"Mortal Kombat 1 One-Shot: Sindel vs. The Realms" (Sx78) is a special one-shot sponsored by Mortal Kombat 1 and Warner Bros. Games. Gamemaster Marisha Ray leads players Noshir Dalal, Gina Darling, Sam Riegel, and Travis Willingham through a magnificently brutal experience in Outworld.
Synopsis[]
Pre-show[]
The cast introduce themselves and their characters: Gina is Kitana, Noshir is Rain, Sam is Johnny Cage, Travis is Raiden, and Marisha is Sindel, Master of Ceremonies.
Disclaimer: The events in this one-shot are not canon to the world of Mortal Kombat!
Part I[]
They all wake up with a ringing in their ears and find themselves in a verdant palace, where a party is occurring. They see a buffet table that appears to be made from a man who has had many of his limbs broken. They recognize him as Shao Kahn, Sindel's husband, and look to the end of the room to find Sindel herself, sitting on a throne and holding a champagne glass. She holds it up and toasts, noting the presence of her daughter Kitana, and announces that they are in Edenia, which she has since reclaimed, and that she is celebrating not only that reclamation, but her divorce from Shao Kahn. She tells the group that they are to fight in a tournament, and asks them to introduce themselves.
Johnny Cage asks if his agent set this up, and makes a number of observations about the film industry and the SAG-AFTRA strike before Sindel interrupts him, uninterested in Earthrealm and "pretty anti-union". She asks Rain to introduce himself, and he boasts of his elemental storm powers and claims he is not here for entertainment, though Sindel disagrees. She then speaks to Kitana, her daughter, who was unaware of the divorce and had not been home in some time but notes the number of topiaries in the house. They exchange further barbed pleasantries before Sindel turns to Raiden, who says he also has storm-related powers and criticizes the decor before Sindel tells him they'll receive a tour later. She then has her right hand woman, Sheeva, bring out Nightwolf, who is bound and badly injured, and she tells Johnny to kill Nightwolf, who had attempted to sacrifice himself to kill her. Johnny is hesitant, but Sindel unleashes a Banshee Scream and Nightwolf attacks. The fight begins. Johnny dodges Nightwolf's Tomahawk Strike and punches Nightwolf in the groin, then trips him when Nightwolf tries a second attack. Nightwolf jumps up, but Johnny stabs him through the head with a beef skewer from the buffet, killing him.
Sindel then invites Kitana's twin sister, Mileena, to fight her, and Kitana, who was buttering a biscuit from the buffet, begins combat. Kitana blocks the first attack with her fans, but Mileena spews black bile onto her, burning her. Kitana blocks the sai attack and then, when Mileena tries to do a fan kick, Kitana slashes her tendon with the fans. She then jumps on Mileena and begins stabbing her with the folded fans. She kills her, after which Sindel points out that Mileena forgot her birthday seven years ago and Kitana has always been her favorite. Sindel siphons her soul. She then points Rain towards Noob Saibot, who is eating a sausage from the charcuterie board, and tells Rain she believes Noob was responsible for her marriage to Shao Kahn before telling him to kill him. Rain immediately pulls all the water from Noob, instantly killing him. He then magically takes the water from the fountain, uses it to bloat out Noob Saibot, and pours it into a glass for Sindel, who thanks him before turning to Raiden and asking him to officiate her divorce. Raiden creates a stormcloud over Shao Kahn as he speaks, before sinking into the floor, appearing before him, and shocking him with lightning until he dies. Sindel then tells them the real tournament can begin. She asks them to team up in two groups of two. Johnny tries to negotiate fees at first but quickly gives up as Raiden and Kitana team up, leaving him with Rain. Johnny attempts to make a pass at Kitana but no one is having it, and the tournament begins.
Johnny Cage gets the highest initiative roll and goes first. He rattles Kitana by forcing her to reflect on the dysfunction in her family. Sindel reveals her true love was named Jerrod. Kitana retaliates with her fans, punching Johnny in the throat and through a window into the courtyard. Rain meanwhile insults Raiden and Earthrealm, to which Raiden responds with an insult to Rain's color scheme. Rain also creates knife-like raindrops and makes them fall on Raiden, who pushes Rain out into the courtyard to join Johnny and Kitana. This destroys the already-damaged peacock bush, which disappoints Sindel though she otherwise is enjoying herself. Johnny brags about his films to an unimpressed Kitana, who asks Raiden for assistance, and channels the lightning through her bladed fans. Raiden then taunts Rain, changing his stance, and Rain scorches the entire courtyard with lightning. Kitana uses her fans to throw Johnny onto the Sky Bridge. He hands her an autographed picture, to her disgust.
Round two begins: Raiden goes first, and appears before Johnny Cage before shocking him in the eyes with lightning and kicking him in the chest. Raiden slides across the wet rail of the bridge and punches Raiden in the groin. Kitana taunts Rain regarding his interest in Sindel. Rain summons a wave to knock into Kitana, and the two crash through a window into an opulently decorated lounge. Raiden takes a protective stance, and Johnny breaks some of the glass on the bridge so that he has a shard to use on his next turn. Kitana slices up several pillows as she compliments Rain on his color scheme, but he tells her his plans for the realm should it fall to him. Johnny slides Raiden into the lounge and follows after him. Raiden breakdances to rattle Johnny, but Rain then slams into him, knocking them both back to the skybridge. Kitana, furious, shreds a painting of her mother with her fans, as Rain makes another attack to electrocute Raiden, ending the round. In round three, Rain begins by destroying the skybridge, knocking himself and Raiden to the ground. Raiden kicks a planter towards Rain. Back in the lounge, Johnny takes his shirt off and wraps himself in the velvet curtains, making a pass at Kitana, who in response attacks his moral character. He brushes it off. Rain fills Raiden's lungs with water, but Raiden continues to speak. Johnny jumps out the lounge windows into the courtyard, and asks Kitana to join him. She does, and the lounge explodes behind them. Kitana then slices Johnny in the mouth with her fans. Raiden explodes a terracotta planter and sends the shards into Rain. Kitana uses her remaining actions to destroy Johnny Cage's massive support crew, and they enter the final round. Rain draws the blood droplets from all the bystanders and combines it with the water to crush Raiden and Kitana under the pressure, winning the match.
Sindel absorbs the souls and declares Rain and Johnny Cage the winners, then tells them they must face off in a one-on-one battle, and can choose to tag in the other two. Rain chooses Kitana, leaving Johnny Cage to have Raiden. Sindel then begins to lead them to the battleground for their final combat.
Break[]
- Mortal Kombat 1 Launch Trailer.
- In-game screenshots and arts of Mortal Kombat 1.
Part II[]
Sindel tells Rain and Johnny, as she leads them to her hanging garden, that when she was married to Shao Kahn, her soul was not hers, but she also learned the value of binding souls to one another. She binds Raiden to Johnny and Kitana to Rain to be summoned as "Kameos". Johnny notes that this is how one of his film contracts went and offers Sindel redecorating tips before round one of combat begins. Johnny Cage summons Raiden, who rattles Rain and Rain summons Kitana. Kitana harries Johnny and slashes at him with her fan. Johnny tells Rain perhaps there is a way they could be allies, under different circumstances, by proposing a film team-up. The Kameos then fade, and Rain shifts away, forcing Johnny to chase after him to the Stone Pavilion. Johnny summons Raiden again, who, possibly nude, thunderclap hip-checks Rain. Rain prepares to summon Kitana, as Johnny Cage brings the fight to the twinned willows, pushing Rain with him. Rain summons Kitana, who forces Johnny to draw a drama card. Johnny attempts to make Rain join him. Sindel, impatient with all the talking, yells at them to keep fighting. Johnny summons Raiden yet again, who destroys some of the scenery. Throughout this, Raiden advises Johnny on his social media usage.
Round two begins. Johnny brings the duel to the garden bridge, and Rain follows and covers the floor with water, forcing Johnny to slip so that he can be thrown into the verdant plaza. Johnny Cage is impaled upon a tree branch there. Johnny monologues about the power of friendship, and summons Raiden, who threatens to make Rain watch all of Johnny's movies if he wins. Rain runs back to the twinned willows and is forced to compliment both Johnny and his mentor, David Hasselhoff. This brings them to round three. Rain makes the ground slick again so that they both slide back to the garden bridge. Johnny asks Rain to put in a good word for him with Kitana, but Rain instead mocks Johnny's squandered potential. As Johnny considers the life on the stage he could have had, Sindel, frustrated by all the talking, unleashes a Banshee Shout to force them to fight. They enter the final round. Rain begins by summoning Kitana, which causes Johnny to mock Rain for relying on Kitana for all his fighting. Johnny then finishes the fight with a complicated series of acrobatics possibly performed by a stunt double, then decapitates him with another signed photograph after asking once again for Kitana's number. Sindel congratulates him, and tells him it will be exciting to fight him one-on-one. Johnny Cage is taken aback by this, but Sindel reverses time, bringing Rain, Raiden, and Kitana back to life and teleports them all to Shang Tsung's laboratory.
The laboratory contains Shang Tsung encased in a glass capsule with electrodes on his body. Sindel tells those assembled that, as Shang Tsung betrayed her and siphoned out so many souls, she has cursed him to an eternity of having his soul sucked out. With that, the fight begins, with each person gaining new objectives. Sindel goes first and attacks Johnny Cage for being annoying, using her hair to whip him into a glass table, which shatters. Raiden lands a hit with his lightning powers on Sindel, ruining her hair. Johnny Cage adjusts one of the broken pieces of lab equipment to make a strobe light-like effect. Kitana tells Sindel she was a better mother when she was brainwashed, rattling her, and Rain asks her what she hopes to achieve as this fight isn't going well, to which Sindel remarks that her entire life has gone badly. Kitana expresses her frustration that Sindel summons her so frequently without warning, and tells her that with her newfound friends (and Johnny Cage) she believes that Sindel must die once and for all. Raiden agrees, pointing out that Sindel has destroyed all of her own friendships. Johnny Cage adds that she should just let them go, to which she points out that everyone has betrayed her, and Johnny appreciates her performance. Kitana prepares her next attack, and Sindel warns Rain his death will mean nothing and rattles him by leaning into her villainy. Raiden throws a beaker of urine at Sindel, who dodges it but is disgusted. Johnny tries to threaten Sindel with the same thing she did to Shao Kahn, but ultimately grosses himself out and backs off it, instead threatening to show himself beating her in combat in his audition reel, which leads Raiden to again bring up Johnny Cage's social media presence. Kitana, meanwhile, notices the body of her former pet cat Fluffy amid the debris of the lab and angrily accuses Sindel of killing her; Sindel says it was an early experiment. She notes Rain's abilities with some degree of respect, but then attacks him, briefly dislodging his soul before it returns to his injured body, and throws him through the wall into the science lab. He gets up and prepares to attack.
Sindel leads off the next round and uses her Banshee Scream against everyone, taking away one action point. Raiden knocks down a wall of mutated hamsters in this new location, one of which falls into a green vial. Goro, with the face of Johnny Cage, emerges. Sindel screams as a vial appears to contain a soul, and everyone changes their stance. Rain prepares himself. Johnny Cage goes over to Goro and informs Sindel she'll be hearing from his agent and lawyer regarding the illicit use of his image without permission. Kitana, horrified at the prospect of two Johnny Cages, also steels herself. Sindel lands a blow on Kitana with a spear. Raiden licks the face of Goro to rattle everyone, which succeeds. Rain slips in the green slime and pulls everyone into the archives, and Johnny splatters the goo onto Sindel, which burns her. Kitana throws a fan at Sindel's throat, sending her through the wall into the autopsy room. In there, she sees the body of Liu Kang, her boyfriend, and is slightly less horrified than she was about Fluffy; Sindel says this was her second experiment. Sindel attempts to shame Raiden for his amorous advances towards Goro, rattling him. Rain tries to break up Raiden's encounter by throwing organs at him. Johnny, meanwhile, films an audition tape for Zero Dark 31. Kitana embraces Liu Kang's corpse.
Round three begins with Johnny hitting Sindel with a chi wave and attempting to sound like an Australian action star. Raiden defibrillates Johnny Cage Goro who runs over to Sindel, punching her in the face. However, the lightning powers also start to crack Shang Tsung's capsule. Sindel retaliates, burning off Raiden's hair and nipples. Kitana runs to the capsule and breaks it, causing Sindel to scream again and unleash a shock wave towards her. Rain grabs Shang Tsung and crashes everyone through to the laboratory. Johnny Cage proposes he and Goro work on a film together, to which Goro agrees. Raiden, jealous, throws a hamster at Johnny. Sindel grabs Shang Tsung from Rain, hitting Rain and bringing the group to the science lab. Kitana throws a fan through Sindel's hair, pushing her into the archives and angering her. Rain changes to a bold stance, and Johnny tears through a number of magazines in the archives. Rain slams Sindel in the wall to try to get back Shang Tsung, injuring her neck, and they enter the final round.
Sindel begins with a final Banshee Scream. Rain calls to the others and tells them to prepare to finish her. He summons a ball of water with lightning running through it. Kitana throws in her swirling fans, and Rain tosses the ball at Sindel, who is incapacitated. Johnny Cage throws sunglasses at her. Raiden uppercuts her with a bolt of lightning, and Kitana slices Sindel with a fan so that her face looks like Mileena's. Johnny punches Sindel's destroyed body, and Rain electrifies Kitana's fans, bisecting Sindel and finishing her. They all say their goodbyes as they are teleported out of the realm: Johnny Cage thanks Rain for inspiring him to go back into serious acting. Kitana is teleported back to her couch and sees Johnny in an ad, to her chagrin. Raiden and Rain predator handshake with a crack of lightning before leaving for their home realms. Once all are gone, the souls in Sindel flow into Shang Tsung instead. He awakens and resurrects Sindel, telling her there is still work to be done.
Featured characters[]
Player characters[]
- Johnny Cage, martial arts megastar
- Kitana, princess of Outworld, daughter of Sindel
- Raiden, God of Thunder (sometimes), Protector of Earthrealm (always)
- Rain, high mage of Outworld
- Sindel, ruler of Edenia
Non-player characters[]
- Shao Khan, ex-husband of Sindel
- Nightwolf
- Noob Saibot
- Jerrod, another ex-husband of Sindel (mentioned only)
- Mileena, Kitana's twin sister
- Goro
Quotations[]
Trivia[]
- The game was played using a homebrewed version built by the Darrington Press team of the Till the Last Gasp's rules to accommodate 2v2 battle.
- Noshir Dalal and Travis Willingham voice Rain and Raiden respectively, in the game Mortal Kombat 1.
References[]
Art: