"What, in the name of my ancestors, are we doing here? This appears to be a...rest room on Earth!"

"Wow! This is where I fought my matches in the last tournament! Um, how'd we get here?"

"Come now, Birdie! I think you should know."

"...Eagle, mate? How the bloody 'l did ya get here?"

"Like all of you pitiful humans, you know nothing! This is the tournament's host, The Alpha Omega. Unfortunately, you won't live long enough to learn more! You die!"

"Bloody Hell! What is this, thing?! It has... four arms! SHIT!"

"Die quietly!"

Goro unleashed a huge and powerful fireball, sending Birdie crashing through a stall.

"Raaaah! What is that stuff!" yelled Goro in pain as he fell to the floor, cringing in pain from what Birdie had sprayed into his face.

"It's called mace, mattey! It'll take down just about anything, including large, ugly freaks like you!"

Birdie pulled out his chain, slung it around Goro, and went for a slam.

"Is that your best effort, human? You are weak, and stupid, thinking you can defeat the mighty Goro!" Goro finished by yanking on the chain, bringing Birdie to the floor.

Goro's vision was still a runny blur, resulting from the mace. Birdie was but a few paces from his end, but his executioner could not see him well, and Birdie recovered easier.

"Ok, maybe that wasn't one of m better plans. Still, I've what it takes to down you, bloke!"

Birdie than commenced to beat Goro with the now broken chain. The breaking of the chain was Goro's first accomplishment since his blinding. However, as hard as he whipped the fallen giant, the less the effect it had on him. He seemed to pay little attention to it. His mind seemed to be drifting elsewhere. Indeed, it was.

"Goro, I swear to you, it is the entire truth! When you lost, Kintaro was put in your place. However, after he fell, instead of giving it to me, as it should be, the Bastard gave your position to the leader of our mortal enemies, Motaro! I was reduced to merely being a personal guard for Sindel, while that...ew...four-legged freak lead his death squads. It was only a short time back that I learned that Khan had also been helping them to exterminate our race! For that, I have opposed the demon! We three must oppose Khan, destroy all who oppose us, and eliminate Motaro and his scum!"

"Goro, Sheeva is right. I have seen it myself. All of which she has said is total truth! You must take your place and lead us!"

Odd how only a few hours make such a difference. I've learned so much recently since my--return. Now, Sheeva has been killed by an Earth Warrior. Not one from Mortal Kombat, but an Earth Warrior none-the-less. It has been rumored that she is some sort of demon, or dark-side, brought into existence before her time. First, I'll kill it off. Then to be sure it never comes into existence, I'll kill the other off as well. For the murder of my Sheeva, XSakura, and any who get in my way, die!

Goro was back on his feet, knocking Birdie back from the power burst. Goro leapt high into the air, intent on flattening Birdie.

Birdie dashed under him.

Goro turned around, and was met with a series of head-butts from Birdie. When it was done, Goro was dazed and had difficulty standing. Now, Birdie decided to have fun.

"Aaarrgh!" Goro screamed as he was stuck by Birdie's knife. Repeatedly Birdie stuck his knife into Goro, causing the giant to roar, louder and louder in pain.

CRUNCH!

"Damn! My arm! It's impossible!"

"Apparently, the effects of 'mace mattey' have worn off! Now, I can see. I take it your arm has now been broken! Now, you will join it!" Goro laughed as he lifted Birdie up with his two lower arms, and began to pound him with his upper ones.

He then dropped the weakened Birdie to the floor.

Wearily, Birdie got up, and had his torso torn off!

"Winner of Fight 22, Round 1: Goro! Fatality!"

"...Goro?"

"One is dead, Kintaro. We will continue until X and Sakura, and any who oppose us are destroyed!"

"You are one of the warriors from the other realm? You want to destroy us! Why? What have we done to make you hate us so?"

"Hm, nothing more than a mere child."

"I am not a child, at least not in the way you make it sound. I'm very..."

"Try loud, obnoxious, or annoying! All of you humans are. I could go on, but than I wouldn't be able to do what I plan to do with you, baby."

"What do you want to do with me?"

Mileena moved in close to Elena, winked, removed her mask, and said, "I want to EAT you, baby!"

Elena screamed at the site of Mileena, now unmasked, sporting fangs of a demon. Mileena laughed hysterically, put on her mask, and rolled, taking Elena off her feet.

"...A bridge? The one overlooking my village? But how?"

"It is easy to explain, child."

"Poppa? How on Earth did you get here?"

"Foolish human! That isn't your father, but the Alpha-Omega! And we aren't on Earth!"

"Correct, Mileena. It is the Alpha-Omega! But, how do you know that you aren't on Earth?"

"You mean we are on Earth? I thought we were in Outworld!"

"You were in Outworld. Then, I summoned you. Now you are on Earth."

"What, by the gods, are you talking about?" Mileena demanded, not understanding a word that had been said.

"I think I know! A-O's a sorta god, right? So, perhaps A-O can transport us to all of these places. If he can neutralize a god like Shinnok's powers, he can do all of this, I think."

"Very bright girl, just don't doubt yourself."

"I gotta kill you before I get sick!"

Mileena then teleported, and connected a kick to  Elena's face. Before landing, Mileena threw a pair of Sai into Elena's shoulders, sending her hurling to the edge of the bridge. Mileena decided to kick Elena off the edge, finishing the fight.

Elena had other plans. As Mileena kicked, Elena rolled out of the way. Mileena turned around to attempt to finish off her injured opponent. Instead, a long leg from Elena flung Mileena across the bridge.

"Now, HEALING!" cried Elena in attempts to heal injuries from Mileena.

Mileena knew she couldn't allow for Elena to heal form their fight, and rushed in to stop it.

Elena only had time to partially heal herself before being flipped by Mileena. Mileena moved in for a follow up, but rushed in blindly.

Elena realized that she was nowhere near as ready for kombat as her opponent was. She was good, but Mileena had centuries of training from masters from all parts of existence. It had to end, now. Elena went for her Brave dance, attempting to finisher her foe. She knew that the only reason she could still stand was because of her healing technique. She doubted she could do it again, even if given the chance, which she knew she wouldn't be granted.

Elena came flying at Mileena with a barrage of kicks and knees. Had her timing been but a second faster, it might have turned out to her favor. Unfortunately, she was young, semi-experienced, and had some doubts that led to a slight, yet fatal mistake.

Mileena blocked the entire attack, then with a vile laugh, said "Now, it's my turn!"

She took out her pair of Sai, and began thrusting them in all parts of Elena's body. For the first few, Elena screamed in pain. Then, she simply flinched in pain. Then, there was nothing.

Mileena withdrew her Sais, and Elena fell to the ground, dead. Mileena placed her foot on Elena's face, flipped her Sais around, and crossed them over her head in victory.

"Winner of Fight 23, Round 1: Mileena! Fatality!"

"Well, done, love!"

"Baraka!"

"Come on, babe! Let's celebrate your victory in style!"

"I lead!" replied Mileena as she removed her mask, and they kissed.

They then left Elena's body for the Earth Warriors.

"Poor kid! So young! This could possibly traumatize her! Balrog, would you please take her, with the others!"

"Yes, Alpha-Omega."

"You look like a strong warrior, why don't you come and work for me? Well, answer me, you fool!"

"That would be impossible, Sodom. The one before you is nothing but a cyborg, but it is a deadly killer all the same. Be careful, bud!"

"What!? Thrasher!? How'd you...I thought you were...Thrasher!? And how'd we get into my ring?"

"That would be my doing," the Alpha-Omega replied in the voice of Thrasher, Rolent, Guy, Cody, and Honda, morphing into each one with the change of voice.

"This is too much! Being beamed from Metro City, seeing I'm in the middle of nowhere, only to be transported back to my ring in Metro City, and now fighting a cyborg! Did I enter The Twilight Zone?"

"The only way to know for sure is to Fight!"

Without waiting for anything more, Sektor instantly seemed to vanish through the ground below! Just as quickly, he came up, his fist knocking Sodom in his face, and onto his back. As Sodom got up, a pair of claw-like apparitions grabbed him by his shoulders, and tossed him over Sektor.

Sektor proceeded to run in, but was taken back when Sodom threw one of his sai's into him.

"It, really is a machine!" Sodom exclaimed, virtually speechless as the Sai had landed "where the sun don't shine."

Sektor looked down at the object sticking in him, and in one swift motion, ripped it effortlessly from him, without so much as a flux. Then, in an even faster motion, it hurled the sai back to its owner. Sodom was just able to dodge it, although it did some damage to his headgear. Sodom then looked on in fear as the thing before him started to open it's chest!

"A...missile! What the..."

Sodom was cut off, being forced to put all of his effort into hitting the ground, and not being hit by the missile. It went soaring out between the ropes, and into the vacant seats surrounding the two kombatants in the ring. Upon impact, chairs, parts of the floor, and other debris was scattered across the arena. Both warriors were caught by the aftershocks of the impact, in addition to the assault of the storm of parts of the arena crashing around them.

"This isn't good! I have to do something serious, or this blasted machine will kill me! I think I know!"

He waited, and Sektor moved in with a teleport. This time, Sodom blocked it. As Sektor began to descend, Sodom grabbed him in a flash of raw power and strength, and leapt with him, crashing his head into, and through the ring. Sodom then repeated the slam, and followed by running across the wrecked ring, Sektor's head being burnt the entire way.

Sektor slowly made it to his feet, though shaky and with some fluxes in his power.

Sodom the whipped out a dual pair of katanas, and dashed in, slicing with the blades, determined to destroy his silent, yet deadly foe. Sodom began a deadly ballet of thrusts, cuts, slices, and stabs with his blade. It would prove difficult for all but the most trained of experts to be able to follow the trail that was made, which seemed to be little more than a blur.

"It's over!" hollered Sodom as he took and step back, raised his katana and swung at the reeling cyborg's head.

"NO!"

To his amazement, Sektor used his hand to catch, and break the blade. The same results occurred when Sodom attempted to use his other one.

A small cannon-like device popped out of Sektor's arm, and Sodom screamed an agonizing death as he was engulfed in flames.

"Winner of Fight 24, Round 1: Sektor! Fatality!"

"What the frick! No! Sodom! You'll pay you dirty..!"

"Save your breath for your fight, Rolent. Sektor is a cyborg. What you say to it is meaningless!"

"Yea! Well, we'll just see how meaningless I am when I fill it with knives and fry it with a few grenades! When I meet you, you reject trash-compactor, there'll be nothing but scrap!"

"Hmm, didn't you here what Alpha-Omega said; it's a cyborg. Save your breath for our match."

"You better be ready!"

"Yes, I don't want to disappoint you."

"So, you are the older brother...but why do you both have the same name. I've heard of a father-son where the son has the father's name, but brothers? What's the deal?"

"My personal life is of no concern to you. Why my brother and I share our name is something that you wouldn't understand."

"Don't get too cocky, or this Maui Thai Master will leave you sucking gravel!"

"Big threats from man obsessed with defeating a has-been!"

Adon laughed hysterically before replying, "Has-been! I like that! That's funny!"

"So, what does that make YOU, for wanting to defeat a has-been?"

"Now that wasn't funny."

"Good, it wasn't meant to be. Let's do this!"

In a quick flash, they both fell to their face.

"What was--something tripped me! W, where are we?" asked Adon of the unfamiliar surroundings.

"The...subway. It can only be the work of our host," answered Subzero.

"The Alpha-Omega!" finished Adon, still surprised from the sudden change of atmosphere.

They both turned to the sound of malevolent laughter. A short way in at one of the stops was a lone man. His markings and clothing marked him as a Lin Kuie, but in white!

"Who is this joker?"

"My brother told me about him. He was the new leader of our clan shortly after the end of the first Mortal Kombat. He's a sort of shape-shifter, usually changes into animals."

"So what does he want here."

"He wants nothing. Your host, on the other hand, merely wishes to observe the fight with a ring-side seat!"

"That's not funny," Subzero replied coldly.

"They can't all be gems, my boy. Now, Fight!"

Without waiting for anything more, Subzero shot an ice blast at Adon.

"Jaguar Tooth!" yelled Adon as he leapt to a wall, shot over the ice blast, and knocked Subzero back.

"I told you not to get too cocky, Subzero. Care to try again?"

Without waiting to reply, Subzero shot a small blast onto the ground, causing Adon to begin sliding, and at the mercy of Subzero.

Subzero hit Adon with a series of blows, causing him to spin as he fell to the ground. As Adon got up, he was frozen by a blast from Subzero. He was then uppercutted into the nearby subway gate, causing it to crash on him upon impact.

"Are you ok, Adon?" asked Subzero as he dug Adon out from the gate and other things that had fallen down on him.

"Unnnh! Yea!"

Subzero finally got Adon out, and had to take a moment to sit down to get his breath back. Adon was also in need of recovering from his ordeal as well.

"This place is worse than a junk yard. No wonder you Mortal Kombat guys fight like demons. Not only do you have to fight each other, but your battlegrounds as well!" Adon tried to laugh, but his ribs were still hurt from the gate falling on him.

"This isn't the worst. I've heard a subway still goes through here, hitting any unfortunates! Then, there's the Living Forest."

"You don't need to tell me about that one. I heard from Sagat, following Balrog's lose. Tsung took his soul, and threw the body to the trees to devour," stated Adon grimly.

"Not the most ideal funeral..."

"Have you ever heard what happens to the souls he takes? What torment must it be for them! What does he use them for?"

"All of the answers are: I don't want to know and I don't want to find out!"

"...Let us finish this!" Adon said spontaneously.

"...But your ribs? If we go on, they could..."

"...If Alpha-Omega can heal Ryu from that bolt by Rain, after this, it shouldn't take much...I hope!"

They both stood up, put a little distance between them, and went into their stances, facing the other down, with the utmost respect for their advisory.

Subzero decided to dash in at Adon. At the last second, Subzero dropped a second Ground Freeze.

This time, Adon was ready, as he flipped over for a Jaguar Revolver! Subzero was hit by a series of flip kicks that knocked Subzero back into the remains of the fallen gate.

"Jaguar Kick!" yelled Adon as he got ready for the finish.

Before it could connect, he was met by another ice blast from Subzero. Subzero hit Adon with a punch to the face, a second ice blast, and then an uppercut.

"Winner of Fight 25, Round 1: Subzero!"

Subzero walked over to the barely conscience Adon, and helped him to his feet. As Adon got to his feet, and staggered forward, they had to shut their eyes as a blinding light formed. When they opened them, they were met by their friends, allies, and fellow warriors.

"Congartulations, brother. I knew you could do it," commented the younger sibling.

"As did we!" exclaimed Scorpion and Smoke together.

"Let's get Adon to bed," came a quiet, yet commanding voice.

"G...Guy?" spoke a still dazed Adon.

"Guy! What are you doing? I thought..."

"It appears the Alpha-Omega wasn't kidding about that stuff. It heals unlike anything I've ever seen. Come on, Rose. Let's get him to bed."

Sagat came, curious as to what all the commotion was about. Rose quickly explained. The three Street Fighters helped Adon, and the four Mortal Kombatants bowed with respect for their worthy comrades.

"Hey, didn't you just fight Zangief? How can you still be ready to fight, this soon?"

"Heh! You have much to learn, young one. We look similar, and are names are the same, but I am far more superior to that clone."

"You mean that was a clone of you?! Cool! How'd they make it?"

"That was just a figure of speech. She isn't actually a clone of me."

"Er, then what is she, if she isn't your clone?"

"A cheap imitation."

"Isn't that what a clone is, a cheap imitation?"

"That depends on a lot of things. For example, Mileena is a clone of Kitana. They are near identical, except for one thing, their mouths. Mileena's mouth is that of a Nomad, Baraka's race."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know, I wasn't there!"

"Oh, go on."

"Despite looking the same, they are two separate individuals. They think differently, they fight differently, they talk differently."

"They even dress differently!" added Ibuki.

"...Yes. With clones, you are creating a whole new person, but without parents. Needless to say, it's a tricky matter."

"I'll say. I wonder what others think. I think it'd be cool; but it ain't gonna be easy. Wow!"

"By the way, that was your last request."

"What! What do you mean, my..."

"I decided to grant a last request before I kill you. Yours was to find out who I was, and about clones. I think it was a stupid one, but granted all the same."

"Oh yeah! We'll see about that!"

Ibuki leapt into the air, and hurled one of her blades at Jade. As she landed, she was shocked to see it merely pass through her.

"I told you. It's over."

"Never!" cried Ibuki as she leapt into the air, and hurled a barrage of her blades at Jade.

The results were the same. Jade wasn't even phased by them.

"Let me show you how to do it properly," taunted Jade as she threw a fan at Ibuki.

Ibuki leapt over it, and soared toward the now vulnerable Jade.

However, as Ibuki was about to connect, Jade leapt up and knocked her down with a hard kick to the face. As Ibuki got up, Jade wrapper her arms around her, and suplexed her to the ground. Jade repeated it twice, dazing Ibuki. Jade threw a fan at her dazed foe, but she fell before it could hit her. The fan smashed through a stain-glass window, and some shard flew through Jade. Jade laughed when she realized where they were. Jade was really enjoying herself, for she couldn't recall ever having so easy a fight. She then stopped when she heard another girl laugh. It wasn't Ibuki, so who was it?

"Are you looking for me?" asked a small girl, dressed like a witch!

"What are you? You think you're ready for Halloween? And just who are you supposed to be?"

"Name's Tessa; probably doesn't mean anything to you though."

Befor Jade could reply, she felt a strong kick in the base of her spine. She fell over, cursing herself for her carelessness. As she slowly got up, she was met by a series of attacks from Ibuki, proceeded by a slight glow.

"Impressive...Ibuki. But it's not...enough to...defeat me."

"You'd sound more convincing if you didn't sound like you had the air knocked out of you. One more should be enough."

Ibuki leapt in to get closer to finish the job. Jade was still thinking, and knew how to counter. She dropped down, wrapped Ibuki's feet between her legs, and twisted, grounding Ibuki with a sickening thud into one of the nearby monuments.

"Winner of Fight 26, Round 1: Jade!"

"Wait! This isn't...over...not until I..."

"It is over, Jade!" came the commanding voice of Alpha-Omega. In a flash, they were back.

"Ibuki?! Are you..."

"Ok? Yea, thanks, Sean."

"Say kid, you have some good potential. I can get you places!"

"And you are?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. The name's Johnny Cage!"

"Cool! I love your films! What can we do?"

"Have you ever thought of modeling..?"

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©2001