“This ends now!” he shouted, and slowly rose to his feet.
Rayden halted. “You hide behind a human?”
“Why not, ‘Lord’ Rayden?” Kahn mocked. “You have hidden your entire, pathetic life behind them!”
Johnny could not simply stand by and watch. He circled behind Kahn and leaped through the air, using a shadow kick to attack him, trying to free Sonya from his clutches.
“No, Johnny!” she screamed.
Too late.
Moving with preternatural speed, Kahn released his foothold on Sonya, turned toward Johnny, and pummeled him with a whirlwind of savage blows. No match for the ancient sorcerer, Johnny fought back as best he could, but was overcome in seconds. Battered senseless, he stood for a moment before his legs gave out and then collapsed in an unconscious heap.
Laughing, Kahn hoisted Johnny’s pummeled body above his head and held it there like a trophy – one he would be all-too-willing to smash into a thousand unrecognizable pieces.
CHAPTER THREE
“Surrender, Rayden, or this one dies!” Kahn roared, shaking Johnny’s limp body in the air.
Standing with Liu and Kitana, Rayden held up a hand. Arcane energy crackled from his palm.
“Then I will take your generals,” he said. “Earth does not bend to the will of tyrants.”
He pointed at Motaro, Sheeva, Sindel, and Baraka and a crackling bolt of current leaped from his fingertip, then sketched a circle in the air around them.
Kahn and Rayden exchanged defiant stares. Sonya breathlessly watched their contest of wills, her fists clenched at her sides.
“You would never let one of your precious humans die,” Kahn said.
“Trade me for Johnny Cage,” Rayden challenged.
Kahn lowered Johnny a little as if he were considering the offer.
“Come to me and kneel, Rayden,” he said. “Throw yourself at my mercy!”
Rayden’s eyes grazed those of Liu, Sonya, and Kitana.
“I have no choice,” he said, answering their unspoken appeals.
He released his mystic hold on the generals, the blue-white ring of energy around them vanishing as suddenly as it had appeared.
“You fool!” Kahn said, and with a hateful scream flung Johnny downward.
Johnny bounced off the ground, striking it hard enough to leave an impression in the dry, dusty soil. Then he rolled onto his back and lay very still, a low groan of pain escaping his lips, his limbs twisted at impossible angles.
“Johnny!” Sonya cried out.
She rushed over to him, her combat-trained eyes recognizing that he was gravely wounded even before she reached his side. As she knelt to lift his head off the ground, Kahn’s scornful laughter filled with a hatred that was almost sickening in its intensity.
Shocked, Rayden started toward them, but had barely taken his first step when Kahn released an energy blast that knocked him backward through the air.
“Johnny,” Sonya said, crouching over his limp, battered form. She smoothed a snarl of hair from his forehead, realized it was soaked with blood, and found herself looking at him through a blur of tears. “Johnny, I just want you to know… I mean, what you did…”
“I know,” Johnny said in a choked voice. He groped for her hand, found it, held it tightly. “Me… too…”
He struggled for air, the sound of his labored breaths piercing Sonya’s heart with inexpressible grief. She felt his grip loosen and knew he was fading.
And then, all at once, Kahn was looming over them.
“His soul is mine,” he said, and reached down with long, tapering fingers.
“No!” Sonya screamed, raising her arms defensively.
But it was no use. In her grief and horror, she was unprepared for what came next. Kahn swung his booted foot savagely into her ribs, knocking her onto her side, and then slowly closed his hand above Johnny’s body. Seized with convulsions, Johnny arched off the ground, his eyes rolling back into his head, the veins in his temples bulging, his arms and legs twitching spasmodically.
Something went out of him, then. Vaporous, intangible, it fled his lips like vapor, trembled in the air, and after a brief moment was drawn into Kahn’s fist, where it flittered between his bony knuckles like a trapped moth.
“Let this be a warning!” Kahn said. “All those stupid enough to be a ‘hero’ shall bow to me!”
He raised his clenched fist to his mouth and inhaled deeply, savoring the breath as if it carried the scent of some heady perfume.
Watching with stunned eyes, Sonya knew instinctively what was happening.
Knew he was consuming Johnny’s soul.
Imbued with impossible strength, that look of obscene relish still on his face, Kahn flipped back up onto the outcropping.
“It has begun!” he said, and leaped into the Portal a split-second before it irised shut.
The sound of his disembodied laughter lingered behind him like a curse, growing louder until the ground shook from its rumbling vibrations. Slowly, a grotesque stone gargoyle from Outworld ruptured the earth’s crust underneath Johnny, thrusting upward, raising him in its massive arms, forcing Sonya and the others to step back.
“Do we just stand here and take this?” Liu said, struggling to keep his balance.
Rayden looked around at his young champions. The Extermination Squad had remained on their side of the Portal, and was advancing in a deadly semicircle.
“This is not a fight we can win. They outnumber us by a dozen to one,” he said. “We must go.”
He pointed toward a nearby cave and they ran for it, chased by the Outworld warriors.
CHAPTER FOUR
Rayden lead the small band of heroes through the mouth of the cave, urging them forward as the Extermination Squad drew nearer.
“All of you move back!” he shouted, and waved them into the darkness beyond the opening. “Hurry!”
They ran for the shadows, then turned back toward Rayden, expecting to see him confront the Outworlders. Instead, he loosed a powerful energy beam at the ceiling of the cave, bringing down a mound of boulders that blocked the entrance, leaving their pursuers outside… and leaving them in utter blackness.
“We are safe,” the immortal said, standing in the cloud of dust raised by his miniature avalanche. “For now.”
He noticed the dried remains of a tree limb at his feet, snatched it up, and sent a charge of current into it from his fingertips, causing it to catch fire.
His companions looked frightened and tense in the glow of the makeshift torch.
“I don’t know if I call being trapped in a cave ‘safe’,” Liu said.
Rayden’s eyes moved across their faces.
“Kahn has opened the Portal,” he said. “Your planet and Outworld have begun to merge into one realm.”
Kitana was shaking her head as if to banish an unwanted thought. “My mother… resurrected… is it possible?”
“If I am correct, your mother Sindel is the key to all this,” Rayden said. “And as the two realms merge, I will lose my powers here on Earth. Each of you must therefore grow stronger. Together we are the hope.”
“Together we couldn’t even save Johnny,” Sonya said bitterly.
Ignoring her comment, Rayden turned, extended his free hand, and sent a dazzling energy bolt into the tarry darkness. Chunks of the cave wall fell away in another controlled rock slide, revealing a narrow passageway up ahead. Its bare stones gave off a greenish light of their own.
“Follow me,” Rayden said.
And raising his torch, strode toward the eerie glow.
“What is this place?” Liu asked.
“During the ice age, your ancestors fled below ground,” Rayden said. “As you will see, the great wonders of your planet are not all on the surface.”
Sonya and Liu let their eyes roam the cavern. Its vaulting roof was hidden in layers of shadow, and though they couldn’t begin to guess its full dimensions, neither had any doubt about its immensity.
“You will find these caverns wherever you travel on Earth,” Rayden said with a sweeping gesture. “Any cave above ground will lead to one.”
“So?” Sonya asked, trying hard to sound unimpressed.
Liu, meanwhile, had been quietly considering Rayden’s words.
“Are we splitting up?” he said after a pause.
“We have no choice,” Rayden said. “There is too much to do and very little time.”
“What happened to your ‘all for one, one for all’ pitch?” Sonya said harshly.
“This can’t be!” Liu said at the same time. “We won the tournament. The rules say the Earth is safe for another generation–”
“Kahn has obviously cheated and broken the rules.”
“How could the Elder Gods possibly allow this?” Kitana said.
“I do not know,” Rayden said. “But Kahn must be stopped or your world will perish. We have only six days until annihilation.”
“I beat Shang Tsung,” Liu said. “I can beat Kahn.”
“Yes, you beat a great sorcerer to win the tournament,” Rayden said in a sobering tone. “But you are no match for Kahn.”
Liu opened his mouth as if to speak, then snapped it shut, shaking his head in frustration. Kitana moved closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
“I share your anger,” she said levelly. “Kahn killed my father and stole my mother. He took the family I loved from me. I want him destroyed, but I won’t lose you to Kahn.”
“If anyone’s going to kill Kahn, it’ll be me,” Sonya said. It was hard to tell whether the cold sparks in her eyes reflected the light of Rayden’s torch, or had been struck by her inner fury.
“No,” Kitana said. “Shao Kahn has lived for eons. His power is immeasurable.”
Sonya gave her a headstrong look.
“Listen to her,” Rayden said. “If we do this right, no one should have to fight Kahn. To save the earth… we must close the Portal.”
“So close it!” Sonya snapped. “You opened the last one, didn’t you?”
“It is not that simple. Kahn was clever. He buried the body of his bride on Earth. Resurrecting her gave him access to this realm.”
The silence that followed bore down on Kitana with a weight that was almost physical.
“My mother,” she said. “Kahn used my mother.”
“And so will we,” Rayden said. “By reuniting you with her, Kahn’s spell will be broken. Your mother’s soul will be at peace. And the Portal closed.”
“Listen to yourself!” Liu said, his voice full of disbelief. “This is insane!”
“I’m with Liu,” Sonya said. “I don’t buy any of this. I say we just take our best shot with those zombies outside.”
“Rayden, we can beat them–”
“Enough!” Rayden interrupted, his voice loud enough to make them flinch. “You feel your hearts racing. Adrenalin clouds your senses. You think you are ready for what comes next. But believe me, you are far from it.”
Silence again. This time it was crushing. Liu and Sonya deflated perceptibly, their eyes drooping, their shoulders sagging.
Rayden observed their reaction and went on in a softer tone. “I am telling you this for your own good. I have no powers in Outworld. We will all meet again in two days at the top of Mount Gaia. Hopefully by then we will be prepared for everything that lies ahead.”
“And what exactly is that?” Sonya asked.
“To get to Sindel we will have to go through Kahn’s generals. His warriors will fight to their deaths… or ours.”
“What’s so important about Mount Gaia?” Liu asked.
“If we are in trouble, we can call on some old friends there.” Rayden’s eyes traveled over the faces of the others again. “You will face unimaginable odds, formidable foes. Face it, we’re screwed.”
Their jaws dropped as one.
Rayden suddenly broke into an impish grin.
“Only a joke, relax,” he said. “You can’t go into battle without a sense of humor.”
Liu sighed and turned to examine the cave walls. While Rayden had spoken, he’d noticed that they were covered with odd markings resembling Egyptian hieroglyphics, accompanied by arrows pointing off at various angles, and what almost might have been an intricate track grid – the equivalent of a subway map, if subways had existed in whatever forgotten age they were etched into the bare rock.
“Are these supposed to be directions?” he asked. “Because if they are, I can’t read them.”
“Kitana will guide you,” Rayden said. “And I will guide Sonya. We both have used the velospheres many centuries before.”
Sonya raised her eyebrows. “What’s a velo–”
Rayden forestalled her question with a wave of his hand, gesturing toward the back of the cavern.
Squinting into the green-tinged gloom, she saw spheres of different sized – some up to fifteen feet in diameter – in a hangar that had been carved out of the earth itself. All were parked on stone pedestals along a tunnel that whooshed with rushing wind. Something almost like train track ran through the tunnel, which in turn lead to a maze of other connecting tunnels, each with its own track.
Liu once again found himself comparing what he saw to a subway station – only one that operated on some unremembered, and perhaps unimaginable technology.
“What do these things do?” he asked.
“Once inside, you can travel anywhere on Earth in mere hours. The inner winds propel you,” Kitana said.
To illustrate this, Rayden walked up to the main track and dropped his torch into the tunnel. Its flame was instantly extinguished as it was sucked out of his hand by the windstream and carried off into the labyrinth.
Sonya did not seem persuaded by his demonstration.
“You can count me out,” she said.
Rayden placed a hand on each of her shoulders. “We need help, Sonya. I will take you to find your Special Forces partner, Jax.”
“Forget it,” she said. “If I die, that’s fine. But I’m not losing anybody else.”
“Alone, you are vulnerable,” Rayden replied. He kept his eyes steady on her. “But if you work as a team you two can overcome much. The sooner you learn this, the more valuable you are to the rest of us.”
She looked at him another moment, and finally nodded.
“We have to take action, too,” Liu said, motioning toward himself and Kitana.
Rayden looked at him. “You two will travel to the Hopi Mesa.”
Liu’s eyes were question marks. He was having enough trouble comprehending why their group had to split up without Rayden adding this latest wrinkle to the situation. What purpose could there be in traveling to some godforsaken place in New Mexico?
As usual, Rayden seemed able to read his thoughts as quickly as they occurred to him.
“You did great last time, but you will need help for what we’re about to face,” he said. “Seek out the counsel of one called Nightwolf. I will find the Elder Gods and demand answers for what Shao Kahn has done.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Soaring nearly a mile into the dark Outworld sky, its base surrounded by the ruined, scattered monuments of vanquished worlds, the tower stood as a hideous testimonial to Shao Kahn’s power. Built not of rock but the skeletons and carcasses of warriors who had fallen in combat against the sorcerer’s forces, it had risen to its vast height stage-by-stage over many centuries; crushed by the weight of the upper levels, the bone piles of its foundations had long ago been ground to ash. Within its thick, asymmetrical walls, captive souls seemed to voice their torment from beams and columns composed of their own mortal remains. Each structural groan, each rasp and creak that tore the silence, seemed a mournful plea for release, and every now and then a ghostly howl would leap into the distance from the ramparts, chilling the blood of man and beast alike.
Kahn’s grand hall was located within the uppermost turret of the citadel and, like some perverse game hunter, he had taken pains to surround himself with gr
isly mementos of past triumphs. On the curved walls of the chamber, flames burned in sconces made of human skulls. The throne from which he malevolently eyes his courtesans had been recast from the armor of those killed by his own hand. Its coverings, and the banners and curtains that hung from the ceiling, had been sewn from their flayed skins.
Seated on his throne now, Kahn leaned over the armrest and dropped a long, segmented Outworld worm into a glass tank at his side, then waited for it to be torn apart by the pair of vulko crabs that scuttled toward it in a feeding frenzy. Though he enjoyed watching them attack the worm in what he chose to call his battle pit, the real entertainment would come when they began to fight over their still-twitching food and savagely lopped off bits and pieces of each other. Before long, the tank would be filled with pulped innards, severed limbs, torn, mutilated eyestalks and other sensory organs…
“You think this is a game?” a voice said behind Kahn, causing him to turn from his voracious little pets with a start.
The tall, cloaked figure of a man had glided up beside the throne, his shadow stretching to the hidden rafters, his black eyes gleaming like slivers of polished onyx from a face that was otherwise concealed by a draping hood. Though the room was without the slightest whisper of a breeze, flames danced and flickered in their skull brackets as he moved silently past them.
“Father, where have you been?” Kahn said. His mouth twisted into a smile. “The Portal is open. Earth is under attack. It is glorious.”
Those bright eyes remained inscrutable within the folds of the hood. “Tell me, did you make Rayden beg for his life before destroying him?”
“Rayden is of no concern to us,” Kahn replied, his smile shrinking around the edges. “As long as–”
Before Kahn could finish his sentence, a powerful hand shot out from underneath the figure’s cloak and grabbed hold of his breast guard, lifting him partway off the throne.
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation Page 2