Mortal Kombat Fan Fiction ❯ Of Serpents and Sirens ❯ Mortal Kombat ( Chapter 31 )

There was a hush over the crowd as Shao Khan stood, hammer raised in the air.

"Let your challenger step forth! Victory will be mine!"

Liu made to step forward but Raiden's hand on his shoulder stopped him. 

He eyed Raiden angrily.

"Have faith Liu Kang."

Fai shook his head and grimaced. "This is not good. He is not stepping forward."

Meili touched his arm gently but he ripped it away.

"Give it time Fai."

"If Māmā steps into that arena she is dead and so am I. I cannot...I will fade, Meili."

Shao Khan laughs loudly, pointing his hammer at the crowd.

"No one will challenge me?! Not even your chosen one, Raiden? Very well. Then I will choose my opponent myself!"

/  -  /  -  /  -  /

Shang looks down at the arena visibly seething. What was going on? Liu Kang should have already entered the arena by now and challenged the emperor.

'What was Raiden doing?'

Lily squeezes his hand gently and his gaze shifts to her and she smiles softly.

"He's probably running late. Give it time, Shang."

He shook his head, "Liu Kang is never late to a fight. It is against his very nature."

His gaze shifts again to the young man in the crowd. He is stone-faced looking back but his eyes held so much fiery anger he visibly recoiled.

The young man pointed at him then at Shao Khan, before arching a brow at him.

As if he was saying, 'You fight.'

He scoffed at the idea and shook his head, refusing it.

Him, fight Shao Khan? Impossible. He was still bound to his service, he can not harm him without harming himself in the process.

The young man deflated, the anger completely swept from his eyes and replaced by...sorrow?

Shang Tsung watched as the man moved forward a few steps, before Shao Khan's next words stunned them all.

/  - /  -  /  -  /

"My opponent will be none other than...."

He points his hammer to the balcony.

"Lily Cage!"

He shoots to his feet. "Your excellency? Might I suggest another-"

"Enough sorcerer! She will fight or you both will die."

Lily gripped his arm as she stood, completely calm.

She smiled at Shang Tsung, and placed her hand against his face. He closed his eyes, leaning into her touch.

"I love you, Shang Tsung."

And she leapt from the balcony, flipping in air and landed kneeling. When she stood back up, her eyes were filled with fire.

"Lily!"

Shao Khan roared with laughter. "You think that little trick will save you? You will break under my hammer and Earthrealm will be mine!"

He raised his hammer and as it came down at her, she smiled clutching her stomach.

'Its okay Fai.'

/  -  /  -  /  -  /

Fai dropped to one knee, clutching his chest in pain. He looked down at his hand and grimaced. It was beginning to turn black.

"Cousin!" Meili grabbed his shoulder.

He clutched her hand, "It is happening. I must intervene before it is too late."

"No!"

"I must. Please tell Fan Xiu that I'm sorry."

She's crying, pulling on his arm. "No! You said we would both go back. Táng xiōng! Please?"

He struggles to his feet and grins at her, brushing her bangs back. "You have always been like a little sister to me."

He nods to the others and steps back.

And with a flick of his hand a portal opens under him and he lets himself fall.

She tried following him but was held back by Johnny. Meili collapsed sobbing into his arms.

"Fai!"

/  -  /  -  /  -  /

A portal opens up right above Lily and he drops right in front of her and throws both hands up,  a shield of green magic forming in front of him just as the hammer hits. A large crack forms.

Shao Khan roars in anger.

"Lily Cage are you alright?"

She nodded as she locked eyes with the man in front of her. She looked at him confused.

"Its alright. I will take over from here. You may leave now."

"Who are you?"

He arched a brow at her and grinned.

She gasped. When he did that, he looked so much like Shang.

He shot an angry look at the balcony and yelled at the top of his lungs.

"How dare you! You call yourself the greatest soul sorcerer to live?! You are nothing but a coward!"

The hammer falls yet again and the shield fractures a little more.

Shang sneers down at the young man, "And who are you to call me that?"

"Goddess, you're stubborn. That damned pride of yours is going to get us both killed!"

Another crack and he coughs violently, blood spilling from his lips.

"I am no coward boy!"

"Then why are you letting another man protect the woman you love?"

That caught him off guard and he stilled.

"You can't even say it, can you? She is your soul, your heart and yet you would let her die...let your son die all because your afraid! So swallow that damn pride of yours for once! Fight damn it!"

The shield shatters  and the hammer catches him in the side, sending him flying into the stone wall just below the balcony.

He grunts, crying out in pain as he can feel ribs break and flesh tear.

Lily rushes to him and tries to keep him still but he stumbles back to his feet, clutching his side and grunting in pain. He pushes her behind him as Shao Khan advances on them.

"Very well boy. If you want to die as well then I will grant you your wish."

"Damn it Fùqīn! Protect Māmā!"

'Fùqīn' "Father?"

Lily gasped, clutching the young man's arm.

"You're...you...are..."

"Fai." Shang breathed, stunned and shocked to the core. His hands clenched and unclenched.

His son...grown to a young man...standing in front of him, protecting his mother and he never felt more disgusted with himself. His own son traveled from another time to protect his mother while he only stood and watched? Fai was right...he was a coward. A complete disgrace.

Anger and rage surged through him.

'No more...No more of this hiding...this cowering in a corner.'

Fai was right...he was the greatest soul sorcerer to have ever lived and it was about damn time he started acted like it again.

Lily and his son were the most important beings in his life and he would not let them suffer. Not anymore.

He threw his jacket off and behind him and he yelled as loud as he could.

"Shao Khan, that is enough! You will not touch them again!"

The emperor threw his head back and laughed. "You forget your place, sorcerer! You do not give orders to your emperor!"

Shang Tsung scoffed, "You are no emperor, Shao Khan! You are a dim-witted conqueror who believes himself royalty! Your deceit ends now!"

He points to him, "Shao Khan, I challenge you to Mortal Kombat!"