Disclaimer: I don't own Mortal Kombat

Deathblade is my original creation, main character of my stories The Hunt and The Redeemer. This is a tie in to events in the Redeemer, as well as something I did for fun, and possibly a prequel to a future Mortal Kombat story I do.

Hope everyone enjoys it

Gathering Darkness: Deathblade's Kombat

Through reality this fighter has been sent. Battle after battle he has fought, combat has defined his entire life. Fighting his parents, fighting criminals in his street, fighting the monsters that have overrun his world and even fighting the heroes who defend it. Cade Hunter, the man known as Deathblade has become a warrior of reality, the man who has taken it upon himself to face the coming war. A war between darkness, and everything else.

When Cade landed in this new reality, he could already sense 'divine' hands at work, pulling at the strings, manipulating people for its own end. He put his fist to his heart, these pretenders were an insult to the god he worshipped, the one god. Every fighter fought to use the hourglass of Kronika, to create their own ideal timeline. Seeing this as the heart of the conflict, Cade made his way to Kronika's island.

Deathblade vs Frost.

The Cyber Lin Kuei had been fighting the special forces gathered by Cassie Cage. Close clones of Sektor and Cyrax, these machines were superior to the regular soldiers of the special forces, and they came at the soldiers in waves. Buzz saw blades extended from their wrists, missiles from their chests, it was a blood bath. A few soldiers managed to used grenades to thin their numbers, but with Frost also in the fray it was a massacre. Formally a student of the Grand master Sub-Zero, she was a skilled martial artist and practitioner of cryomancy. And she had been enhanced by the cyber initiative. The white haired woman used rockets on her back to hover across the field, firing ice darts from her shoulders, using blades she formed to slice and behead her enemies. She also had the enhanced strength she needed to punch off men's heads. Her blue eyes darted towards the leaders of the special forces, Cassandra Cage. The young woman was shooting her guns and using that green energy of her father's, knocking down one cyber ninja at a time. Her friend Jacqui Briggs used the guns on her gauntlets to mow down any enemy in front of her. Then there was two Jaxs, one from the past, and another from the future.

"Traitor," Frost snarled, her eyes focused on the older Briggs.

Her master Kronika had given him the chance to make his ideal timeline, gifted him with enhanced cybernetics. She activated her back rockets and launched herself at Briggs. Suddenly, a chain wrapped around Frost's waist and pulled her to the ground. Whoever was holding the chain swung Frost around before slamming her into the ground. She looked to her cyber ninjas, and saw them being cut apart. Two were torn to pieces, and then she saw him, her opponent. He wore some kind of black armour with glowing red lines across it. His eyes were like two red flares, glowing brightly. He held a pair of scythes that he used to slice two more cyber ninjas apart.

"Who the hell are you?" Frost demanded.

She dropped into her fighting stance. The armoured man swung his blades around, before dropping into his own stance.

"Get out of the way!" Deathblade said, his voice echoing through his helmet.

FIGHT!

Frost got the first hit, punching Deathblade in the face, then kicking his legs before hitting him with a flurry of ice darts. Deathblade however deliver a fierce uppercut to Frost's face. The attack launched her upwards, and Deathblade immediately threw one of his scythes. A chain was suddenly attached to it, allowing him to wrap it around Frost and pull her to the ground, face first. She fired a few ice blasts, which Deathblade blocked before crossing his arms together and slashing with his scythes, unleashing an energy blade that knocked Frost to the ground. He then rushed forward, delivering a kick to her side, then slashing her chest with one scythe and hitting her with the flat end of the other. Crossing his arms together again, he instead unleashed a flurry of energy blades that hit Frost until she fell down.

"There's such hatred in you, but you could have been a force for good as well," Deathblade said.

He turned away from Frost and began walking towards Kronika's keep.

"NO! It isn't over," Frost growled.

She formed an ice sword and rushed at Deathblade. Suddenly, he turned around, punching his fist through Frost's chest and ripping out her core. Then he sliced off her head, making it roll across the floor. With a huff, Deathblade moved on.

Deathblade vs. Geras

Deathblade ran through the hordes of Oni guarding the keep, the fighters far behind him. He threw his scythes, chains attached to both of them and span them wildly, cutting apart the Oni getting close to him, and even those at a distance. Red energy coursed through the scythes as he pulled them back into his hands and swung them, creating energy blades. Jumping upwards, he fired one blade after another, cutting through a line of the Oni. Landing on the ground, Deathblade ran at the gate and began to punch it rapidly, red energy surrounding his hands. He punched the gate again and again, sending cracks running across it. And with his final punch, the gate shattered.

"You do not belong here," said Kronika's champion, Geras.

"Well I'm here now," Deathblade squeezed his hands into fists and assumed a stance.

FIGHT!

In a rush of red, Deathblade darted at Geras and punched him in the face. Then he followed through, punching Geras in the gut, lifting him off of the floor and throwing him over his shoulder, then slamming him into the ground. The amplified move broke Gera's ribs, and the impact with the ground cracked his spine. An enhanced being though, Geras rose and punched back at Deathblade, delivering a hook to his face and chest. He summoned a wall of sand spikes, pushing Deathblade on top of them. Blood was drawn from the armoured man's shoulder, but he quickly rose, summoning his scythes and slashing Geras twice across the chest. Geras kicked his legs, then punched him in the face. He grabbed the man and threw him into a sand wall, before punching his chest and crashing him through the wall. Deathblade leant on his scythes and rose off of the ground. He prepared himself as Geras approached. As soon as Geras threw his fist, Deathblade yelled, creating a surge of red energy that threw Geras back. Then he rushed forward, slashing Geras across the belly and face, he switched to his fists and delivered a flurry of punches. Wings of energy suddenly burst out of Deathblade's back and he delivered an uppercut that launched Geras upwards. He flew up, wrapping a chain around Geras and spinning him around. When he floated over Geras, he summoned a giant sword of energy and swung it downwards, striking Geras and throwing him into the ground. Deathblade landed away from the crater he left and looked over his shoulder.

"You've died and been reborn so many times, guess I can relate!" he muttered before moving on.

Deathblade vs Cetrion.

The energy of his wings faded as he got inside Kronika's keep. Outside, he could still hear and even feel the fighters battle. His eyes flared and he put a hand to his head. They all wanted to get to the hour glass, they all had their own ideal of the future. The hourglass was pulling them forward, using what they wanted.

"It is the greatest defence of the hourglass, the temptation to use it," a voice spoke behind him.

Deathblade swung around, the blade of his scythe resting at Cetrion's neck. He flicked the staff aside and walked past Deathblade.

"Each fighter, no matter their allegiance, will be drawn by the power of the hourglass, so that even if my mother falls, a new era will still begin," Cetrion said.

"Drawn by a false promise, that they can make their life better, their world better!" Deathblade scoffed.

"Such a thing is what they all strive for, but in the end, balance always finds a way, light and darkness must always be in balance," the goddess said.

"I can see your sins Cetrion, you're no god, you're just as prideful and arrogant as the humans you claim to protect. You're no champion of light or virtue!"

"And you Cade Hunter are a murderer, driven by your own pain and arrogance, yes I know of you, you nearly drove your world to its own destruction, all because you thought you had the right to judge the guilty," Cetrion explained.

"I did think I had the right, but now I fight to make amends, I fight to protect life!" Deathblade brought his fist to his head, closed his eyes and then stepped forward, dropping into his stance with determination in his eyes.

FIGHT!

Cetrion floated off of the floor, firing blasts of fire into the ground Deathblade stood on. The attacks knocked him back slightly, but he quickly countered by throwing his scythe, wrapping it around Cetrion and slamming her to the floor. He managed to punch Cetrion twice before she threw him into the air with a wave of water. Then she wrapped vines around his waist and slammed him against the ground. Blasting him, she knocked him into a group of boulders she had summoned. Cetrion then delivered several kicks that he blocked, countering with a back hand before elbowing her in the face. He delivered a quick elbow, breaking her cheek. Cetrion kicked Deathblade across the face, before knocking him into a tree she summoned. Levitating several rocks, she stuck them into his hands and face, before hitting him with a blast of light. Deathblade dragged his scythes across the floor and rushed Cetrion with his energy wings. He slashed her several times, before delivering a kick that threw Cetrion to the floor.

"You're a god of life and light? I don't think so!" Deathblade huffed.

Cetrion looked at Deathblade, rising and gritting her teeth together in anger.

"YOU DARE!" she yelled.

She summoned a flurry of rocks, crashing them into Deathblade's body. He yelled through his helmet, looking up as Cetrion grew to a giant's height. She slammed her foot into him, imbedding him into the ground.

"My brother and I were part of my mother's grand design, we maintained balance between life and death, without death, life grows out of control, and without life, death will consume all," she explained, growing and growing.

The fighters stopped their battles and looked up. Cetrion had crashed through the roof of the keep, and was continuing to grow. She grew until she hit the clouds, and went beyond the atmosphere of the planet. Inside the keep, Deathblade's fingers twitched, and a crack appeared in his helmet. His eyes began to glow gold as Cetrion grew to her full godly power.

"WE WILL ERASE ALL WHO THREATEN THE BALANCE OF TIME!" she yelled, her voice echoing through the island.

She opened her mouth, releasing a beam of light that flew towards Deathblade. His eyes flared, shining brighter, before the beam struck him. Cetrion looked down at the island, certain she had erased her foe. But she widened her eyes, seeing movement through the beam. Deathblade had ignited his energy wings and was flying through the blast. He summoned his chained scythes and roared as he flew into Cetrion's mouth. She pulled her head back, gagging, lines of red appearing over her face. Suddenly, Cetrion's head was cut apart, and Deathblade appeared, his chains floating around him, blood coating his armour.

Deathblade vs Kronika

Kronika floated around her hour glass, going through the process of rewriting history.

"I have been expecting you," she said.

Deathblade landed behind her, rising from his crouched position as Kronika turned towards him.

"Your life, your name, they will be wiped from history," she floated to the floor. "Come, it is time...to die!"

Deathblade slipped into his fighting stance and tried to open the battle with an energy blade. But Kronika quickly blasted him twice, then she teleported behind him, striking him in the back before slamming him against the floor. Deathblade rose and swung his scythes, but the goddess of time blocked his strikes before throwing him back. She formed an orb of energy into the air, which released several blasts that threw Deathblade across the arena. He quickly got up again, and charged Kronika. Rushing forward with his energy wings, he managed to slash Kronika before switching to his fists. He punched her across the face, then charged his fist with energy and punched her in the chest. Delivering a fierce uppercut, Kronika disappeared. She reappeared near her hour glass, a copy of Kung Lao suddenly appeared in front of Cade.

"I know your history Cade Hunter, it has been told to me," Kronika said.

Kung Lao suddenly span, knocking Cade back. He grabbed the armoured man's throat, then delivered a chop to it, cracking the armour. Then he chopped the back of his neck, hitting him so hard that his spine cracked. Kung Lao followed through with the brutal assault, kicking Deathblade in the chest and throwing his bladed hat into Cade's helmet. Teleporting over Cade, Lao grabbed the hat and flipped, throwing his opponent so hard that his back armour cracked. Again, Kung Lao teleported, driving his knee into Deathblade's chest with a kick that cracked his chest plate. But Kung Lao wasn't finished, he delivered a series of rapid punches to Deathblade's chest, further cracking it. Then he slashed Deathblade across the throat and threw his hat. With a kick, he pushed Cade back first into the spinning buzz saw that he formed. Blood spread across the ground, Cade's armour was breaking. Kung Lao slipped behind Cade, throwing his hat again and kicked Cade again into a buzz saw blade. Sparks from his breaking armour spread across the floor.

"You defy order time and time again, the morality of those your betters," Kronika said.

She grit her teeth together as Cade cut through her Kung Lao duplicate. Deathblade jumped towards her, only for a fan to knock him back to the arena. This time, Kronika had summoned forth a Kitana duplicate. The copy of the princess threw her fans, hitting Deathblade's shoulders before teleporting behind her. Shifting her fans to their dagger forms, she stabbed them into the back of his helmet, trying to break through. She jumped and slashed Deathblade with her fans before launching him into the air. Kitana threw her fans in their dagger form, imbedding them in the throat of his armour. She grabbed Cade by his head and brought him to the floor, bringing her daggers through his neck. Then she kneed him in the face, further breaking his helmet. When Deathblade got back up, Kitana created a shock wave with her fans. As her opponent was thrown back, she ran and threw her daggers, hitting Cade in the chest. She jumped and kicked them through his flesh, then kicked him to the floor. He bounced into the air, and Kitana drove her blades through his shoulders. When he finally came down to the ground, Kitana tried to stab the back of his head. But Deathblade rolled, summoning his scythe and slashing the duplicate across the chest.

"In your world, you attempted to alter fate, to defy law and order, to become the force that punishes all evil, no matter whom gets in your way. How many died because of this, Cade Hunter!" Kronika seethed.

Deathblade continued walking towards Kronika, stopping only when a duplicate of Jade appeared in front of him. She slid behind Cade, hitting his groin with her staff. Then she thrust the staff into his back, cracking the bones of his ribs. Jade's staff glowed and she hit Deathblade in the head. Teleporting behind him, she dragged her blade through his back, teleported again and slashed him across the throat. She threw the blade, preparing to catch it before Deathblade thrust his arm forward.

"ENOUGH!" he yelled, punching and kicking the duplicate until she faded.

"You tried to make your ideal world once Hunter, and disaster was the only result, because you are a blade of death, fit only to take life. You are no saviour, no hero!" Kronika snarled.

A sand storm blew Deathblade back, and a foot struck his shoulder. He faced the duplicate of Liu Kang, but wasn't quick enough to dodge his upper cut. It launched him upwards, and down into Liu Kang's kick. Deathblade's helmet cracked at his chin, blood began to leak through those cracks. Yet still he got back up. The Liu Kang duplicate roared in anger, before delivering a flurry of blows. He struck Cade's head with the palm of his hand, shattering the part of his helmet covering his eye. Then he chopped at his neck, breaking the armour on that, finally, he hit him in the back, the force of the blow vibrating to the front and breaking Cade's ribs. Deathblade fell to his knees, coughing and gasping for breath. When Cade stood again, Liu Kang raised his hand. A fire dragon burst out of the ground, spreading its wings and opening its maw. It snapped its jaws downwards, consuming Deathblade in flame. Just as Liu Kang was about to strike, a scythe swung through the flames and slashed the duplicate across the face.

"Still you stand, still you fight, still you try to be what you are not," Kronika seethed.

She reversed time, smirking as the process finally began. But then, a chain wrapped around her neck, forcing her back. Her connection to the Hour glass broke, and time was restored. Cade stood, holding his chain. His armour had been broken on his left side, exposing a scarred and burnt left arm. A tuft of blonde hair stuck out of the broken part of his helmet, which had also exposed his right eye. His knees shook, his left hand had gone limp, yet still he stood.

"This, isn't over, I won't let you play god anymore," Cade said.

(Sirius the Jaeger OST-Definition of fate)

He looked over his shoulder, widening his eyes at what he saw. Kronika had transported them to a past timeline, a grand, but bloody battlefield. They stood on top of a pyramid, one every fighter of Mortal Kombat was killing one another to get to the top of.

"Armageddon," Cade said, feeling the blood lust of all the fighters.

"ENOUGH!" Kronika screamed.

She threw her hand up, lifting Cade into the air. Breaking her arms apart, she snapped Cade in two at the waist. He yelled in agony, before time rewound.

'What the hell,' he thought, feeling as if nothing had happened.

Again, Kronika spread her arms out and split Cade in half down the middle. Sadistically she rewound time, peeling the skin off of his muscles, splitting him in half, snapping him. Time was rewound for Cade, so that the feeling of being ripped apart was new to him every time.

Except it wasn't, his eyes could see the sins Kronika had committed in her bid to create her new era.

'She's killed me, twice, no...five...ten,' even Cade, no stranger of murder was shocked.

Again and again he saw the fatality, his mind adapting each time.

'She's going to keep doing this, have to time this just right, right... about...' he waited for Kronika to rewind time again.

"NOW!" Deathblade yelled.

He created an explosion of energy, throwing Kronika back and landing on his knees.

'So many fighters, so many people with their own ideal futures,' Cade thought, remembering everything his eyes had seen.

People's sins could not be hidden from him, all it took was one look. But recently, after his failed hunt in is world, he had begun to see all of the good in people to. He saw every world, every possible 'ending' for a person. Good and bad, Kronika was going to wipe it away. She began to approach Cade, sliding a blade out of her wrist. The armour covering his mouth shattered and he coughed out a puddle of blood.

"As I was told, you have no place in this new era," Kronika said.

(Mortal Kombat theme)

She swung her blade, only for Cade to grab it. Kronika looked at her enemy in shock, despite all the damage that he had sustained, he was still looking at her defiantly. His eyes narrowed and teeth grit together furiously. Then he shattered the blade and slammed his head into Kronika's. Time seemed to stop, and slowly, a crack spread through Kronika's skull. Suddenly, Kronika was knocked back, clutching her forehead in confusion.

"Impossible," she said.

Never before had she felt a bone break. Cade dropped into his fighting stance and took a deep breath. He ran forward, swinging his fist as Kronika raised her hand. His fist slammed into her fingers, and again time stopped. Slowly, Kronika began to feel her fingers and the bone of her hand crack. She recoiled in pain.

"Impossible, have the other gods, filled you with their power?" she demanded.

Cade suddenly slammed his elbow into Kronika's cheek, breaking it in slow motion before punching her left rib, breaking that too.

"I don't ask for help from gods," he snarled.

He punched her shoulder, breaking the bone and delivering a flurry of punches to her chest. Face, chest, belly, he struck again and again, forcing Kronika back.

"NOR WOULD I ACCEPT HELP GIVEN!" he yelled.

Cade delivered an uppercut, breaking Kronika's jaw. She looked at Cade in fear, shaking her head in denial.

"I hate people like you, whom claim the title of god, when all you do is take and USE OTHERS!" he broke her elbow and knees, and elbowed her in the nose.

"No, I am, the keeper of time itself," Kronika whispered.

"TIME IS OUR OWN, every happiest and even saddest moment is ours to use!" he punched her in the belly again, his skin and armour glowing with red markings. "OR TO WASTE! The choice is ours, to savour every moment, for it will never come again. That's the difference between us and you, our time, IS THE MOST PRECIOUS THING WE HAVE!"

(End OST)

FINISH HER!

Cade roared, golden wings bursting out of his back. He swung his fist, slamming it into Kronika's cheek. Time rewound itself, and again Cade punched Kronika, twice, three times, six more times until finally he followed through with his punch, launching Kronika into her hour glass so hard that the hour glass cracked and her crown flew off. She was thrown onto her back, looking between her crown and the hour glass.

"No," she gasped.

Suddenly the hour glass shattered, fragments of glass flying into the ground. Kronika screamed as one shard cut her in half at the waist, taking off of one of her arms too. Splinters of glass pierced her head and hand and she desperately began to crawl towards her crown. But the hour glass began to reform itself, creating a singularity that drew Kronika towards it as well. She dug her fingers into the ground, trying to fight against the pull, her eyes on her crown. Kronika never saw the shard of glass coming. It swept through her face, her flesh not stopping it from being reunited with the hourglass. Kronika's head split apart and her desperate cries became gargles. Finally, she was pulled into the hourglass, disappearing within its core. Only her crown and Cade remained.

Deathblade Klassic Tower ending

(VO: Brad Hawkins)

I couldn't sense Kronika's spirit anymore, I don't know what the Hourglass did to her, but I don't much care either. She treated every life she had taken as meaningless, as if the new era would erase the sin of it. Whatever spell had been cast on me, sent to worlds across the Multiverse, but it was clear to me that this world was something else entirely. Initially I thought I was here to defeat Kronika, I had been drawn to her keep after all. But that wasn't it, even with her dead I was still here. Then I realised, I had been drawn to this place like every other fighter to one single object, the Hourglass.

My eyes saw the desires, both good and evil of every fighter racing for the Hourglass. They all had so many versions of their world that they wanted to create. Some were very noble, like Jax and his daughter, Sub Zero and Hanzo, some of them I feel deserved to shape history. But that isn't how time should work, after my big speech to Kronika I can't back down now. To keep the hour glass out of the hands of even the best of intentions, I decided there was only one thing to do with it.

But the Hourglass, as it had done so many warriors before it, showed me what it could do for me. I saw the ideal version of my life. A world where my parents were truly parents, where we were happy, where I never lost my friends, and then a future. That future I could have had, as a husband and father, no heroes, no spirit of justice, no fighting. It was beautiful and I truly was tempted.

Andy Warhol said it best, 'They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself'. You learn from the past, and hope for the future, that's the very nature of being alive and how people grow stronger. Whatever future the fighters desired, would be created through their efforts alone, not by the whims of a god. My reason for being here, is over!

"Deathblade then gathered all of his power and unleashed it on the Hourglass, shattering it completely. From the great explosion that the hour glass generated, a new existence was formed. A new Multiverse, the Towers. Within the dark space, each tower represents a new timeline, shaped by the desires of the fighters of every Mortal Kombat tournament that has been fought," explained Raiden.

"But, Deathblade's intentions, though noble have now endangered all of existence. For when he destroyed the Hour glass, freeing us from Kronika's manipulations, he also created a portal for a dark force that surpasses Kronika and her children. This force has now used the towers to recruit armies for him to use in his war with all existence. Multiple Shao Kahns and Shinnoks have been promised power and authority, or have joined with their new master in the hopes of betraying him further down the line," another Raiden explained.

"A new existence has been formed, where Kombat will continue, and a new war has begun. The darkness is gathering its forces, but so too will the light," and yet another Raiden proclaimed, tapping his staff against the ground.

The trio of Raiden's stood side by side. In the middle was a Raiden wearing a blue robe that exposed his chest, there were silver pads on his shoulders and bands around his wrists. He wore a metallic disc shaped hat, with a gold mask covering his face, minus his mouth. On his left was a pale Raiden, his eyes and lightning glowing red. As well as a gold hat, he wore black clothing and gold armour. Finally, the Raiden with the staff wore a completely white outfit, a straw hat, and though he had some electricity glowing around his body, his eyes were blue, the eyes of a mortal.

"Just as the darkness has gathered an army, so too will we," the dark Raiden stated.

They looked upon their gathered fighters. Kung Jin and Takeda, Cassie Cage and Jacqui Briggs from the Kronika conflict, a Cyborg Smoke and Cyborg Sub-Zero. The human Grand-Master Sub-Zero wore the armour he wore during his conflict against Onaga, alongside him was a Sub-Zero and Scorpion whom had both recently returned from a universe where a great 'injustice' had been done, the human Cyrax and the human Grand master Scorpion. A revenant Liu Kang stood with his allies Kung Lao, Jax, Sonya, Johnny Cage, Kitana and Jax in the gear they wore against their fight with the Deadly Alliance. Across from them was Shujinko, standing with Bo' Rai Cho, Li Mei, Fujin, Ermac and Kenshin. An aged Liu Kang stood with his student Kai, an aged Kung Lao and his nephew, Kung Jin in his thief's garb. The Fire God Liu Kang stood only with his lover Kitana Kahn. Finally, a version of Kitana stood with Mileena and Jade, Goro, Kotal, Reptile, Baraka and Erron Black behind them.

"Soon, we will join the 'Redeemer' Cade Hunter and protect all that exists," the mortal Raiden said, and raised his staff high.

The war against darkness continues in The Redeemer

And the fight begins in The Towers of Kombat

It was my first try at a Mortal Kombat fic, so hope everyone enjoyed it.

This is sort of an 'all endings become canon-sort of' ending, the creation of a Mortal Kombat Multiverse known as the Towers (kind of like the Towers of Time concept from 11), I might do a fic revolving around these universes after the Redeemer.

This is a one-shot, but I might do a second update showing Cade's fatalities, and interaction dialogue with the other characters.