Disclaimer: I don't own Mortal Kombat or it's charecters. However Marcoses, Kinopo, Kirkoc,Teal, and Xavier are my own creations.

MORTAL KOMBAT VII: LUST FOR POWER

CHAPTER VIII: WAR ON FOUR SIDES

It began exactly when Rain said it would. Darrius and the Seidan guard charged the tower. However, Dairou, Cyrax, and The Lin Kuei were guarding this area of the tower.The only thing that didn't go as planned was that Darrius had far more troops than originally thought. Dairou and Cyrax drew thier blades as Sub-Zero and Frost used thier kori to summon a huge sword and daggers respectively. Smoke made a huge lance of smoke that turned into a solid weapon. He jumped in the air and drove the spear into the bodies of three guards, and then went on to slashing his way threw the guards. Frost hit her opponents with a constant barrage of ice daggers, while Dairou sliced into anything that got in his way as he headed toward Darrius. Sub-Zero noticed a group of about 100 guards heading his way. Suddenly, the guards noticed the ground under them freeze and rise them up. Then some guards noticed a large pillar of ice coming from the sky. When they realised what was happening, they were smashed by the pillars of ice. Cyrax killed at least 50 by himself by using his land mines. He then continued to kill others with his pulse blade.

For a while, Darrius had been watching the fight. But when he seen about 300 of the 500 guards he had brought had been killed, he interefered. But for a cowardly man like Darrius, he wasn't going to go fight just anyone. Not the ice summoner. Not the man of smoke. Not the cyborg. And certainly not Dairou. He would take the weakest link; Frost.

At another side of the tower, a heated battle was going on. The odd thing was, these warriors fighting were on the same side. It was a battle between the Red and Black Dragons. Sonya, Jax, Stryker, Johnny Cage, and Kenshi were suppose to be fighting them, but the criminal clans starting fighting before the Special Force could fight. So they did what was natural when your enemy begins to destroy itself; nothing.

The sound metal clanging together sounded off as Kabal and Mavado fought violently. Kabal shot a blast of energy from his mask into Mavado, stunning him. He then charged at a high speed at Mavado and rammed him into a nearby rock. Both men's bodies were then covered in a purple aura. Mavado knew what was next; a move where Kabal would send his body crashing into his opponents. Mavado knew he couldn't combat it normally, so he let the spikes in his feet come out and strecthed out his legs while he was still in control of his body. When the bodies crashed, Kabal screamed as the spikes inbedded themselves in his thighs. Mavado then released himself with his dragon tounges. And charged with his Hookswords. The woozy Kabal didn't even see it coming...

Meanwhile Kobra and Kira were engaged a rematch of sorts. Only this time, Kira wasn't winning. You see, Kobra's time with Mavado had made him a more patient, calculating fighter. Every time Kira tryed to attack, he countered. Normally this wouldn't be problem as Kira would just counter his attacks when he made a mistake. But sadly for her, he didn't make any. So Kobra punished her with kicks and blows from the Kali Sticks. And as savagely as he was hitting her, it was clear if something didn't change, she would not survive.

Xavier saw Kira getting beaten by Kobra and wanted to help, but Hsu Hao was making that difficult. Hsu Hao used his Sun-Moon blades to attack Xavier, but he was to slow to hit him. Finally, he decided to return the blades to thier holding place. He then usd his enourmus power to grab Xavier in a bear hug. He then began ramming Xavier into nearby walls and trees and the like. Xavier finally managed to free his arm and used the power of his mechanical hand to punch Hsu Hao in the heart constantly. Although he showed he was hurting, his grip only tightened. Xavier noticed a small crack in Hao's heart, and if that meant what he thought it meant, he had to get away from Hao.

At that time Jarek was having simialr troubles with Sektor. Instead of hacking away with his sword like he normally would in a fight, he was running for his life. Sektor sent several missles in the direction of Jarek, but luckily he avoided all them. Sektor then gave up his projectile assault for a close range fight. Although logic would have Jarek doing better in this style of fight, Sektor was still handling him. It didn't look very well for the Black Dragons. It was then that Sonya and the others decided to interfere. When they came from thier hiding spots, Mavado halted in mid run, Kobra and Sektor stopped thier dominance of thier opponents, and Hsu Hao dropped Xavier. The Red and Black Dragons then turned to fight who they were being paid to fight. The Earth Warriors drew their weapons and prepared for battle. They were about to fight when they heard a sharp whistling sound. They all looked up at the source of the sound to see someone all of them knew or had either been told about; the savage warrior known as Kano.

Nearby the three warriors Marcoses had dubbed his elite were in battle against the Edenians. The only thing was they had brought several hundred Seidan guard coutersy of Darrius. Teal and Sindel fought the guards as Rain did battle with Reiko, Kitana fought Mileena, and Jade battled Tanya. Rain was easily taking care of Reiko, but it appeared Kitana was having trouble with her 'sister'. Kitana dodged the many jabs and swings that Mileena sent her way with the scis. Mileena then took out a small pink bag. She then took off her mask and dump the contents of the bag in her mouth. She then shot several hundred thumbtacks at her 'sister'. Kitana held up her fans as protection, causing the tacks to tear into her fans. Mileena then attacked with her scis and ripped Kitana's fans to shreads. Kitana stood defenseless as Mileena jumped at her. Suddenly, a flash of green was seen and Jade's staff landed in front of her, stopping Mileena. Kitana then looked to Jade

"Use it!" she yelled

"But..."

"I don't need it Kitana!"

Convinced that her friend didn't need her weapon, she quickly grabbed and got into a fighting stance. He used the staff to fend off the assault her sister was mounting on her. She used the staff to sweep Mileena's feet, causing her to fall to the ground. Kitana brought the staff down with great force towards her sister's chest. But right before the weapon connected, Mileena vanished into the ground. Kitana knew what was next, and lifted the staf into the air at the perfect time to defend against the attack. When she lifted the staff slammed into Mileena's jaw. which sent the pink clad warrior stumbling. When she got back on her feet, she took about ten scis(much smaller than the ones she used as weapons) and sent them soaring at Kitana. The Edenian Princess responded by pulling out several thick wooden sticks. She tossed them causing them to open up and reveal themselves as fans, too small for use as weapons yet perfect size for projectiles. The fans crashed into the scis causing them both to fall to the ground.

"You haven't won yet." Kitana said.

"That's what you think!" Mileena hissed in response

Not far from where the two 'sisters' where battling, Reiko did battle with Rain. Throughout the battle, Rain thanked the vampire Mertile for damaging Reiko's leg. Due to the injury, Reiko was much slowed and couldn't deliver the devasting kicks that made even Rain jealous. Because of this, Reiko was forced to resort to more punching his opponent and using his club. Reiko came down heavy with his club but missed Rain. Rain then summoned a bolt of lighting from the sky to strike Reiko. He then launched to balls of water at the former general that stunned him. Rain then came with a to the arm that seperated his shoulder. Reiko tossed a flurry of ninja stars. Rain shot more water blast to deflect the assault. Reiko took this moment to slip his shoulder into place. Rain then tryed a roundhouse kick only to have his leg collide with Reiko's club. Rain screamed as his shin bone shattered from the force. Reiko walked up to the fallen Edenian and hit him with the club. He then finished by sending a devasting stomp into Rain's torso. He then turned his attention to his next target. Rain tryed to stop him with a blast of lightning, but fainted before he could.

Meanwhile, Sindel easily dispatched of many of the guards. She used her many kombat skills to take all but one. She could tell from his armor that was the leader of the group. She handled the guard easily with her weapon and stabbed him in the chest. Slowly, he slumped to the ground. Sindel then turned around and slung her hair at two guards trying to sneak her. The hair smacked and sent the guards flying. Once again, someone tryed to surprise her. This time it was the guard she thought she killed, swinging a mace. Sindel ducked and grabbed his feet and kick him in the face(A/N: She uses this attack in Deception, but I can't remember the name of it) This caused him to lose control of mace and it hit him in the face. Sindel then let out one of banshee screams that ripped the skin off the guard. Then for the third time, a sneak attack targeted Sindel. Only this time, she couldn't counter it.

While this was happening, Jade and Tanya were battling hand to hand. Tanya connected with a hard kick to the chest that sent Jade back a little. Tanya the ripped off her mask to reveal a horribly disfigured face.

"Do you see what you've done to me?" she screamed at Jade.

"You deserve every scar for betraying us!" Jade responded

"You will die for robbing me of my beauty!"

"It's a shame," Jade said as she drew two boomerangs."You actually believe you were beautiful."

Jade threw the weapons at Tanya, who easily dodged one, but the other caught her in the shoulder. She quickly unlodged it and hurled it at Jade. The boomerang sliced her midsection. She winced in pain, but sucked it up and once again took fighting stance. Yellow energy glowed around Tanya's hands as she chagred at her opponent. Jade dodged the as Tanya used her nails as claws. But after a while she grew tired and was slashed across her already injured stomach. Tanya then took another swipe into Jades abdomen. Jade countered by sending a green flash of light from her hand that blinded Tanya. She then used a quick Shadow Kick that, because it was used so quickly, lacked the normal force that the attack would use. Tanya taunted her injured foe.

"What's the matter Jade? You got a stomach ache?" Tanya was so busy taunting her rival that she never saw it coming...

The two Champions of the Elder Gods battled hard against the two oni Drahmin and Moloch. But the two oni were relentless is thier fight. Ermac leapt into the air and came down with his axe, slicing Drahmin across the face. The monster growled angerly as he swiped Ermac with his club, sending the red warrior flying. Ermac, however, used his powers to stop himself in mid-air. While in the air, he shot a blast of green energy at Drahmin. The oni simply swatted the blast away like a beachball. Ermac then used his power to lift a huge boulder into the air and hurl it his opponent. Drahmin used his Iron Club to shatter the boulder. But after the dust of the boulder cleared, Ermac was gone. He then turned to see the fusion of souls behind him. Ermac then used a flash bomb to blind Drahmin, a move he gained threw his fusion with Hotaru. Ermac then unleashed an extensive combo on Drahmin's weak point; his head. It was then that Ermac did something he instantly wished he hadn't, knocked off Drahmin's mask.

Scorpion was having a much harder time than his partner. He had tryed every move in his repertoire on the oni, but nothin seemed to slow him. Scorpion growled in anger. He had had this problem the last time he battled the beast. Scorpion felt his body lift into the air as Moloch sent him flying with his stone ball. The monster then charged. Scorpion, purely out on instinct, tossed his spear and caught the oni in his left eye. Scorpion then pulled with all his might, trying to kill the beast in the same manner he killed so many others. But rahter than his head coming off like Scorpion expected, Moloch's eye came out of it's socket, letting blood spurt freely out. But this did not defer the oni, he simply shook it off and continued his charge. As Scorpion prepared himself for the attack, he knew he would need a new way to kill this beast.