By: Phantom

The sun had begun to rise. The warm light reached a barren place. Nothing living was there. The stench of death loomed around. It lingered, almost as if it was a warning to anyone who valued their own lives, to stay away. A low grunt was heard in what was left of the darkness. At full sunrise, something was seen. Many bodies were lying on the ground, each and every one in their own pool of blood. All had weapons. There was a count of 76 men. In the middle there were three unknown beings in shrouds. Out of the long sleeves were long curved blades, all dripped in blood. As if on cue, all retracted them at once.

One turned to the side. It smelled something. It could hear faint footsteps coming. In a distance it could see one of Shao Kahn’s old soldiers. It smiled, showing some sharpened teeth. It walked towards the soldier. He was injured. He tried to run away, to get help, and he failed. Kicked out by his own Klan, he was considered a weakling. He came to see if any of his friends were alive.

The one with the sharp teeth extracted it’s claw’s, and came at the Soldier. He almost dragged himself until he hit something hard. Looking up he saw the face of evil. He backed off, and tried to run. Soon his breathing stopped. An enormous pain came from his chest. A blade came right out of him. His life was over. The angel of death had come for him. He would be at peace. Heaven or Hell, he cared not where he would go.

Ruins of Shao Kahn’s Castle:
Some high ranked soldiers began bickering about the amount in the treasury. Actually, it was something in the Treasury that had caught the eye of the commanding officer who called himself Arch.

“That treasure should be remained unharmed. It has unspeakable horror in it. The Emperor always said never touch it.” A bickering captain said.

“The Emperor is DEAD!!!” Arch yelled, calling the attention of other Outworld soldiers, and the High Priests.

Arch looked around, and walked a ways off, going to the treasury. The captain ran on after him, yelling and cursing as they went. Arch opened the treasury doors, and a large smile a large smile spread across his face. The Soul Chamber. (What did you expect…Gold, money?) The souls of warriors, fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, beloved…their lives shattered in an instant. Their very souls to be tortured in the dark chamber. Arch walked in, a few souls could be heard whispering, begging him to release them. Arch walked to what seemed the center of it all. There was a small pillar. With a blood red gem hovering over it. It pounded, like a heart. For the first time, a true mortal would touch it. As he did, blood ran down his arm, and it splashed unto the ground. ‘Even the Emperor Shao Kahn dared not to touch this gem.’ Arch thought to himself.

At that instant, Arch heard screams in the walls. He shrugged it off and thought it to be the souls in the chamber. “Commander!” A voice high above was heard. A man stood on a bridge that led to the Courtyard.

“Nomads! They’ve entered…” Before he could finish, a Nomad jumped over him, and sliced his head off. The Nomad then jumped off the ledge, extracted both blades, and perfectly timed his jump in front of Arch. As the Nomad lunged to strike, Arch easily held it back, grabbing both of its arms. With a slight pull, he broke off both limbs. Arch turned both of the Nomad’s arms around.

The Nomad showed no pain of agony. It just stared at Arch. “There’s something missing. Something I always Strike into my opponent’s, something called FEAR!” Arch stuck the blade into the Nomad’s upper torso. All the Nomad did was grunt a bit. More out of anger than pain. Arch let go of the other arm, and revealed the hidden gem to the Nomad. In an instant, a red beam shot out of the gem, and hit the Nomad in dire force, shredding it to pieces.

The Commander just looked at it. ‘I knew this thing held power.’ Arch thought. Arch began to walk out, and saw a crimson color on the doors. He hesitated to open them, but eventually did. He saw the Captain, sliced in half. Arch walked over the Captain’s body. “You’ll sorely be missed Captain.” Arch said sarcastically.

Arch went into next hall, seeing his own squadron fighting off the Nomads. They put up a fair fight, but in the end all died. Sliced into several pieces, or thrown into the boiling lava below the bridge. The Nomads saw him, and easily jumped over two bridges to get to him. He pointed the gem at them, but nothing happened. “C’mon you Piece of shit! Work!” The Nomads jumped into the hallway, as the commander made his way into the cave tunnels. Something then came out of the sky, drop kicking him in the head. Milenna. Still blinded by the attack, Arch walked around like a drunk, giving Milenna another chance. She threw two energy blades from her Sai’s, blasting Arch out of the tunnels, and heading to the hot lava below. As he barely passed the bridge, another Nomad grabbed him. But this one seemed a bit different from the others. It wore different garbs. It wore a white pluff shirt with a red sash. “Baraka! How dare you intrude into the Castle? The treaty!”

“I don’t care for the treaty.” A low gruff sound came from Baraka as he talked. He threw Arch unto the bridge. He extracted his blades, and easily chopped one of Arch’s arms off. Arch screamed in pain, seeing blood gush out of its open socket. He held his other fist tight, hiding the gem from Baraka. He then leaned closer to Arch, shoving one blade into Arch’s other shoulder blade. That made him lose all feeling in his other arm, causing him to release the gem from the palm of his hand. It was small, but it still caught Baraka’s eye. He took the blade out of Arch, and held the gem, blood seeping from it. It again pounded, like a heart. “What the hell is this?” Baraka said. “I…I barely know anything about it.” Arch said, trying not to give into the pain. “Except that it has extraordinary power.”

“Really now?” Baraka said. The gem then a shot a beam of energy completely obliterating the bodies of soldiers as well as the bridge they on at a lower level of the Castle. “Well, you’ve made our trip worth-while.” Baraka got up, and walked away. He motioned for everyone to evacuate with a war cry, and looked at Mileena who was still on top of the tunnels.

She jumped down on the bridge, and looked at Arch. She threw her hands in mid-air, her Sai’s emitting an energy that resembled them. It shot right at Arch, shooting his burned body into the dungeons below. He was lucky he fell there, because the lava chambers were just right below it.

“Did you kill him?” Baraka looked back toward Mileena.

“His flesh is rotting in the lava chambers right now.”

“Good girl.” Baraka said, hissing.

They exited the Castle and fled into the shadows.

Arch looked around in dismay. The Castle was in more ruins, even more than it was before. He was able to move his other arm, apparently Baraka missed his bone. ‘You fuckin’ tyrant. I swear I will kill you and that bitch of yours.’ Arch thought.

Pit Viper Temple:
“Fight!” The Klan Leader Venom said. Everyone erupted in cheers for the one in red ninja garbs. The Nomad: Predator was facing against a newcomer to the clan. Predator extracted his blades, and lunged at his opponent full force. Each swipe faster than the last, but all missed their mark. His opponent appeared behind him, and kicked him behind his neck, snapping it forward. Some teeth loosened, and blood flooded his mask.

His opponent disappeared again. “Come out you damn coward!” Then soon, Predator was kneed hard in the abdomen. Predator barely kept his balance. “You pile of crap!” Predator yelled. Predator shrugged off his pain, and began to search for his foe. “Come on you prick. You can’t hide forever.” His opponent reappeared, but Predator took hold of his legs and threw him into a wall.

In the stands, a lone figure stirred around, gazing. His blood red eyes pierced into the darkest of heart. He leaned against a solid pillar, looking down on the fight. Screams, and blows to the body were heard. The shadow one felt no pain or remorse for the prey. The hunter is steady and will not have mercy. ‘The Nomad is worthy of the name Predator.’ The man is known to his friends as Joseph, but to his enemies: Phantom. “Predator wins! Fatality!” Venom bellowed.

Phantom stayed long after the match. He saw Venom gather with Klan Rulers: Blades, Tai, Mr.MK and ThunderBlood. Phantom jumped from the stands, and unto the arena floor, near Venom’s Throne.

“Everyone, welcome the newest member of the clan…” Before Venom could finish, he was interrupted. “Man, it better not be another chump.” Blades said. “…Phantom!” Venom finished, smacking Blades in the back of the head. Everyone was surprised, even Mr.MK. “What the hell? Phantom?” Everyone focused on his white hair. “What?” Those were the only words spoken. His mask dissolved into his uniform, and his hair turned short and dark brown.

“Long time, man.” TB said. “Two years, I know.” “Where have you been?” Blades said. “To hell and back.” Everyone just looked at him plainly. “Literally.” He said, a slight smile appeared on his face, as also a low laugh. Everyone had a slight smile on their face, even though their face was covered with a mask, it could be seen.

Outworld:
“Commander?” A low rank soldier had searched the Castle for survivors, and had found some. They searched all over the place, except the dungeons. They entered the lowly dungeons, and finally found him. “Sir! Are you all right?”

“Prepare automation for a new arm. Tomorrow, we go destroy the bastards.”