Royal End

Chapter 3

Alina let out an audible gasp as she quickly recognized who was speaking to her.

The footsteps got closer as Raiden was now standing above her, looking down at his struggling daughter with sparking red eyes. "You two are the first to notice my change and the first to oppose me."

Adrenaline struck her as she quickly jumped to her feet as electricity sparked from her fingers, but she held back on attacking him, for now at least. "Don't come near me," she shouted. Sure, she was scared, but she can't show it now. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I must."

The God of Thunder scoffed, his grip on the familiarly gold and green amulet tightened around his fingers. Shinnok's amulet. She thought he would have gotten an idea on what to do with it. They couldn't destroy it, this she knew, but returning it to the Elder Gods would have been they're safest bet. If he is in possession of it, it would corrupted him more.

"You cannot harm me," Raiden started, watching her closely. "Stand down, Alina, and I will not hurt you again."

"Why should I? How do I know you won't use that amulet on me a second time? Whatever happened to getting rid of it?"

A ghost of an dark smile touched his lips as he seem to admire the relic in his hand. A dangerous artifact that has fallen into the wrong hands, other than the creator's, multiple times and now had poisoned him as well as Shinnok's magic that had been absorbed within him. "Shinnok's power has made me more stronger, wiser. I now understand who our real enemy is and I am going to do whatever necessary to protect Earthrealm from every outside threat."

Alina couldn't help but glare. "That...thing. It's poisoning you."

"The amulet strengthens me! And you cannot do anything to destroy it!"

"No, but I will try."

With that, blue lightning burst from her palm, causing him to stumble for a while as she tried to make a reach for the amulet. She needed to get that away from him, before she could grab it, Raiden had quickly recovered and blasted her with it again. This time, instead of knocking her away, the blast was slowed as she was protected by a light, even if it pushed her away.

"I see. My old amulet seems to protect you from Shinnok's magic," Raiden said, an almost unnoticeable smirk on his lips. She almost forgot that she had it. "But it can only hold for so long before it crumbles."

The thunder god began to approach her again, his face now blank as he attached the amulet to his chest plate. He slowly lifted his hands as red lightning danced across his fingertips. Alina prepared herself; she never thought that she actually had to face her father in battle like this, but she would not go down easily. But before either of them can attack, a gust of wind knocked Raiden into a wall nearby as Fujin stood up, trying to recover from Raiden's previous attacks. Alina could see slight burns on his body as he rushed over to her.

"Are you alright, Alina," he asked, checking her over.

Alina smiled. "Fujin! You're alright! What happened? I thought you..."

"I returned here to check on your father after talking with the Earthrealmers, but he ambushed me. He plans to invade and destroy Outworld in order to protect Earthrealm," Fujin explained.

"But if he does that..." Alina was shocked. Invade Outworld? But Raiden was supposed to go there to make peace with them since Shinnok's downfall. "We have allies..."

"I tried to remind him, but he may be too far gone..." Fujin's expression was grim as he winced in pain while Alina tried to help him stand.

Raiden soon was walking towards them again. "Now you know of my plans, I cannot let you go, at least, not for a while."

"You cannot do this, Father," Alina pleaded. "You said you and Kotal Khan will come to a peaceful arrangement to keep us safe, not cause more destruction! If you invade them, you'll kill truly innocent lives!"

"All those who oppose me will suffer by my hand. If others must die, then so be it. I cannot risk having any more possible threats to our realm!"

"You promised that you would not resort to this kind of madness! Earthrealm may be your only concern, but I have allies who are willing to help us as well. Please, you can trust me!"

"Silence!"

A bolt of lightning was fired from his hands, but Fujin stepped in front of his niece, taking the blast for her as a scream erupts from his throat.

"Fujin!" Alina tried to help him, but he stops her.

"You must...flee. Warn them of the coming danger. Go now."

"But I can't leave you here..."

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice, my dear..."

With his remaining strength, he sent a powerful wind towards her, sending her towards the exit of the room as she skids across the floor. As much as she wanted to plead with her uncle to let her stay with him, she knew he was right. Her friends will be in danger if she didn't hurry. Elder Gods cannot die, but with the merciless attacks that Raiden gave, she would honestly be surprised if Fujin would still be breathing when she returns. She must hurry.

Climbing to her feet once more, she rushed towards the door to escape, no longer aware of Raiden's next attack as her fingers wrapped around the handle. As she turned to give one last look, a burning pain overtook her as the dark magic was shot at her, rendering her to her knees. While her amulet was powerful enough to stop most damage, it didn't do much against Raiden's lightning as it barely missed her face and struck her left eye, leaving her vision dark. She didn't know how long this attack went on, but it felt like forever before she had fallen to the ground, shaking and crying.

She can hear her uncle calling to her before Raiden dealt with him as well. She couldn't move. She wanted to reach him but was so tired as her clear vision started to fade, little by little. Whether it was her consciousness or her tears, she wasn't sure.

Once again, Raiden made his way towards her, crouching down in front of her before resting a hand on her head. She couldn't hear exactly hear what he was saying at the moment, though she was sure it was something along the lines of...

"I'm truly sorry for this, but I must do all that is necessary to protect you and Earthrealm."