Mortal Kombat II

Kintaro

In front of Shao Kahn, the two warriors who would have the honor of fighting before the Emperor himself prepared: Jax was rumored to be the strongest man on Earth, but he had never faced the likes of Kintaro. Kintaro, the Shokan Warrior, he was the strongest solider in the Shokan Army, some considered him to be even stronger than Goro himself.

Sonya struggled with her chains as she watched Jax prepare to face off against Kintaro.

"FIGHT!" Shao Kahn shouted.

"I was hoping I'd get to fight that Liu Kang." Kintaro said, as he cracked all of his knuckles. "But you will make a nice appetizer."

Jax braced his fists, he didn't know how good he could do against this guy, anybody else probably would have run away, but he couldn't just leave. With a battle cry in his throat, Jax came at Kintaro and lunged at his chest, for a minute the two attempted to get a hold on the other, Jax had to be fast in order to avoid Kintaro's extra two arms.

"Jax on your right!" Sonya shouted. Jax leapt right only to get struck by Kintaro's lower right arm sending him sprawling across the ground.

"Sorry! Try left!" Jax once again heeded Sonya's advice, except this time, he was struck by both arms. Causing him to get propelled backward again.

"Uh… try…"

"Stop helping me!" Jax shouted which caused Sonya to let out an annoyed sigh.

"It doesn't matter human, you would have been struck anyway." Kintaro taunted. "You pathetic humans robbed us Shokan of our beloved Prince Goro. For that I will show you no mercy!"

"Look, I don't who this Goro guy is, but you need to get over it." Jax said, calmly.

"Shut up human!" Kintaro roared, as he came charging at Jax, Jax charged forward as well. Jax prepared to take a strike at the Shokan, but Kintaro caught his fist, Jax sent his other fist out, but Kintaro caught that as well. Jax leapt into mid-air and bringing both legs back, he struck Kintaro in the chest, causing the Shokan to stumble backwards.

Jax ran at Kintaro, but the Shokan caught Jax by the waist with his two lower arms, and with his two upper arms, he began pounding on Jax's chest. Jax was thrown back, screaming in pain.

Kano chuckled to himself. "I wish I had some popcorn with me right now."

Jax struggled to get to his feet.

"Finish him Kintaro!" Kahn roared.

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Meanwhile as Shang Tsung's limp body, slowly began to rise, the Shadow Priest who had been watching the battle in the background approached the injured sorcerer.

"Open a portal, I wish to speak to Quan Chi." Tsung said, weakly as he wiped the blood from his face.

The Shadow Priest gave a slight nod and with a wave of his hands, a portal opened in front of the wounded sorcerer.

"What is it Shang Tsung?" Quan Chi replied.

"It is time, you fulfilled your end of the deal." Tsung replied, coughing up blood.

"Why, what happened to you? Did you lose again?" Quan Chi said, with a smile across his face.

"Quiet!" Tsung yelled. "Did Kahn speak to you on the matter of Sindel's resurrection?"

"Yes, all we need now is for you and your Shadow Priests to muster forward the reincarnation spells. Shinnok will take care of the rest of the deal. Believe, I am very grateful for your help. More than you ever know." Quan Chi replied, with a very suspicious grin.

"I see. Kung Lao's soul was very helpful in acquiring the information to the whereabouts of the Map of Elements."

"Yes. Let us know when you are ready to begin the ritual."

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Meanwhile Jax struggled to get back to his feet. He could see Kintaro walking towards him. Kintaro outstretched all of his arms and gave a mighty roar, Jax chuckled as he saw Kintaro's mistake.

"Big mistake" he said out loud, and he threw his arm up, and out came a huge beam of energy that struck Kintaro squarely in the chest. With this moment, Jax quickly ran at the stunned Shokan, and implanted two fast, but strong blows across his face on both sides. Kintaro grunted in pain, as he staggered back.

"You pathetic human!" Kintaro roared and in a flash, the Shokan had vanished, when Jax looked up, he saw Kintaro rematerializing above him, Jax quickly rolled out of the way. Kintaro once again teleported. Jax once again had to roll to avoid this attack.

"This is boring me, Kintaro. Finish him off!" Kahn shouted.

This time as Kintaro came down again, when Jax rolled out the way, he took his fist and pounded it into the ground. Kintaro stumbled back as the impact on the blast, caused Kintaro to lose his balance. Jax ran forward and punched Kintaro twice in the stomach. Then with a mighty uppercut, Jax sent the Shokan Warrior flying to the ground… soon he was motionless only a groan escaped the Shokan's limp form…

Kahn gave a small growl and spoke "Jax wins." Clearly displeased at the events.

"Damn…" Kano muttered. He was hoping to see Jax be ripped apart or something… anything to make this more livable. Sonya was relieved, extremely relieved to see that Jax had emerged unscathed, there were a few bruises, but he was still alive… Jax turned to leave… but just then Kintaro started to get to his feet.

"JAX!" Sonya shouted. "JAX LOOK OUT!"

Jax turned to see Kintaro jumping at him, when the Shokan landed, Jax was thrown back by the impact of the land.

"I WON'T LOST TO YOU!" Kintaro roared. "I WON'T ALLOW IT!"

Jax's jaw dropped as he saw Kintaro leap nearly 10 feet into the air, ready to come down and crush him. Sonya let out a scream of horror, while Kano just chuckled. Kahn could only shrug. But just then a bolt of lightning hit the ground and Raiden appeared, immediately lightning shot out from his fingertips and Kintaro was struck full force with a scream he was fired backward into the air, over the stadium and out of sight.

With the threat over, Raiden turned to Kahn. "Kahn! You were going to let that happen weren't you? That is strictly against the rules!"

"Perhaps, but I cannot be held responsible if my warriors do not take their losses well." Kahn said, half laughing.

With a scowl, Raiden turned to Jax, seeing that he was alright, but shaken, Raiden left again. Jax struggled to get to his feet.

"Well, that sucked." Kano moaned. Sonya sighed with relief at seeing Jax unharmed, she wanted to call out his name, but she noticed how stunned Jax was… he was just kneeling on the ground, not saying a word or making a sound…

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Meanwhile down in the Foundry, Johnny Cage and Baraka circled each other.

"You don't know what you're up against… you… you…" Johnny replied. "What are you anyway?"

"I am Baraka. Leader of the Tarkatans, and the last opponent you will ever face." Baraka replied, as out of his two arms, came two twin blades which glistened as Baraka stood poised to attack.

Johnny's jaw nearly dropped as he saw Baraka's two blades come out of his arms. "Holy shit…" he said, softly.

Baraka lunged at him.