Mortal Kombat 12

Chapter 19: Fear

(Rose)

I scowl with frustration at myself as I let out a scream. I was officially all alone and lost everything. I never felt so hopeless in my life, and it's all my fault that I let it happen.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" I yell, hitting myself in the head as I punch the ground and cry over it.

I then felt a presence from behind, one that made me angry and vengeful, and when I turned around to confront it, I blasted her with all my power. Kronika blocked it of course but instead of hitting me back, she only smiled and calmly approached me.

"Dearest Rose; all is not lost. Don't be so hard on yourself." Kronika told me as I tried blasting her again. She then waved her hand and my power was suddenly gone. "You'll get that back when you've learned to calm down." she told me.

"Leave me alone! I won't raise Shinnok or you or anyone for that matter." I declared as Kronika's smile only softened.

"Yes, you will. It is your destiny to, but I'm not here for that. I'm here for the crown." Kronika stated as looked up at my head and saw only the rim of the crown. "With it, I can get us out of here and our work can really begin." she offered as I refused.

"Go to Hell, Kronika! I'll die before I ever give you the crown." I swore as her smile faded.

"Rose, you will give me the crown. There isn't much time left to escape."

I stared her straight in the eyes and said, "Then we die together!"

Kronika then snarled as she tried lunging for me, but just as she was about to attack me, Raiden appeared and blasted her with his lightening. Kronika then looked back at him with this vile grin as she rose up and began blasting him with what magic she had left.

"Raiden! I should have known you'd corrupt my granddaughter, like you corrupted everything else. I should have erased you lifetimes ago." Kronika claimed as Raiden blasted her again.

"And for all that effort, I'm still here, Kronika. Even if you erase me, there will always be someone there to stop you." Raiden said, blasting her again only this time, Kronika was knocked to the ground in a weakened state. "I suggest you flee, Kronika. Without the crown, you hold no sway here. The Hourglass will soon be destroyed, and I hope for the safety of all, that you are erased from history."

A weakened Kronika then looked at me with anger as she said, "No matter if you help me or not, your destiny remains the same. You will raise Shinnok one day and then you'll see."

And with that, she disappeared, leaving me alone with Raiden as my powers returned to me. However, her final words were now etched into my brain as I began fearing for that day to come. When I looked at Raiden, he looked at me with fear in his eyes as I began backing away from him, scared I'll hurt him, but Raiden wasn't having it. He shook his head and began walking towards me but I kept backing away from him. Then he started running as did I and it wasn't until he zapped in front of me that he finally grabbed held of me and tried pulling me close.

"Let me go! Let me go!" I ordered as Raiden wasn't having it.

"Stop fighting me!" Raiden demanded as he managed to clutch my shoulders. "Rose, enough! I'm not gonna hurt you! I'm gonna help you!" he told me before doing something I never thought he'd do again.

Raiden cupped my face and pushed his lips to mine as everything around me began calming. I stopped fighting him as he pulled me closer to him, causing me to finally give in and kiss him back. Sparks flew across my mind as Raiden intensified the kiss when he pulled off my jacket and threw it away.

"What are you doing?" I asked, confused as to why he removed my jacket like that.

"Taking away your protection. You don't need it anymore." Raiden said as he ran his hands down my arms with a firm touch. "It's time to let go of your protection, and allow people into your heart. You'll never get over the fear if all you do is protect yourself from it." he said as I thought his words over carefully.

"But... you know what I am. You know what I'm gonna do in the future." I remind him as put a hand over my mouth.

"I told you, if you ever run away, I'll find you and bring you back. You didn't give up on me after the things I did, and I'm not giving up on you because you're the spawn of Shinnok." Raiden then pulled away as he removed his coolie and leaned his forehead on mine. "Have faith in yourself..."

I close my eyes and begin to cry as the warmth of his hands begin bringing back memories of the past few days. Some good, some bad, but all equally important to me. I then opened my eyes and found that I was back to normal – everything was now light instead of dark and I felt... safe.

"It's gonna be okay, Rose. Now let's finish what we came here to do. Let's finish Shang Tsung!" Raiden ordered as I removed the crown from my head.

"Okay... but promise me this: if I let it take control of me again, I want you to kill me." I ask as Raiden shook his head and cupped my face once more.

"I won't promise that." he said as I gave him this serious look. Raiden then closed his eyes and made a grunting noise. "Fine, I promise. But I will hesitate."

I nodded my head as I stare at the crown, scared to death that it might take me again, but with Raiden here at my side, I closed my eyes, put on a brave face and put the crown back on top of my head. Grabbing Raiden's hand, I thought of the place where everyone was, thanks to Raiden's information, and sand started swirling around us. We then appeared in front of a large crowd, Fujin and Teegan among them.

"Sister!" Teegan yelled as she hurried towards me, wrapping me in her arms in a tight embrace. Hugging Teegan back, she pushed away from me and slapped me on the side of my head. "Don't ever keep serious secrets from me again!" she ordered as I felt the side of my head, a slight stingy taking over.

I couldn't help but look down as she hugged me again, which was soon joined in by Fujin, and then, out of surprise, Raiden. All three of them wrapped themselves around me like a family and I couldn't be happier.

"Not to break up the love fest, but maybe you guys can table that for AFTER we get out of here." this blonde woman suggested as three of them broke off me.

"Sonya Blade is right. We must hurry." Fujin added as I nod my head, walking to this mirror.

Nervous, I looked out and saw the Resistance waiting for us, Natalia treating her aunt as I focused mainly on them. However, as I went to touch the glass, I saw tiny cracks beginning to form out of nowhere.

"Everyone, get ready. I'm gonna open a portal and let you guys out. And be quick!" I inform as I touch the glass and focus all my magic on it.

Seconds later, a huge portal to the outside world opened up as Raiden and Fujin led the first group out. Their group included Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Erron Black, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Baraka, Queen Sheeva, Takeda, and a few others. Teegan was the next to lead a group out including Jade, Kotal Kahn, De'Vorah, Kano, Kabal, and others.

"Okay, Special Forces, Shaolin Monks, Outworlders and who's ever left. Hurry!" I say, feeling my powers weakening.

As I saw Liu Kang, Princess Kitana, and Kung Lao come into view, with Cassie Cage, Jacqueline Briggs, Kung Jin, Kenshi, and a lot of others, something started happening. These green bursts of energy flew into the portal, causing almost everyone to fly back.

"What?!" I said in a shocked voice before looking at the other end of the portal. "No...!" I grow angry as Shang Tsung was standing there, attacking the remaining people left in the Hourglass.

Just then, I felt someone push me forcefully through as I fell to the outside, landing hard on the ground as I quickly look back and see the portal closing. Hurrying back, I caught a glimpse of Kronika standing on the other side of the portal, smiling as I leaped to reattach to the portal. But it was too late. Seeing the remaining souls inside the Hourglass banging and pounding to get out, I watched in horror as they soon disappeared.

They're gone... Erased from history... permanently...