices in his head.
General White’s voice came
first. “Are you sure you are up to it?” It was back when White had asked Kenshi if he was sure that he could take
on the mission in Outworld and its highly possible risks.
Cyrax’s robotic like came next. “It’s for
celebration time if the mission is successful.” It was back when White had found a bottle of Heineken in Cyrax’s
back pack before he went through the portal to Outworld.
The ninja Ermac’s voice followed, “As a blind
swordsman, like yourself, you hold many surprises.”
Next, he heard Jax. “Kenshi, you ARE part of the team.”
He had said this to Kenshi hours before leaving Outworld.
Sonya’s voice came soon after. “Good luck, Kenshi,
and be safe.” She had said this just before leaving for Outworld.
Then, he heard the sweet voice coming from
no other than his love Alex. “You are the best swordsman, don’t let others make you think otherwise.”
Alex...
A bit of sadness came over him at first. He laid there on the concrete ground as Shang got ready to finish him off. Then,
a thought came to him. If I die, Shang will take my soul. When Alex finds out, she would hunt him down and seek vengeance.
For
the last ten years before coming to Special Forces, he had been alone and it became worse when Shang took his vision. For
ten years, he sought out for Shang to not only free his ancestors, but also seek revenge from the sorcerer who had left him
blinded for life and for leaving him to die in the House of Pekara, his ancestors’ resting place. Vengeance burned within
him for so long that nothing else mattered to him, until the day he joined Special Forces and met Alex. Her kindness and concern
towards him took him away from his state of his needful vengeance and to him, it felt great to have the angry feeling off
his shoulders for a while. It had come back to him when he came to Outworld, but when he thought about Alex during his mission,
all of the anger and pain he’s ever experienced seem to go away.
Now, as Shang got ready to take his soul, Kenshi
found a new reason to defeat the sorcerer once and for all. I will not let Alex go through what I have been through!
He
thought about the new telekinetic powers that the ninja Ermac had given him during the reason. This was the reason why
I was given these powers...they would help take Shang down.
Just a split second before his soul was sucked out
of him, Kenshi quickly pulled his hand out and pointed it towards Shang.
A sudden force hit Shang and he found himself
pushed back. What the... he thought. As the swordsman slowly got himself back to his feet, Shang became aghast by
what he saw. Kenshi’s hands and head was glowing in a purple aura as his telekinetic powers emerged out of him and now
being used against the sorcerer.
“Impossible...” Shang said under his breath.
Kenshi smirked upon
hearing that. “It is possible. I’m a blind warrior, I’m supposed to be filled with many surprises. Now here
comes a few more of them.”
Shang felt himself lifted in the air and smashed down to the ground a few times. Then,
he was thrown back and forth around the palace ground, hitting all of the statues and walls around them. Then, Kenshi brought
Shang crashing back right in front of him. Shang tried getting back up as he felt his head spinning in different directions.
The
sorcerer became desperate at that point. He knew that the blind warrior could snap his neck with the powers that he had and
Shang had to take him down immediately. When he turned his head to the left, he found that his straight sword was only an
arm length away and Kenshi’s was a few feet away.
“It’s over, sorcerer,” Kenshi said. “How
does it feel to be beaten by a blind man?”
Shang looked up at him and growled. “It isn’t over yet.”
Then, he quickly reached his hand over and grabbed his sword. Immediately, Kenshi sensed Shang’s movement and when he
heard him pick up an object, Kenshi knew that he got access to his sword again. In high speed, Kenshi lifted his leg up and
with all of his strength, he kicked Shang’s wrist forcing him to let go of his sword. Then, Kenshi lifted his leg higher
and followed it up by bending his knee back and kicked his heel into Shang’s temple. The sudden pain forced Shang to
go down on his knees.
Kenshi brought his hand to his side and the purple aura appears on his hands and head again.
His katana was lifted up from it’s place on the ground and floated back towards Kenshi who grabbed its handle upon reach.
He walked over at the fallen sorcerer. Shang looked up at Kenshi, who stood over him sword in hand. The swordsman stood there
for a moment, not moving, not talking, not even thinking.
Then, without any mercy within him, Kenshi brought the edge
of the sword to the concrete ground, then quickly performed an uppercut with it. In the process, he left behind a long, deep
wound in Shang’s torso. Kenshi could feel the warm blood splattering on him, but he didn’t care for that he had
finally given what the sorcerer deserved.
In an instant, green souls emerged from Shang’s body as he screamed
in agony from the pain he was feeling. Soon after, his lifeless body fell forward. Kenshi could sense the souls going in different
directions, going where they can finally rest in peace.
Kenshi then felt a powerful energy within his katana and a
large group of souls flying around him. My ancestors, he thought. He lift his sword and held it above his head and
the souls around him returned to their resting place within the katana. When all were in, the energy disappeared.
For
a moment, Kenshi stood there, the winds blowing lightly. Then, he put his sword, stained with some of Shang’s blood,
back into its scabbard behind him.
He’s finally dead, Kenshi thought. All of my goals have finally
been accomplished.
Then, he began to walk to away from the palace ground. Where he was going to go he wasn’t
sure of. After five minutes of walking, he could feel an angry rumble beneath his feet. The palace behind him was collapsing.
***
Sonya,
Jax, and the rest of their allies made a run for it as the palace began to collapse. They headed towards the edge of the woods,
away from the danger they will leave behind.
When they reached the woods, the palace was almost demolished into nothing
but rubble, but that was not what they ended up watching. The souls from the Soulnado quickly made their way into different
directions, going to their resting place to move on to their afterlives.
Sonya smiled at this. “They are free
once again.”
Then, one soul lingered over to the warriors. The soul was small at first like the rest of the souls.
Then, it grew and formed into a human, a human that everyone immediately recognized.
Kitana stepped forward a couple
of feet towards the soul. “Liu Kang...” she could only say.
Liu smiled and nodded at each warrior standing
before him. “I thank you, my friends. You have freed us from enslavement.”
“But Shang...” Jax
began to say.
“Do no worry about him,” Liu insisted. “Another mortal warrior eliminated him and put
him out of his misery. The mortal warrior fought well and he possessed strong senses.”
The last statement made
Sonya leap inside. Kenshi! she thought. He was still alive at this point now. She quickly looked around but he was
no where to be seen.
“He is far now,” Liu continued looking at Sonya as though he knew what she was thinking.
“Not sure where he is heading.” He looked at everyone again, mainly Kitana and Kung Lao. “I must go on now.
I will always be watching over you. Take care.” With that, his human form became a small green orb again. Liu joined
the rest of the souls to go on with their afterlives.
Everyone was silent for a minute. The deadly alliance was no
more, the sorcerers were dead, and the once-enslaved souls were free to go on.
Then, Kung Lao broke the silence. “Now
what?” he asked.
Sonya immediately replied, “There’s one more mission we must do...we have to find
Agent Kenshi.”
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