Arc 1: Three Brothers of Destiny
Chapter 2: Twisted Clash
“We’re ready”, Liu Said.
“Good. Follow us”, Jian said leading the way.
Jian, followed behind by his younger brother Lao led two of Earth Realm’s greatest fighters, Liu Kang and Kung Lao, to a location safe from chaos. This is where everything would be explained.
Lao looked up at the sky. Just by staring at the sun, he knew how much time passed by.
“Damn it. 90 minutes left. We need to hurry”.
“Whatever you say little brother. Here’s fine”, Jian said.
The warriors sat down. Lao and Jian sat on the ground to one side while Liu Kang and Kung Lao sat on the other.
“So, do you mind explaining why Raiden called us so oddly?” Liu asked.
“What do you mean?” Jian replied innocently.
“Please Jian. Stop messing around. I’ll tell you why”, Lao said.
Lao’s face turned grim while Jian looked at him with an expression that said “Don’t tell them”.
“This…this man, or demon, or whatever you want to call him, rose to power in Outworld. No one knew how. The Elder Gods were baffled at how this middle-aged person overthrew Shao Kahn just like that. They all thought he would continue the traditions of Mortal Kombat, but…”
“He didn’t”, Jian continued. “He enlisted Quan Chi’s help before Quan was even known to exist in Earth Realm. This guy was just glowing with power. Every step he took, the ground shook. Every breath he made, everything was blown away. Apparently, Quan Chi sensed this power and joined him.”
“So what did he have Quan Chi do?” Kung Lao asked.
Jian and Lao looked at each other. Jian then took in a deep breath and sighed.
“Immediately after meeting, this freak ordered Quan Chi to create a portal that would make them able to travel to the future or any time they want. Quan Chi said he didn’t have enough power to do it, so the freak turned Quan Chi to who he is today”.
“What do you mean?” Liu asked.
“Did you ever wonder what those black marks over his eyes were? Or why his skin was so pale?” Lao asked.
Liu and Kung both nodded “no”.
“Well, before he met this new ruler, he looked like a mortal. Like Shang Tsung. When he made the new ruler mad, he cursed him. He burned his skin off, turned it to ash, and made it stick permanently on Quan Chi. Those black marks are from when the ruler used his pet Dragon Titan Long Yuan.”
“Dragon Titan?” Liu asked.
“The Dragon Titan”, Jian continued, is a beast said to have come from the pits of the Netherrealm. It was apparently wild and nearly destroyed the Netherrealm since no one got near it. The ruler found it, tamed it, and became its master. Its claws cut deep into Quan Chi’s face. There’s something in its claws…something that turned his scars black. Whatever it was, it gave him full control over Quan Chi”.
“When Quan Chi had enough power to create the portal, he created the Jue Shi Tianxin. The freak figured that if conquering the present was too much hassle, he’d conquer the future where there would hopefully be no more powerful warriors. He was right”, Jian told.
“Somehow, in this time, everything stopped. No more invasions, no more battles, no more evil rulers. The last fight was to take place in Beijing where it ended in a powerful blast, but that’s all we know and that’s what supposedly happened”, Lao said.
“So…his plan is to conquer the future so it would seem like he ruled for over thousands of years?” Liu said.
“Correct”, Lao replied.
“But how can he conquer this time? Everything’s peaceful. There’s no need to conquer anything”, Kung Lao said.
Jian looked up and smiled. Suddenly, an inhuman voice came out of his mouth.
“Your deaths will shape time forever”, Jian said.
Everyone jumped up to see that Jian had been impaled through the heart and was no lying on the ground.
“Jia….JIAN!!!!!!!!!” Lao shouted.
It was Quan Chi. “Calm down Lao Shen. Jian has been dead for some time now. He was killed when he was going through the Shaowuji. You’d be surprised at how much sorcery can help when someone’s traveling through portals”, Quan Chi said laughing.
Lao was beginning to tear while Kung Lao and Liu Kang were stranding ready to fight.
“Quan Chi you bastard!!” Lao shouted. “How dare you?!?!!!”
“What part of calm down do you not understand? How’s this. I pretended to be him since he came back to this time. This is what I call being a “puppet master”. I gave him enough life energy to look alive until I got bored of it. So now that he’s dead, I guess I can feed him to some friends”, Quan Chi said smiling.
Quan Chi lifted his hand which was glowing a green essence. This lifted Jian’s body of the ground. Lao looked in shock.
“Liu! We have to do something now!!” Kung Lao shouted.
“Right! Lao!” Liu shouted.
Lao looked back to see the warriors ready to strike. He nodded back. All three warriors ran towards Quan Chi.
Quan Chi simply smiled and threw Jian behind 20 feet behind him.
Far behind the group was a group of flesh eaters.
Lao stopped in place and looked in horror. They were eating his brother.
“Like them? I call them rukwan. My own little creations.”
Lao heard the flesh of his brother being torn off, bones being broken and crunched on, and sounds of hundreds of hungry men. He couldn’t muster the strength to go on. He couldn’t fight.
This didn’t stop Liu Kang and Kung Lao.
Liu Kang used a flying kick against Quan Chi. A wall of skulls shot out of the ground protecting him. Liu kicked straight into the skulls which slowed him down and made him fall to the ground.
Kung Lao jumped into the air and threw his hat at Quan Chi. Quan Chi formed six skulls in his hands and shot them at Kung Lao. Two deflected the hat, while the other four went to Kung Lao. Kung Lao broke three with his bare hands while the fourth hit him square in the chest and knocked him back down to Earth.
Quan Chi laughed at how weak Liu and Kung Lao were.
“These are Earth’s champions? Pathetic!!”
Laughing, Quan Chi looked towards the sky in his happiness. Laughing with his mouth open, he got his first shock in a long time.
Lao came down from the sky with Kung Lao’s hat. With anger, Lao shoved the hat down Quan Chi’s mouth, slicing his mouth open. As fast as he could move, Quan Chi knocked Lao away, but he didn’t stay down. Lao charged back throwing the hat and then using his own weapons.
The hat was blocked, but Lao then came at Quan Chi with a small dagger. He threw the dagger at Quan Chi’s eye. With a slow reaction from the injury he just received, Quan Chi couldn’t block the dagger.
It impaled him in his left eye and stayed there. Lao ran up to him and unleashed a flurry of kicks. The kicks were delivered with a strength that surprised Liu Kang and Kung Lao. The kicks were visible for about two seconds, then it looked like he had 40 legs, and soon it became impossible to keep track. Each kick hit Quan Chi with so much force, that the ground even took damage.
With a jump into the air, Lao delivered a roundhouse kick to Quan Chi’s face and he went flying backwards.
Quan Chi hit the ground hard. It created a large crater with debris everywhere. Quan Chi spit up blood for the first time since he’s been in the future.
Lao turned to the champions. “Liu Kang! Kung Lao! Now!!!”
Liu and Kung looked at each other and charged to deliver the final blow. Quan Chi just stood up, but he had no time to defend himself. Liu hit him with a bicycle kick that lifted him into the air. He then fired four blasts hitting the sorcerer even farther.
Kung Lao was standing waiting for Quan Chi to descend back down.
In close range, Kung Lao began spinning around quickly. Liu Kang firmly stood. He had enough power to withstand Kung Lao’s tornado. He and Kung Lao was hoping Lao could do the same.
Quan Chi came down and could do nothing about it. He was too weak from Lao’s kicks and Liu’s attacks.
He was shredded instantly. His last screams echoed throughout the three warriors ears as his blood and flesh spilled everywhere.
Kung Lao stopped and was standing in a pool of blood and wet meat.
At this point, Lao was looking over to where his brother laid. All he saw was hundreds of beasts crowding around a body.
Liu put his hand on Lao’s shoulder. “I’m sorry about Jian”, he said.
Kung Lao walked over to the two.
“I’m sorry to–”
Suddenly, Kung Lao went flying through the air. Lao and Liu turned around in shock to see what was happening. Someone was controlling Kung Lao.
They then heard hundreds of screams. Lao turned around to see the rukwan being thrown into the air. Someone was throwing them into the air as he was approaching the warriors.
“It…it’s him! It’s the demon!!” Lao shouted.
Kung Lao was screaming in pain as he was being bounced off the ground and the mountains.
“Put him down now!!” Liu shouted.
Kung Lao screamed in agony at what was happening. His entire body was being broken. His arms crunched as they were pushed into his shoulder. His legs twisted around and came as close to touching his head as they could. His other leg went over his shoulder and snapped. With one final scream, Kung Lao was no more and was now nothing more than a ball of a former human.
“KUNG LAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Liu shouted.
Lao shuddered in fear at the sight. Who could ever be this strong? What were they up against now?
The Kung Lao ball bounced on the ground leaving a puddle of blood with each bounce. One last bounce and the ball exploded in blood.
“You have got to be a fool to not run now”, the figure said.
Liu ran towards him intent on avenging his fallen friend.
“Liu Kang don’t!!!” Lao shouted.
The figure simply chuckled and began walking towards them.
“Do you want to fight me?” the figure asked.
Liu Kang was two inches away and then suddenly…
“You really do”, the figure said.
And Liu went flying back in pain.
“You have no idea what I’m capable of. I can kill you just by talking to you. Everything I do contains power. If I wanted to, you’d be dead just by my breathing”.
“Liu, we have to get out of here. He’s too powerful to fight now. We’ll have to meet with the Elder Gods to find out how to fight this man”, Lao said picking up Liu.
“That’s right. Run”, the figure said.
Lao picked up Liu and began running. However, the figure lifted his hand to reveal a metal claw. He shot the claw towards the two warriors. Liu noticed it.
He shoved Lao out of the way and jumped in front of the metal claw, and everyone was shocked at what happened next.
To be continued….
Author’s Notes: This is something I decided to do now. It just gives notes on what’s going on with the writing and other things about the series. Here’s to start. I’ve been getting a couple e-mails asking if any of the Chinese sounding words are actual Chinese. They’re not. Shaowuji is a play on a comic book called Shenwuji. I just like that name a lot. Jue Shi Tianxin are a mix of some of my favorite character names in Chinese comics. The only actual Chinese word in this story so far is “Ying Xiong” which means “Hero” in Mandarin. In this chapter, the only term to be able to translate into English is rukwan. Ruk in Thai means love and Wan in Cantonese is cloud. Cloud is the nickname and translation of my Vietnamese girlfriend’s name so there’s a little cheeky reference ^_^.
I write the story out beforehand so I’m not making this up as I go along. I want this to go on as long as possible, but I don’t think Emperor will like having the section cluttered with my stories. I’ll have to find a way to condense them. So far, there are still some questions that need answering and I will get to them. I have written the stories I wanted to and drawn some of the characters, and let me say, this can truly be an epic story. In response to Jian, Quan Chi, and Kung Lao dying, there’s a reason. Don’t worry.
I can say right now that there are more MK characters due for appearances and parts in the story. Raiden, Sub-Zero, Kitana, and Johnny Cage are confirmed so far. More are being considered and there are other non-MK characters that I’m sure will be likeable are on the way.
PART3
Arc 1: Three Brothers of Destiny
Chapter 3: Jaiden the Descendant
“Remember your task Raiden”.
“I will”.
“We need to start gathering warriors to repel the forthcoming invasion”.
“Is there any reason why we need to recruit his descendant and not his present self?”
“In time Raiden. In time you will learn why”.
“Understood”.
Raiden burst into lightning and then disappeared from the Temple of the Elder Gods.
Year: 2345. Location: Los Angeles, California.
She was a bit nervous, but she still decided to go on the date. Hearing nothing but terrible things about his girlfriend, she was even shocked that she went on the date.
“Ummm….Billy…do you think we should be out here in public? I mean your girlfriend–”
He put his finger on her mouth.
“Now Elizabeth, you know that I dumped her. I’m a free man! I can do whatever the hell I want”.
About three tables down, a certain face was enjoying his dinner with a friend. He ordered anything he wanted and had no problem paying it off.
“He…hey Jaiden…d-d-d…ACCCCHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
Jaiden ducked.
“Jesus Donnie. Why are you even out here? I know if I had the flu that bad, I’d stay home!”
“Come on…Jaiden..you’re my…my friend. I’m gon-gonna hang out with you”.
“You’re too kind”.
Jaiden turned his head around just to look at all the other people in the restaurant. He happened to look at Billy and Elizabeth. Jaiden silently thought to himself.
“Damn is that guy ugly”.
Jaiden was right. For a guy looking like Billy, it was surprising he got anyone to go out with him. He was short, bald, and chubby with thick red glasses. Elizabeth, however, was easy on Jaiden’s eyes. A tall slender body with blonde flowing hair and a decent size chest. Jaiden was just staring at her trying to listen to their conversation.
“But Billy! I really don’t think we should be out here when Da–”
Billy cut her off right there.
“AAAHHH!!! You can never say her name! No matter what, she’ll show up immediately! I just don’t get it. It’s like she’s psychic and can teleport anywhere”.
Elizabeth scoffed it off and didn’t believe him.
“Tch. Yeah right. I just think you got too much Danielle on your mind!”
Billy looked at the door in shock.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!”
He immediately jumped off the table and hid underneath. Suddenly, an angry teenage girl appeared. She walked around looking like she was looking for something. Jaiden was all too kind to point her in Billy’s direction.
“Ummm…Miss”, Jaiden whispered pointing underneath Billy’s table.
The girl kicked Billy’s exposed behind and he shot out from underneath.
“HA! I caught you! Remember what you said?”
“Yeah yeah, ‘I always love you…blah blah blah’. But damn it Danielle, you’re too controlling!!”
“But don’t you get it Billy? You can’t stop loving me until I stop loving you”, she said.
“What does that mean?” Billy asked confused.
“Well, to put it simply. Only I can dump you”.
“What?!” Billy and Elizabeth shouted.
“WHAT?!” Jaiden thought.
Danielle got up and walked towards Jaiden and Donnie. Since they were both watching, they tried to pretend the weren’t and quickly turned around acting normal.
“Do you have a knife?” Danielle asked in a cutesy voice.
Donnie and Jaiden started grabbing every piece of silverware in sight handing it to Danielle like they wanted to help her in any way they could.
“Here here…take them all”, Jaiden said.
“You think she’s gonna c-cut him?” Donnie asked to Jaiden.
“Heh. I wouldn’t have given here all that silver if she didn’t”, Jaiden said smirking.
Danielle held out a knife.
“Here. Remember what you said? If you ever cheated on me, you’d cut something off…”
“YES!!!” Jaiden shouted.
“…And give me the keys to your Ferrari”.
“Umm…cool?” Jaiden said.
Billy looked at her sternly. He then took the knife and put it near his pinky. He inched it closer and closer. With each move, Elizabeth moved in closer. So did Danielle. So did Jaiden and Donnie. So did the waiters. So did everyone in the restaurant.
“FOR FREEDOM!!!!!!!” Billy shouted.
With one swift move, he diced off his pinky, gave it to Danielle, and ran out with Elizabeth following.
“Ha! Serves him right. But fuck he’s ugly! Now he’s an ugly fuck who can’t drive. Hello bus pass!!” Jaiden thought.
Danielle went back to Jaiden’s table and put down the silverware. She was visibly upset and began to cry.
“This looks good. Can I have some?” she said taking Donnie’s wine.
“Whoa whoa whoa whoa…” Donnie said taking it away, “you can’t have any”.
“Well why?” Danielle said taking the glass back.
“Because!” Donnie said loudly. He then drank the wine.
“Donnie…manners”, Jaiden said.
“What? I don’t want her to get my flu”, Donnie said.
Danielle then took the entire bottle of wine and chugged it all within 30 seconds. Jaiden and Donnie were staring at her without moving and they were both shocked.
“That bottle costs a lot”, Donnie said.
Jaiden moved out of his seat so Danielle could sit down.
“Do you wanna talk about it?” Jaiden asked.
“Not really”, she said cracking a half smile while tearing up. “He was such an idiot. I was too. I don’t know why I went out with him”.
She was talking, Donnie was trying to get the last few drops out of the wine bottle, and Jaiden was staring and listening. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Shoulder-length brown hair, C-sized chest, broad shoulders, not too tall and not too short. It was practically the girl of his dreams.
“I’m sorry”, she said getting up. “I’m wasting your time and ruining your night”. She began to leave.
Jaiden wasn’t gonna waste any time.
“Danielle wait!”
She stopped and turned around. “Yes?”
“You didn’t get my name yet. Its Jaiden. Jaiden Christan. You can call me JC if you want”.
She smiled and it seemed that she stopped crying altogether. “My name’s Danielle. And I won’t tell you my last name because I don’t want to!” she said cheerfully.
“Haha alright. Got a phone number? Can I call you?”
“Well I don’t really give out numbers to people I don’t know, but…you can reach me at A1-32XD-987”.
“Sweet. Call you later a’ight babe?” Jaiden said jokingly.
“I’ll be waiting”, she said.
“You better not do your 4F’s on her Jaiden”.
“What 4F’s?” Jaiden said.
“Find them, feed them, fook them, flee”. Donnie said.
“Oh please Donnie. There’s something about that girl. I don’t need the 4F’s.”
4:00 a.m. Danielle is sleeping in her bed.
“Get away…you dumb idiot…you suck..you really really suck. Jaiden is better…”
Jaiden is up playing Warcraft 39 on his Playstation 92. Suddenly he remembers.
“Damn! Danielle!” Jaiden grabbed his phone and called her.
“Trying to get to youuuuuuu and ‘dat booty. Trying to get to youuuuuuu and ‘dat booty”.
The ringtone from 2007 was still on Danielle’s phone. She picked up with her eyes still closed.
“Hello?”
“Hello? Can I speak to Danielle?”
“Speaking”.
“Danielllllllllle! I told you I’d call!”
“Are you crazy? Do you know what time it is?”
And she hung up.
“Damn!! How come I have rotten luck with women?” Jaiden yelled running outside.
“For God’s sake!! Take me now!!” he shouted to the sky. “Take me now!! Take me now!!!”
Nearby, a homeless man was watching.
“This is why I don’t come to this city…”, he said walking away.
“Lord! If you want me to have rotten luck with women and take me away, show me a sign!! Hit me with lightning!!!!”
Suddenly, a lightning bolt hit the ground right in front of Jaiden. Jaiden looked straight down and then back up to the sky.
“Oh now you hear me?” Jaiden said.
“Yup”, said a deep voice from the sky.
Jaiden darted his head straight back up to the sky in shock and confusion. He then shrugged it off.
Another lightning bolt hit the ground.
“What the hell?”
Suddenly, the lightning took the form of a being and out walked Raiden.
Raiden’s eyes were filled with electricity. He took one look at Jaiden and the electricity disappeared.
“Wait…you’re Johnny Cage’s descendant?” Raiden asked in shock.
“Johnny who?”
“Come on kid, no time to talk. We got to–”
He was then interrupted by a blood-curdling scream.
“What? SHIT!! DONNIE!!!” Jaiden said running back towards his house. Raiden grabbed him.
“No! I was too late. The Serpent already found us and dispatched the rukwan to this city”.
“RUK-WHAT?!?!” Jaiden shouted.
Suddenly, the rukwan jumped out of Jaiden’s window. There were dozens of them. Seconds later, the night was full with screams from everyone. Women, men, children, everyone.
“I have to get you to China”, Raiden told Jaiden.
“What the hell is in China?! I’m not going anywhere you freak. Not without Donnie. Donnie!!!” Jaiden screamed into the hordes. A rukwan jumped towards Jaiden, but Raiden spotted it quickly and threw a lightning bolt to it, blowing it up.
“Holy God…” Jaiden said in shock.
Raiden jumped in front of Jaiden and threw a huge ball of electricity towards the rukwan, knocking them all away. Inside, Jaiden saw the mutilated and eaten corpse of his former friend.
“What the hell…..DONNIE!!!!!” Jaiden shouted. He then turned to Raiden. “You bastard!! What the hell did you bring here?! You got my friend killed!!” he shouted angrily.
“No time to explain. We have to go. Now”.
“Hell no. I’m not going anywhere with you”, Jaiden said disgusted by Raiden’s unsympathetic voice.
“Is there anyone else we need to get before we leave?” Raiden asked.
Jaiden thought about it. At this point, there was only one other person on his mind.
“Danielle. We gotta get Danielle!”
“Danielle? Danielle who?” Raiden asked.
“Who cares?! I’ll tell where she is!” Jaiden said.
“That’s it? Some girl? Not your parents or anything?”
“My parents are in another country and I have no siblings. Let’s go!”
“Well do you know where she is?” Raiden asked.
Jaiden was about to snap back at Raiden’s remark when he suddenly remembered he didn’t have Danielle’s address.
“Hahahaha ha ha. Looks like Lover boy here doesn’t have an address”, Raiden said in a mocking manner. Jaiden looked to the ground depressed. Suddenly he heard what seemed to be the voice of an angel from behind him.
“Jaiden?”
“Danielle?!”
Jaiden whipped around.
“How did you find me?” Jaiden said running to her.
“Its 2345. My phone can track your address by tracing your phone number silly”, she said. “I left right after I hung up on you”.
“That’s great! I forgot all about that”. Jaiden said.
“What’s going on?” she said.
“I don’t know. Its just crazy”, Jaiden replied back.
“Ahem…excuse me people. Crazy flesh eaters coming and you two standing there. Let’s go!” Raiden said.
“Who’s he?”
“Who cares? He’s getting us out”.
“You’re really gonna trust someone you never met Jaiden?”
Suddenly, a dozen rukwan came running down the street growling and howling. Danielle turned around and looked in shock.
“Let’s go”, she said running towards Raiden.
They both grabbed Raiden and looked around the ruined neighborhood.
“Well what the hell are you waiting for?” Jaiden shouted.
“Nothing. Its just that, being a God, I don’t get hugged like this. Just savoring the moment”.
Danielle then kicked Raiden in the groin.
“OWW! Jeez…fine. China, here we come!!!”
In a flash of lightning, the three were gone.
Author’s notes: Whoo, I need a definite posting schedule. Right now, I’m trying to go one chapter every 11 days.
As you may have noticed, Raiden has his MKC personality. Frankly, I like this one better and I’m using it.
As for the story, I may be doing something I’m gonna regret, but I have all of the story planned. There will be 3 arcs. Shaowuji: Kombat of the Future: The Three Brothers of Destiny will run for 20 chapters and have to deal with (obviously) the Three Brothers of Destiny. The title of the second arc is still being decided. It will either be called Shaowuji EX or GX. The arc will be called 10 Demons of Fate. There is a twist in this second arc that I will not yet reveal and I’m sure you will be surprised. It will run between 20 and 30 chapters. The third will be called Shaowuji Legends. This arc is titled Eternal Heroes and will run for an estimated 20 chapters. It should be noted that the titles and number of chapters will change.
I have come up with more characters that will appear and not. I can say with a firm voice that Scorpion will NOT appear in Shaowuji. I know I know, you must be like “Kenshin you stupid idiot! How could you have Sub-Zero and not Scorpion!?!?!?!?! WTFOMGZ!!?!?!” Well, that’s the thing. Everyone expects that since Sub-Zero is somewhere, Scorpion also has to be there. Well, I want a challenge. I want to see what other enemies can be matched against Sub-Zero. Scorpion will be mentioned though.
Right now, no one from the Deadly Alliance and Deception games will appear. I am tempted to bring Frost in, but I’m not sure.
I am proud to announce that Nightwolf is definitely confirmed. Nightwolf is one of my favorite characters, so here he is.
For all you Chinese novel readers out there, there will be a character solely based on the main character of one of the great novels of China. You will see him when things boil to epic proportions which will be in like….3 chapters I guess.
Sun Wukong here we come!!!
-Kenshin
(After almost a year-long hiatus, this story is back after heavy revamping. If you were reading and kept up with this, I thank you very very much)
Arc 1: Three Brothers of Destiny
Chapter 4: The Silver Hero
He had many names throughout his life. The Flying Swordsman. The Flying Drunkard. The Silver Hero. His name is Lau Xun-huan.
The wandering hero with the tragic past moves up and down the country destroying evil and drinking his memories away.
As a child, he was raised in a stable household and was destined for the next Mortal Kombat tournament. Fate would lead him to learn Tai Chi from his father and become a controlled drunk. As his parents and siblings were killed, he left his home carrying earrings filled with the blood of his family and the dagger left behind from his dad. Not caring on who massacred his family and haunted by the memories, his hair gradually turned a silver color; hence his nickname “The Silver Hero”.
The breeze comforted him. It was the first time he felt at peace. He listened carefully as the waves crashed amongst the rocks. This rough sound soothed him.
He pulled out a jug of wine and began drinking. He didn’t care if it got all over him, he just had to have his wine. It splashed all over his face and his clothes. He didn’t care.
Footsteps approached from behind. Lau took a break from drinking and glanced back. Just some ordinary people. He continued drinking.
“Silver Hero..please. We beg you. Our town is pillaged every night by the same bandits. Please we need your help!”
‘Begging and pleading…how pathetic’
“Your town doesn’t concern me unless I happen to walk in that direction. Depending on my mind, your town will be saved or damned”.
True to his reputation, he helped no one who asked directly. He only helped when he encountered it directly.
Lau stood up and left.
Night. Huo Lan Town.
The people of this small community begin locking up their shops and homes and prepare for the bandits to tear through. Some pray to stay alive. Others pray for a miracle by the Silver Hero.
*Crash. Crash*
It was starting.
“Hehehe…let’s see what this piece of shit town has left to offer…”
“No! No! Please let me go!!”
“Bitch hold still!”
“Mother!!”
“Come on boys. It’s free entertainment!”
Young children hid under tables and their mothers were covering their ears to block out the horrors outside their homes.
One mother was hiding her two young girls.
“Please. Grow up to be honorable women. Please!”
The door burst open. Standing in the doorway was the silhouette of 11 men.
“Hehehe…ah hell. I’m sure the bitch can handle all eleven of us. If not…hehe…well..it’ll still be fun either way. Take the two girls and make sure they grow up nice and tender”.
Dawn.
The birds chirp to a day that would seem normal. The town is in ruins. Houses torn apart and materials littering the streets.
Four of the men from the night before stayed with the woman while the other seven left with the two daughters.
“Come on bitch. I’m ready for more”.
The lead man grabbed her by the hair and pulled her towards him. He smirked at her and whispered in her ear.
“This time, we’ll make sure all holes are covered”.
The woman’s eyes began swelling in tears because of the incoming pain. However, the door opened.
“Who’s there?”
It was one of the men.
“Oh…Wei. I thought you left. Guess you wanted some too eh?”
He remained silent.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Wei took a few steps forward.
“You can’t tell me that you were worn out from that?”
Wei looked up to the ceiling. It was as if he was straining. He slowly let out a blood curdling scream. Flashes of light passed through his body and it fell apart in large chunks.
The group couldn’t believe what they saw. As the blood and human remains fell, they saw what caused it.
A man.
His sword was dripping with blood and he was glaring right back at them. It was him. The Flying Swordsman. The Flying Drunkard. The Silver Hero. Lau Xun-huan.
“Holy shit! The Silver Hero!”
The group stood up and grabbed their weapons. It was too late.
By the time they even reached, Lau was right next to them.
He speared his sword through the heart of one man, ripped it out of his side to strike the top of the head of another. The third man charged at him. Lau sheathed his sword and used his palms to deflect the man’s weapon: a broadsword. Four beautifully executed palm strikes managed to subdue him. He kicked the weapon away and delivered a palm strike to his throat that pushed it out of the back of his head.
All that remained was the leader.
The woman, now hiding in the corner, is thanking that she’s alive and that the Silver Hero did come through.
Lau began walking towards him. The leader began cowering.
Lau pulled out his sword and stopped in his tracks. He turned around and to the woman’s and leader’s horror, he began cutting off the genitals of the three slaughtered men.
“Lau Xun-huan! Although you gained the name Hero, this is unorthodox for any hero! I demand you to stop desecrating my dead brother’s bodies this instant!”
His words had no effect on Lau.
“I am not the average hero. I believe you deserve what you give. You raped this woman mercilessly. You will all die and be reborn without the gift of making life. You will also die by the gift of making life.”
He grabbed all three severed genitals and began walking towards the leader.
Now shaking more than ever, the leader screamed and blindly swung at Lau.
After one quick dodge, Lau shoved two of the genitals into the leader’s eyes and another into his mouth. The woman couldn’t close her eyes as she wanted these men to get what was coming to them.
The leader, now blind and choking, backed up to the wall. He slowly slid down and then sat down. He stayed there until his slow and painful death occurred.
Lau looked to the woman in the corner who was crying. Was it tears of joy? Tears of sorrow? Perhaps tears of disgust?
“I’m sorry about what happened Miss”.
Lau crouched down to pick her up.
“Stand strong. You will recover”.
The woman sobbed loudly and hugged Lau.
“Thank you Silver Hero! Thank you!”
She looked up at him.
“My children? Where are my children?!”
Lau guided her gaze to outside where her two daughters were running around and playing little games. The woman smiled widely and hugged Lau even more.
She ran outside to great her children.
“Ling! Min!”
Both children ran to their mother and they embraced. Lau looked back and smiled.
“Mother was so worried about you…please thank the Silver Hero.”
Lau noticed something about her tone.
‘No. She wouldn’t!’
The woman walked back to Lau.
“Please, Lau. I don’t know if this goes against your principles, but please watch over my daughters.”
“Miss, you can’t kill yourself! You must stay strong!”
“I have nothing to live for. I don’t!”
She picked up one of the fallen men’s swords and swung at herself. Lau stopped the blow.
“Miss, I beg you. Please reconsider!”
“Goodbye..Silver Hero”.
She ran into the sword and it impaled her face. At the worse possible timing, her children ran in.
“Mother, we wanna play a game with you..”
They stopped and saw their mother lying on the floor dead. They dropped to the floor in order to aid their mother, but to no avail. Unsurprisingly, they began crying.
“Silver Hero…why did mother kill herself?! WHY?!”
Lau couldn’t bring himself to tell them why. He offered a different response instead.
“Let’s give your mother a proper burial”.
In the middle of town, all gathered to witness the Silver Hero burying one of them. He carved into the tombstone the usual things. The woman’s name and “Rest in Peace”. He pulled out his jug of wine and spilled some over her grave.
“She must not go through this world without tasting this fine wine. I give my regards to you”.
He closed the jug and began walking. The two daughters of the woman approached Lau.
“Wait Silver Hero! What are we gonna do?”
Lau turned around.
*Sigh* “I didn’t want you to witness and experience something like this at such a young age. Your mother wanted me to take care of you two, but as you know I wander alone”.
Lau looked toward the sky as if asking “what now?” when suddenly he felt two kicks to his groin.
“You’re just gonna leave us here?! What kind of person are you?!” the older sister barked.
They kicked him again. The dreaded atmosphere soon dissolved into a light-hearted mood.
“Listen kid! I wander alone! Do you think you can handle that?!”
Seemingly louder, the older sister screamed back at Lau.
“Listen old man! My sister and I are now homeless and parentless! And my mother wanted you to take care of us! Do you think you can handle THAT?!”
‘Old….man…?’
The townsfolk went to calm the children down.
“Honorable hero, it would be my pleasure to take the children in as my own”, one man said.
Lau looked at them.
“No. I think I will grant that woman’s wish. In all my years, no one has dared to back-talk me like these two youngsters. Fine. I’ll teach you two to be the greatest warriors you’ll ever be and you’ll accompany me on my journeys. How’s that sound?”
The two girls shouted in happiness and agreed.
“Well then, if we’re going to be a group, I need to know your names”.
“Right! I’m Zhao Min and I’m older! And this is Zhao Ling!”
“Hey, I wanted to introduce myself!”
“So what. I’m older! I get to introduce you if I want!”
“You’re only older by a year!”
“Exactly! A year’s a year!”
“GIRLS!”
This got their attention.
“Zhao Min, Zhao Ling. For a couple of kids you sure are a loud”.
“Hey I’m not a kid! I’m 9!”
“Yeah and I’m 8!”
Lau said nothing and began walking away. The two girls followed in his wake.
“From now on, you must dedicate yourself to Tai Chi. You will learn the skills I know and hopefully you will surpass me one day. Understood?”
“Yes…brother”, Zhao Ling said.
Lau stood still as memories of his young sister flashed briefly in his mind. He shook it off and continued.
“If you insist on calling me brother, I have no choice but to call you Ling Ling. Ok?”
Ling nodded “yes”.
Zhao Min had a jealous look on her face.
“Well what if I call you ‘Old Man’. Then what?”
Lau chuckled.
“Hmm..well then I guess I have to call you Min Min. Ok?”
Min returned the chuckle with her own.
“Ok!”
Weeks go by as the group travel from town to town and practicing their martial art. Soon months go by. And then years.
Three years after being taken in by Lau.
At a waterfall, Zhao Min is nearby practicing. Her skills soon become developed enough to manipulate a small amount of water. She hurled it at Zhao Ling who was nearby. Ling deflected it and shot back with her own.
As for Lau, he was in inside the waterfall, taking all the pressure from the pounding water. With a swift movement of his arms, he summoned a sphere of energy that deflected all incoming water.
“Now girls, that is what you will soon be able to do.”
“Yeah, and by the time we do it, you’ll be such an old man ours will look gigantic compared to yours!”
“Min Min, you seem to be getting more clever with your insults as you grow older. I’m impressed”.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew towards the group. The wind took the shape of man, and there stood the God of Wind.
Lau bowed down humbly.
“Lord Fujin. What are you doing here?”
“Lau. I must speak with you. It’s urgent.”
Fujin shifted his focus to Min and Ling as if to say “get them away from here”. Lau took notice.
“Its ok my lord. Whatever you say to me you can say to them”.
“Very well. Several hours ago, Kung Lao’s descendant and another champion were sent to the future to aid Shen Lao and Shen Jian”.
“Shen Lao and Shen Jian?! What are they doing in the future?”
“A new warlord made his presence known. He has stolen the thrown of Outworld and he will target all of time. The Elder Gods have sent their order to recruit the strongest warriors to combat this threat. I am hear to bring you to the future Lau”.
Lau widened his eyes from shock.
‘The future? What can the future bring?’
“Lord Fujin, you know I will do any of the God’s bidding. But as you can see, I have two young children with me. I don’t think they’re prepared for the impending carnage.”
“I can see that you’ve been training them Lau. They both have enormous potential. Very well. I will take you to the Ice and Lightning Island to retrieve the Jewel of Ages.”
Zhao Min stepped up.
“Jewel of Ages? What is that?!”
Fujin was surprised by her tone.
“Little girl, do not interrupt.”
“Old man, do not die by old age”.
“Min Min!”
“Sorry…”
“Lord Fujin, what is the Jewel of Ages?”
“Its a jewel that will transform anyone into their prime. In other words, a young child to the age where they will be most powerful and when they have the most beauty according to their current lifestyle”.
Zhao Ling now stepped up.
“So…we’re gonna be grown-ups?”
Zhao Min butted in.
“And powerful?”
“Yes”, Fujin replied.
Zhao Min and Zhao Ling danced with joy. Lau interrupted their celebration.
“Hold on. It can’t be that simple. It’s never this simple. What exactly is on Ice and Lightning Island?”
“I was afraid you asked that Lau. Guarding the Jewel of Ages are the Prince of Lightning and the Prince of Ice.”
“Prince of Lightning and Prince of Ice…sounds interesting.”
Zhao Min interrupted again.
“Hold on. If you’re so magical, why can’t you poof there and get us this jewel?”
“Because little girl, I am not allowed to interfere with mortal affairs.”
He turned his focus back to Lau.
“Lau, you have a choice. Immediately go to the future to intercept the threat and leave these children behind or you delay yourself and travel to Ice and Lightning Island to retrieve the Jewel of Ages. Which is it?”‘
Lau took a few seconds to think. He knew his answer.
“How fast can you get us to the island?”
“I can take you there immediately.”
“And the children?”
“Unfortunately you have to take them with you as there’s nowhere else and the Temple of the Elder Gods is not fit for children”.
“Understood”.
A gust of wind blew the four to the deserted island. It was covered in ice and yet was nowhere near a cold temperature. Lightning crashed through the sky and tore through the ground.
Zhao Min and Zhao Ling grabbed onto Lau.
“When you are finished, I will be back here immediately. Good luck Lau”.
“Thank you Lord Fujin”.
And with that, Fujin disappeared. Lau began surveying the land. He saw some tall mountains and what looked like rough patches of ice. The lightning kept coming down constantly and crashed through the sky. It was like he was in another dimension.
High atop a mountain stares two figures. Both wearing similar outfits that would only seem fit for royalty. A veil covering each of their mouths. An elegantly designed gi. The only difference was in color. One was purple. The other was blue.
“This waiting is getting old”.
“True. But we have to do this right”.
A figure stepped out from the background.
“My Lord. He’s here”.
“Excellent. Be prepared for an interesting bout my two Princes”.
Both Princes kneeled.
“Yes…Limitless”.
To be continued….
Next Chapter: Duel for the Jewel.
Author’s Notes: Alright, it’s been almost a year since the last one. Here I am again. I changed around a lot of things in the story and I plan to finish this even though nobody may be reading it.
Quite frankly, I suck at describing what characters look like. I’ve been thinking of just uploading art of the characters in the Author’s Notes section next time. Yeah..I think I will.
For those paying close attention, I properly worded the names of people as they would be in China. Last name first and first name last. The sole exception would be Lau’s name because I believe it would be easier to read a short name first and long name last.
Oh, Lau is another one of my characters from the Mortal Kombat Nightblood RPG ran by Jaibyrd and HorusRe. Look it up and you can read his entire background. I decided to integrate him into this story because…well…I just did. ^_~.
Now in case anyone is gonna use the plagiarism card on me, I will tell you some of the homages I made in this story:
-The bit where Lau killed the bandits and later poured wine on the woman’s grave and took in the two daughters resembles what Hiko Seijuro does in the anime Samurai X: Trust/Betrayal.
-Zhao Min is also the name of a character in the novel Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre.
As for when will the story go back to Liu and the crew, I first imagined this series as a revolving door where it will focus on certain characters every couple chapters. After Chapter 5, it will bounce back to Raiden and Jaiden and then bounce to Liu. And from there…well…you’ll just have to wait. ^_^
-Kenshin