Jaune Arc: Era of Kombat (RWBY x MK Krossover)

Prologue: A New Era (Part 2)

Location: a rural village located near the backwater forested swamps, somewhere far from the urban areas of Outworld.

"My friends, your patience is about to be rewarded," an elderly man dressed in a formal yellow Chinese outfit told the crowd of local villagers, who had begun to gather around the elderly merchant.

Behind him appeared a large wagon, big enough for one person to walk around in, like a food truck, that stored dozens of chemicals and ingredients. The wagon's roof was draped with cloth.

"I have recently discovered a cure-all of unrivaled potency!" The elderly man announced. "It will soon be on the shelves in every home of Outworld."

The elderly merchant then explained the ingredients behind this 'miracle medicine.' "It has Patreon flowers, Margovian nectar, powdered teeth of an Arctikan dragon." The villagers began to awe at the rare ingredients.

"...all this and more, infused with powerful Lekorian magic."

"oooooohhh...." The audience awed at the explanation.

The elderly merchant then pointed to the side. "There is a village, in the next canton over, where everyone has purchased this miracle cure....Overnight, all diseases, even Tarkat, have disappeared."

The locals were incredibly impressed by the power of this medicine, as it sounded too good to be true.

The merchant then took one small bottle of the medicine from his wagon shelf and presented the medicine to the locals.

"Now, magic this potent is expensive. And I am sure you're asking yourselves: 'Can I afford it?'" The merchant continued.

"...But the true question you must ask is: 'Can I afford to be without it?'" The merchant finished as he stepped out of the shadows from the roof of his wagon, as it showed the merchant's face.

"You lie, Shang Tsung! Your cures are useless!"  A male voice called out in the very back of the crowd, revealing a bald farmer who had more than just an average stature. The locals all began to step out of the way as the farmer began to approach Shang Tsung.

"I'm sorry, you are?" The elder merchant whose name has been revealed to be Shang Tsung asked, not recognizing the man.

"Someone fool enough to believe you!" The farmer replied. "My daughter was dying when you came to my farm. You promised a miracle and I gave you all I had! But only days later...she was dead..."

The crowd began to gasp at this. However, Shang Tsung only chuckled.

"That is impossible. My magic could not have failed her." He replied.

"THERE WAS NO MAGIC!" The farmer yelled. "I took your elixir to an imperial mage! And you know what she said!?"

The farmer then snatched the bottle of medicine from Shang Tsung's hands and threw it on the ground, immediately shattering the fragile bottle as all the liquids spilled onto the ground.

"IT'S NOTHING! JUST BORJANG TEA!"

The crowd, taken aback by this news, quickly realized that Shang Tsung's medicine wasn't medicine at all, but a complete scam. Knowing this, they began to close in on the merchant, enraged at the old man who was trying to scam them.

"The mage is mistaken, kind sir. My elixirs are of superior quality...their efficacy is gauranteed!" The old merchant tried to explain, as he was being forced back to his wagon by the overwhelming number of locals.

The farmer then grabbed Shang Tsung by his robes as he spun back and threw him down to the ground, sending him to a tumble until he landed on his back. But as the locals began to crowd around him, Shang Tsung could only cover his face with his arms before he faced his inevitable doom.

Timeskip: Nighttime

The storm and the rain both greatly interrupted the dark sky of the night, as it is shown some time after Shang Tsung's horrible humiliation at the hands of the locals. His wagon was damaged, with some 'medicine' missing. Nevertheless, it was still well intact.

Shang Tsung exitted from the back of his wagon, and sat on the last step of the short stack of stairs, holding a small case. The case then opened up revealing it to be a mirror.

The old scammer then grabbed his own face and began peeling off his own hair and face, revealing it all to be only makeup, and showed his true face, which was of a young male.

Shang Tsung sighed as he looked down at his case, saddened about his failure of an attempt to sell 'medicine' and his current condition.

"It is an excellent ruse, your disguise." A mysterious female voice sudden spoke to Shang Tsung from his side. He turned and saw a hooded female several feet away from him. As he looked closer, he saw that the woman had glowing cyan eyes.

"Backwater folk are more likely to trust a kindly old man." The female explained.

"Here on behalf of a dissatisfied customer?" Shang Tsung asked. "If it's revenge you want, have at it." Shang Tsung said, already subconsciously submitting to his fate. "If it's restitution...there's nothing left."

"What I want, Shang Tsung, is to elevate you." The female figure explained. "To make you the great sorcerer that now you can only pretend to be."

"A generous offer," Shang Tsung replied. "Why me?"

The female took a few small steps closer to Shang Tsung. "You, are uniquely resilient. Who else could eke out a living traveling Outworld's hinterlands, selling quack cures and fake magic?"

"A living?" Shang Tsung scoffed as he stood up from the stairs. "It is barely survival."

"And you, were menat for more." The figure finally approached close enough to one of the wagon lamps, revealing her full appearance as she began to make gestures. "To live among kings, not peasants."

"But since you were born, you have been conspired against. By those who fear how formidable you could become."

Shang Tsung was taken aback by the female's surprisingly understandable perspective of himself and everything he had been through. "How do you know this?" He asked.

"...Who are you?"

"I, am your deliverer, Shang Tsung." The female replied. "Join me, and I will put the realms at your feet."

As the thunder began to turn more violent, with each strike, Shang Tsung's expression turned into that of a sadistic smile.

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To Be Continued...