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whysosincere · 3 days ago

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Chapter 9

Aeons ago, there had been a war in the heavens. The Elder Gods themselves were embroiled in conflict as one of their own rebelled, and brought his formidable powers to bear against creation itself. When all hope seemed lost, it had been the lesser deity Raiden, with the help of his brother Fujin, that averted utter catastrophe. The protector of the comparatively diminutive Earthrealm had succeeded where each other realm, and even the Elder Gods themselves, had failed.

Through the combined might of the lightning and wind gods, the overwhelming power embodied within Shinnok's amulet had been overcome, and his power stripped from him. Thus cast out from the heavens, Shinnok found himself condemned to suffer within the Netherrealm, helpless to escape an eternal misery concocted of the surviving Elder God's design.

As protector of Earthrealm, Raiden had taken on the responsibility of ensuring the amulet would never be recovered. Wardings to ensure hostile souls could not even find the Temple of the Elements, let alone enter it. Keys representing the spirit of the Earth's energies to prevent free travel from chamber to chamber. And his own brethren, the elements themselves, would all play a part to ensure this primordial artifact created by the Mad god would remain in eternal suspension.

However, denial had brought disaster unto the realms. The refusal of Raiden's own intuitions, out of a petty perceived weakness stirred by a serpent's tongue, was ultimately what had allowed Shang Tsung to drive a dagger between the thunder god's carefully crafted layers of protection.

Now Raiden beheld the broken body of this mortal woman who had been the instrument to bring his carefully constructed plans crashing down. She whom he remembered from a lifetime prior as a warrior of the Earthrealm's own wartime fighting force. She who had been a distraction, a fascination, and now an intimation. He beheld her and began to call into question… everything.

Fujin began the process of reviving their elemental brethren of water, earth, and fire, leaving Raiden to finally face the riddle of his heart.

Without thinking, Raiden reached out to her, the electricity that flowed through him sparing her from the coils of mortality that had begun constricting about her. Kombat was nothing new to the thunder god, but even a member of his own Order of Light would've been on death's door from such horrific injuries. He did not linger on such thoughts, preoccupied instead with how a body as weak as hers could have possibly managed the gamut of the Temple of the Elements.

His warding, the key system, the elementals… Quan Chi's foul magics could not account for every failure. There was something he was overlooking, and as his energies flowed into Y/N, an intimately familiar feeling washed over him. It struck him silent, and soon he found himself gathering the woman in his arms without a second thought, meditating as the waves of electricity flowed through her.

A swirling blue flooded his mind, and he immediately recognized it, but could not fathom the reason for such a vision then and there. It was as if he were in the presence of the Jinsei itself. As Raiden contemplated the meaning of this connection, Y/N stirred with the barest gasp. Brought back from the brink of death, she placed a shaking hand upon his chest.

All contemplation. All worries. All purpose and thought seemed to freeze from this tiny gesture, and Raiden found himself awestruck, utterly at a loss from those five delicate fingers resting upon his heart.

"Th-thank you…" came the gentlest voice from the pregnant silence, as Y/N felt the truth of her own mortality pressed back, moment by moment.

"…Gratitude is unnecessary."

Raiden responded with well-practiced stoicism, but the feeling could not be shelved, ignored, nor denied. It was as Fujin alleged; there was something more to all of this, a fate he could not escape, one that Raiden now understood would reflect utter folly to continue to deny.

Having been ravaged by the magics of both Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, plus the combined might of the Shaolin and the elementals, Raiden knew it would take more than his own life force's healing properties to properly cleanse this mortal woman. Recalling the image of a swirling blue that had come unto his consciousness earlier, he and the woman disappeared in a flash of light.

"All the more's the pity, my friend…" Quan Chi's drawling voice cut through the lingering echo of rage and anguish. He held aloft Shinnok's amulet, which thrummed and pulsed with terrible magics, freshly-wielded.

The disagreement had started innocuous enough, for Shang Tsung was self-assured that the simple possession of the Mad god's amulet would afford them the necessary strength to subjugate Earthrealm without fear of the Elder God's reprisal. But Shang Tsung was not of the Brotherhood of Shadow, and thus could not understand the true destiny that had been thrust upon them with the acquisition of Lord Shinnok's long absconded symbol of power.

Quan Chi could no more refuse to revive his god than the fires of Netherrealm could refuse to burn. And if that ushered forth the end of the realms, such was meant to be. Shang Tsung just didn't understand. He was not a true believer, and thus would have to learn this harsh lesson within the torturous confines of his Lord's amulet.

The red-eyed demon of the Netherrealm held the amulet up reverently between outstretched arms, as if returning to an interrupted vigil.

"Worry not: Lord Shinnok will have use for you yet, soul stealer… All in good time." Quan Chi's voice began to echo in otherworldly tongues, and a long-awaited ceremony now began with dark portents and sinister tone.

Leverage - MK11 Self Insert Fiction

Lord Raiden, god of thunder and protector of Earthrealm, has betrayed a fatal weakness; one that the nefarious sorcerer Shang Tsung seeks to capitalize upon. A self-insert fic inspired by Mortal Kombat 11 featuring Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Shang Tsung, and Todd Dakins/Richard Epcar as Lord Raiden.

Characters: Lord Raiden (MK11), Shang Tsung (MK11), Female OC/Self-Insert

Chapter 1: Evening in Nara

It is late afternoon in the ancient Japanese capital of Nara when the clouds begin rolling in. There's a distant rumble of thunder, and in a secluded alley, far from the ancient temples of Todai-ji and Nigatsu-do, a lone tourist walks the stone pathways. It is Y/N, and she has just completed meditation among the blooming irises of one of Nara's oldest public gardens. As the first drops of rain begin to dampen her clothes, she quickens her pace, knowing her hotel is still a decent distance away.

Unbothered by the approaching rain, she smiles briefly at the rumbling storm clouds as one might an old friend. The supple curve of her neck and tilt of her jaw from this motion do not go unnoticed. Unbeknownst to Y/N, numerous eyes had been keeping her in their sights since her arrival. She continued on her way, heedless of the danger that had begun brewing in the shadows of the city, and ignorant of the observations of an old acquaintance.

It is said that the crack and roll of thunder is caused by the beating of numerous taiko drums in the heavens; an invocation and performance by the thunder god himself. He held many names: Indra, Zeus, and Taranis were just a few from across the globe. The Japanese had bestowed the titles of Kaminari, Raijin, and during this degenerate age, many had come to know him as Raiden. In truth, this storm was not his performance, but instead the subconscious apprehension of his heart, given form and sound in the roiling clouds that swept over the mountain peaks.

The thunder deity had been watching Y/N from afar, his eyes filled with an intensity that the approaching storm could not match. His eyes flash, and his grimace intensifies as he watches the woman weave around the primitive utility poles and take advantage of the rain-blocking eaves along her path. He knew her from his brief tenure with the American military during Outworld's previous invasion attempt. While he hadn't worked directly with her, her very presence had impressed him. The unmistakable aura of valor and courage that all of his Order of Light shared, had manifested in her. Though to him, this event seemed as recent as one might consider the life of a single stick of burning incense, Raiden knew for a mortal, it must've seemed ages past. This is why he had cautioned his brother so sincerely against involvement with mortal lives – The spark of interest she had kindled had left an indelible mark on his soul, but time had slipped effortlessly away without him realizing.

When it had come to blows, Fujin had rightfully pointed out his hypocrisy – Liu Kang and Kung Lao may as well have been his children the way that he lavished them with attention. That attention stretched time for him, slowing what should have been a moment, into years of training, camaraderie, and perhaps something akin to paternal love – at least that's what Fujin had alleged through a furious gale of blades. Raiden had called him a fool. In truth, he had been fighting with himself – his brother Fujin simply caught in the conflict. For especially now, such a title rightfully belonged to him.

The sight of her brought him back to that tumultuous argument. His heart ached at the memory, and his hands of flesh and bone tightened into fists. Originally created for the purpose of participating in Mortal Kombat, he had not intended this human body of his to remain for as long as it had. This body of his was simply a tool, he had lied. One that he would discard as soon as its usefulness had expired. That is what he had told himself lifetimes ago… Now this heart of his beat faster as he observed the scene below, his eyes never leaving Y/N's graceful form as she moved through the city.

One other gaze observed these motions with equal intensity, but unlike the distracted attentions of Lord Raiden, this stalking creature was fully aware that his quarry was under careful scrutiny. If he acted without proper caution, the game would be up before it had even begun.

The sorcerer Shang Tsung was never without his contingencies. Never found lacking in ways to slip the grasps of fate. And now as he enjoyed an extended reprieve from the beckoning of his master Shao Kahn, and the incessant meddling of Earthrealm's champion Liu Kang, he had detected an amusing inflection in the humors of the skies. One that, should he apply proper leverage to, might remove the most vexing of obstacles from his plans. Lord Raiden had fallen victim to his own hubris: He was in love.

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