I had mentioned something called “Project DK” on my Twitter a couple of times. I guess now I can finally say what it was… not that it was anything important, mind.
A while ago, I had decided to get back into writing fiction. Mind you, I haven’t really done any since high school and was a bit out of practice. I had a couple of stories knocking about in my head, but didn’t know where to start. That problem was solved when out of nowhere, a story came to my head, waving its arms, and going, “Me first! Me first!” My only concern was that it was a fanfic, and I really didn’t want to get started working on someone else’s characters. Still, the idea wanted to be told, so I sat down and wrote it.
The end result was a Mortal Kombat fanfic called “Dracula Killer”. I knocked it out in a couple of hours, with Jennifer giving me advice and editing. Once I was done, I sent it on to Crow and ]{0MBAT for their thoughts. They, plus Jennifer, had pretty much the same opinion.
“It’s great. What happens next?”
Well, crap. I honestly had thought the story would end there, but they wanted to see more.
So, a couple of nights later, Jennifer and I were at dinner, and with her help I brainstormed an expanded storyline for the story. I thought it through, and then began working on the expanded story. Over time, I had gotten the page count doubled and wasn’t even anywhere near halfway through. Unfortunately, I hit a bit of a creative stumbling block: the new game.
I apologize if this is a spoiler, but a big part of the setting/tone of the story depended on the Outworld invasion of Earthrealm (from Mortal Kombat 3) being rather sudden and mystical. As the story for MK3 explained, Kahn opened a portal over an unnamed city and used his magic to claim everyone’s souls, except for the chosen warriors. However, screens from the new game showed that it was, in fact, a full-on military invasion. The thing that ended up killing it was watching a video today, where kombatants were fighting on a rooftop, while the city burned around them and a dragon and a helicopter had a dogfight.
Based on that, the premise I had wouldn’t work anymore. The only way I could see it working is if the method Kahn uses to invade Earthrealm was changed in the new timeline, as this story takes place in the old timeline. (Mortal Kombat is starting a new continuity the same way Star Trek did: time travel changing the past.) Otherwise… no. It won’t work. So, I decided to bite the bullet and submit the original version of the story on MK Online.
If you want to read it, you can do so here.
Comments and criticisms are welcome. Just keep in mind that it’s written under the assumption that the person reading it will be familiar with Mortal Kombat. :-)