Mortal Kombat Mythologies
"Do you think he will do it master?"
"I wouldn't have hired him if I didn't think he would"
The room was dark and filled with Shadows. A white face almost luminescent was lit by light from a square gap in the roof. Moonlight, or maybe something else was its source.
"What if he fails in the task?"
"Then Subzero will succeed"
"You never told me about a second ninja, who is this Subzero?"
"A mere mortal who wields powers over Ice, Scorpion is his nemesis. The two clans are
bitter enemies, I thought Scorpion would serve me better if I could ease his mind a little"
"You think Subzero will fail?"
"Scorpions is the greater fighter he'll tear Subzero limb from limb. I have high hopes
that he will join the brothers of the shadow, Subzero has more human emotion in him, Scorpion
will use it against him"
"And what if Subzero succeeds?"
"He won't"
Chapter 1: Snow
It was cold and in the distance the temple was sticking up into the night like a sharp knife. It cut the sky like a scythe the bricks once colorful had now faded with time. Now they were gray with weathering or black and green with moss and foliage. Creepers climbed up the bricks and caused damage to the once powerful design. Once long ago it had been a great temple with many followers and guardians of the treasures within, but time had passed and the monks had slowly dwindled away. It was rare even that you saw the chimneys of the kitchens burning smoke; it was a quiet silent place with few left to remember the ancient knowledge. Mortal Kombat... what was that now? I thought I remembered for a second, but alas it seems to have left my mind. There were few left to keep alive the old legends. There were many who were determined to destroy them forever, and with good cause. But as with everything that has the potential to bring great power; there were some who were determined to use this hidden power for their own ends. Selfishness greed and desire all work from the shadows of the Neatherealm. Deep down in the pits of Hell something had happened. A concept had been made, a plan of action that could tear the world itself apart. Underground they say that you are close to hell. Over ground they say that you are close to heaven yet the truth perhaps is somewhere in between.
The snow crunched as a blue cloak billowed towards the temple, its master an assassin. Blue cloth, black boots, cold hands. These things were all that he needed as he came slowly and trudgingly upon the temple. They were his style and his persona, the things that he used to strike deep terror into the hearts of his enemies "Oh Raiden save me its Subzero!" they would shout before he murdered them with a shuriken or ice blast. That gawking expression they pulled was indented into his mind, as with the slow breathing and the loss of life they passed away terrified as if they had seen a ghost. He breathed hard on his hands clutching the dark blue material around him, it billowed fiercely in the wind and he pulled it around him closer as best as he could. He stopped a moment and gazed up through his cold deep eyes at the temple with rising anger. It was not the temple that caused it, the fury came from within.
"I really could kill him?" he grumbled his teeth chattering in the cold wind, he wrapped the cloak tightly around him with a growl looking up at the huge structure in front of him with distaste and no acknowledgement of the achievement and creation of such a thing "Oh by the way Subzero!" he imitated "Here's another Sorcerer who has a small job for you. Just travel three thousand miles north across the lake of fire and recover a newspaper" he stumbled a moment and shouted out kicking the snow with his boots red in the cheeks, the full redness of his face was suppressed by the cold winds "I could murder that fool! When's he going to hurry up and die so I can take over? Don't I deserve the position after all I have been through?"
Subzero of course knew what the reason was, why the Grandmaster was still alive and rich as a powerful stockbroker. It was a simple but dangerous one. He of course was good at his own work and the reason the Grandmaster hadn't died yet, was because he was good at his. Murder of course wasn't what he meant. He was wondering when and where the Grandmaster was going to die of old age. He had been around for a good deal of time and you could notice his frailty. The eagerness to live and control were still there, but his physical form was failing fast. Subzero would be next on the stand, and he would have the chance to reenact some of his dreams, and also spend lavishly on all the money he would receive. That of course was the priority.
His boots crackled on the snow as he came closer towards the huge stone building. Stain glass windows with pictures and symbols on reached up into the high heavens. Cold snow was everywhere and he pulled the cloak tighter as a cold north wind gripped him. He looked inquisitively up at a window above. It was small but not too small. Down below the icy river that was being used as a moat roared with great sheets of ice and frozen logs passing by at high speed.
"That should do" he said irritated "Just big enough for my rolling corpse"
He took the blue cape off shivering and rolled it into a ball. Slowly he took a step back trying desperately to stop his teeth from chattering and failing in the process. He stepped back once more and then twice. With a burst of energy and chattering of teeth he ran forward leaping high into the air he curled up into a ball crossed the icy moat below and smashed right through the window into the temple.
The glass shattered spreading far across the room the coulered fragments scattered across the stone floor. He wiped the broken shards off of his body and dusted himself down, dabbing a small cut across his cheek with infuriation. The blue silk mask hid his mouth but left his eyes visible; the only sign of his emotion that at that moment had a very nonamused expression. But, it is hard to tell from the eyes, especially his eyes. Even so there was no doubt in the negativity of his emotion, the eyes showed perhaps contempt? Irritation maybe, aggravation malice hate, one of those was evidently clear, or more likely a combination of all of them together. Subzero was a nasty person, it was what made him live, what made him survive.
A black line ran down his middle like a tie with blue padded material to either side. His arms were mostly bare apart from small armored pads that protected his arm and wrists.
"You will fail" whispered a voice in the darkness. The sound crept right down his spine sounding horribly familiar. Footsteps sounded away in the shadows and there was silence: silent laughter. Subzero readied him self, he crept round the circular room looking for the source of the sound. Ornate patterns and designs were on the walls, he could only vaguely see the ones nearest to him, as his eyes had not adapted to the light; but he felt them more by touch than sight.
His ears picked up harsh breathing over at the other side of the room; he crept quietly across the stone floor, his black boots crunching on glass and snow. That had blown it, whoever was in here with him would definitely know he was there now. He blocked bracing himself for the impact with a cringe.
It didn't come. He stood there contemplating the situation silently. Nothing happened. He felt rather the fool; he shouldn't be feeling that he was the assassin here. He was the one in control he reminded himself.
"I know where you are" he said loudly and audibly "Come out now or I'll kill you" (Subzero was never one for subtlety, but the trick had often worked in the past much to the demise of the victims. "Or I'll kill you" has a certain charm to it that mentions nothing of the consequences of actually doing what he says)
A moan let out in the darkness and Subzero crept forward to the source of the sound not a flicker of worry in his face. Glass cracked and the wind and snow came in through the gap where the window had once been. It gave a dim blue dusty glow into the room that expelled heat and warmth. The wind sounded, a soft whistling where the air hit the broken shards of glass still left in place. Subzero shivered and crept closer to his target, he fingered a shuriken in his cloth. It glinted in the blue dusty light like six pins.
"Please don't hurt me," whispered a voice "I'll do anything you want, just don't hurt me" said the voice, it sounded wet and hoarse. Subzero knelt down and found the body in the darkness. The face was covered with blood and there was a large unusual wound in the chest that made Subzero cringe. He knew what kind of blow caused that mark, it was a Ninja move that he had stolen himself from Japan at the Grandmaster's orders. He wasn't supposed to have looked at the ancient scripts, but he and the Grandmaster both new that he would.
"You're cold," whispered the voice coughing slowly "Are you Death come to claim me?"
"Who attacked you?" whispered Subzero looking into the face. The head was shaved and had a bad wound across the top. The skull looked like it was cracked, it was evident this subject wasn't going to live very long. He might as well get as much information out of him before he died.
Subzero was a cold ruthless assassin, not a studier of ethics or morals. To him all that mattered was getting paid, and arriving back to a warm fire with his housemaid to serve him. To tell the truth as much as his reputation went he didn't really like getting cold.
"Answer me now, or I'll harm you further" threatened Subzero nudging the monk in the ribs "I'm angry and I'm not in the mood for useless shaolin monks like you"
"An assassin came; yellow as the sun as you are blue as winter. He knew an art greater than ours, please whoever you are, you must stop him. The map shows the location of an ancient danger, no one must touch it grave peril ... terror" he slumped to the ground choking on blood.
"Get up" enforced Subzero kicking the monk in the ribs. It did little good, the monk didn't move: he looked dead. Subzero stood up to his full height and looked the dead corpse over "Stay there then" he spat and with another kick he left the body where it lay. A large stone door was at the other end of the room. Placing his hands on it with wonder it opened sharply and he jumped back out of the way. He rubbed his hands together with a cold shudder "Looks like Scorpion's in the house, perhaps we can end this rivalry once and for all"
He walked carefully along the corridor looking to either side to find only walls and one way forward, fishy...
What's more the walls were painted and carved with images of skeletons and dead bodies. A celestial voice at this moment was perhaps speaking and advising Subzero not to continue, but he didn't believe in any of that crap.
"No map yet" he muttered to himself grimly "I hate long jobs"
A wooden structure stuck out of the wall to his left. Through it he peered through to see a rope dangling down inside of the wall. It disappeared into darkness. It probably led to the Belltower of the building or some other useless design that in Subzero's eyes was a useless expenditure of time and effort. It would be worth checking out to see if there was any treasure even so. The only problem was
he didn't know where the rope began, or what floor it lead to. He'd have to explore the rest of the building first, and of course Scorpion was somewhere around peering in the shadows, wouldn't that be fun? He didn't like the idea, Scorpion was more at home with stealth than he was, hiding in shadows and pouncing suddenly. But even so it would be worth removing him if he could, the pride of being able to say "I killed Scorpion" would do him no end of good amongst his rivals in the Lin kuei.
But why was Scorpion here in the first place? He growled suddenly as the position suddenly dawned on Subzero that someone had ordered Scorpion to do the mission. This filled him with rage and irritation. That sorcerer whoever he was had some explaining to do. He should have known that there would have been a ninja in the temple also after the same job, especially one as notorious as Scorpion.
He stopped walking suddenly and gazed up at the stone ceiling. A large circular stone was sticking out of the roof which seemed to have no other purpose than decoration. Subzero looked it up and down and noticed a large crack in the stone beneath the circular pillar. One plus one equals two. Evidently Scorpion had avoided that fate.
"I suppose it passes the time," grumbled Subzero reaching into the silk of his blue gear. He withdrew a small ninja star and threw it forward bouncing across the stone floor below. Two pillars almost immediately came crashing down onto the ground flattening the place where Subzero might have been standing. He touched the stone pillar, it felt dusty. A hand print above his print told him all he needed to know that Scorpion was in the house. Being paranoid he wiped both hand prints off and stepped around the two pillars. Nobody else was going to follow him if he could help it. Picking up the star he walked on to another door. It opened automatically to his touch as if it were powered by modern means. He raised his eyebrows, there was something unusual about this temple. Automatic doors? Skeleton painted walls? Squashing pillar traps? It didn't seem very holy to him.
The next room was much the same in fact it seemed identical to the first circular room. It was dark and hard to see, yet had a musty smell of some kind of incense that the other didn't. Some kind of ceremony room perhaps? He didn't know. Lin kuei didn't bother with all that rubbish, they used to but not so much in modern times. He tiptoed softly forward his feet making almost no sound. His foot nudged against something soft, a material. He knelt down and found another body in the dark. The skin was cold... a ninja star embedded in the bald fore head. The Shiri Ryu symbol was on the side, his lip tightened. He stood up again with a quiet sigh and walked on. He almost expected to find "Made in Japan" foot prints on the floor, alas he was not going to get away without running into him. He pulled the shuriken out wiping it on the folds of the monk's own robes and deposited it in his own stock.
Everything was quiet and even his own trained movement seemed to echo around the room as if it were a huge explosion of a noise. Across the room this time there was no door, a gentle wind came in through swinging wooden shutters. Scorpion had been through here. The wood slammed against the stone walls back and forth as the wind blew it. The gap where the door should have been instead lead out onto a balcony normally closed by the shutters. The sky was dark outside and the moon shone brightly clouds slowly passing it by. It was a full moon again. He'd seen a lot of full moons recently. He was getting tired of them.
He peered over the edge to see a large court yard, an awning was placed below presumably leading into the lower passages of the temple. He grumbled to himself at being forced to jump. There was no snow in the courtyard, this didn't seem strange to Subzero at the time, but it did later when he began to think about it. The courtyard was bare as if the snow had just melted away, the horizon looked like a Summer's night yet he overlooked it all to concentrate on his mission. Stepping up onto the edge of the balcony he balanced himself and then jumped down. There was a few seconds of weightlessness before he bounced off of the canopy and landed unbalanced on the stone below. He cursed and fell to his knees and cougthed white air like a cold dragon. He hadn't taken that jump quite right.
"You!" shouted a voice "Stay where you are!" he back flipped to his feet. His ankle hurt slightly but the pain soon passed. There was a monk in the doorway. Subzero readied himself putting both hands forward in a primitive dragon style.
"You killed my brothers! Hand over the map Now!" shouted the monk unsheaving a rather large sharp and disagreeably shiny falchion. His clothes orange, shone green under the moonlight and his bald head had a white moonlit glow across it. The eyes were focused on him, and Subzero felt a brief moment of nervousness but he was reassured that this person would most likely be more afraid of him than he was.
"I would if I had it" grunted Subzero, the monk's lip tightened "I came here for training" he improvised feverishly, "I'm innocent I promise you"
"I don't believe you" replied the monk with a frown "I've been in this temple for over eleven years and I've never seen your face neither yesterday not a year ago" that didn't sound good.
"I came here today (moron)" thought Subzero aside "You're wasting your time. If you fight me then the assassin will get away, we'd do better to work together"
The monk paused and the eyes flickered for a second to the floor. He'd lost the adrenaline and concentration. Subzero sensed it. In that moment Subzero could have killed him but he didn't something held him back. He'd almost persuaded the fool that he was doing something for the benefit of his people. He'd never played this game before and wanted to see how far it went. Perhaps he might even get some kind of satisfaction out of playing hero... at least temporarily.
"Alright... " Whispered the monk with a suspicious glance "I trust you. Follow me, do as I do. If he's still here then he's in the room where the map's kept... I hope your good, because I'll need your help if we're going to defeat him"
"I'm the best" grunted Subzero arrogantly and knew he shouldn't have said that. These monks were all out for ego control. He could be stuck here for hours now listening to a lecture about Budha. The monk merely snorted and turned towards the temple running faster than Subzero expected he followed briskly, cold blue air rising from his boots like dust in the morning sun.
They passed through another circular room sprinting very fast, the monk slammed his hands hard on the stone door and it opened quickly inwards. He stepped back and turned to Subzero with a glance.
"There's traps here" he called "Stay behind me"
With a flash of orange silk he kicked under a pillar, the great stone slab came crashing to the ground the same as the ones on the floor above. A little more risky than Subzero preferred, but evidently this monk had done it many times before. He wondered amused if the likely casualties were also the likelihood for the temple's lack of members. Inversely proportional he believed remembering some of his primitive maths. Subzero edged his way uneasily around it as the monk caused the other pillar to come down. He was already in the next room when Subzero got passed the final pillar edging around it carefully, the blue Lin quei sprinted on both hands behind him to find the monk kneeling by a fallen "brother". Blood was coming out of his nose like a tap on the drip. Another circular room, a rope dangled down in the center.
"Sang it's you!" smiled the dying monk blood streaming down his face. Subzero snorted and tapped his foot in impatience. He breathed hard on his hands to keep them warm. They'd been getting colder ever since he'd discovered his talent. He just hoped that they didn't continue to get any colder.
"Where is the assassin?" whispered the monk who appeared to be called Sang. His eyes looked worried and flickered from side to side hurriedly, this fighter had no concentration, Subzero rolled his eyes in disappointment. He'd stand no chance against Scorpion. He'd have to do most of the fighting himself, it was no surprise the monks had been massacred so easily.
"He's in the room up ahead!" he gasped "You must stop him! You know what will happen if he succeeds!"
"The map! Does he have the map!" hurried Sang shaking the fallen monk, the monk coughed blood and Sang's face changed to pity at his own forcefulness "Don't worry your going to pull through, just rest your head back and don't close your eyes"
"I won't survive" he said softly spitting blood onto his neck "You must go now, get the map back from him!" Subzero yawned impatiently and breathed hard on his cold hands. He stopped and looked down at the two monks with boredom.
"We know all this already" he grumbled, "Now lets get a move on or he'll get away"
Sang growled turning round on him suddenly with wild eyes "Have you no heart?" he spat "My fellow brother is wounded! I must save him!"
"I try to avoid it," replied Subzero "You evidently seem to lack brains if I lack heart now lets go! He's dead already. Lets get the damn map... I mean Scorpion"
"You're disgusting," growled Sang, he turned whiskingly back, he tore a piece of cloth from his leggings and used it to patch the blood from the monk's lips.
"Yes, I am..." said Subzero turning away "never mind lets get going. Is this the way to the map?"
"Yes" spat Sang getting to his feet. He looked back down at the monk on the floor, the eyes gently shut and the life of one of his best friends departed him forever.
"Are you finished? Lets go then, leave that corpse there" said Subzero turning away to the open doorway disregarding any feelings that Sang could possibly have had.
The monk broke out into tears and sobbed on the dead body suddenly with great wailing moans. He stayed there locked to the corpse with tears falling down with immeasurable grief.
"Stay there then" shrugged Subzero and turning he ran down the corridor without a second thought "Pathetic, if I'd just killed him I could have saved time and concentration listening to all that wet babbling"
He slammed his hands down on the stone door just as the monk had and stepped back quickly. It opened inwards into a large circular room, Subzero readied himself and walked slowly forwards the door closed behind him with a slam and he looked back with frightened eyes. Up at the end of the room large stone steps lead up to a white parchment that seemed to generate its own light. It hovered in its place, one of Earth's last magical relics, stone torches were on either side of it. Scorpion was here or nowhere. He had to find him quick before the yellow ninja attacked with the advantage.
Subzero raised both arms and prepared him self for combat. He'd done pretty well so far, he hadn't had to kill anyone. This had to be a record of some kind. He should get a medal "Subzero did a job without a single murder". The room was dark the only light seemed to come from the map itself and the two stone torch lights either side of it. Subzero's eyes wandered round the room across the walls and up at the ceiling. A yellow shape like a statue looked down at him from the middle of the ceiling. Those eyes he knew only too well like gargoyles.
"Are you going to come down or am I going to kill you first?" called Subzero shaking his fist up at the shape. The ninja above dropped suddenly like a rock and crouched one hand on the floor one hand on the ground. His head looked up at Subzero slowly and he stood to his feet like a wild cat. A smile must have come to his lips because it showed in his eyes, but it wasn't a nice smile. It was filled with efficiency and calculation, a desire for murder and destruction of his enemy.
"Subzero isn't it?" chuckled Scorpion. He moved his head both ways and there wasn't the slightest crack of bone "I've heard alot about you Lin kuei"
"Perhaps you know then what I do to my most hated victims" replied Subzero coldly with an icy glare. His knuckle tightened.
Scorpion laughed, "You have a sense of humor it seems"
"Shut your trap," replied Subzero with no flicker or movement in his eyes "I know you've sworn to kill me. And I know there's a thing between our two clans"
"That "thing" your talking about spans several millennia dating back to the dragon king" replied Scorpion with pleasure at having bested Subzero, he paused a moment gazing at him with desiring eyes "Before I kill you I want to say I'm sorry. If we had known each other outside of our duties then I'm sure we could have been the best of friends, but as it is... with the honor of my clan behind me and your clan behind you, it is what we represent that is more important"
"As long as I get paid you mean" replied Subzero "I don't know about you but I don't go along with all that honor crap. Now lets get on with this you are boring me" Scorpion shook his head from side to side with something of a grin.
"You seem so confidant Subzero. It will fill me with pleasure to show you just how good I've gotten"
Subzero wrung his hands and they slowly circled round each other coming slowly closer in a dance of death as it was commonly called between the two clans. Like in the wild it was a chance for both sides to size each other up and look for the best way to attack. They stopped a moment and Scorpion laughed deeply with sarcasm. With that the two men charged together meet with furious fists and blocking hands in the middle. Scorpion took on the offensive taking a round house kick over Subzero's head, he ducked in time to block another blow to the face. The next fist he reversed stopping a punch to the shoulder, he came in with a kick and scored a glancing below across Scorpion's torso. Subzero knew the kick was a dodgy move and a moment later took a nasty punch to the hip he fell sliding back across the floor on his back.
The yellow ninja was quick on the uptake; he jumped high into the air and came down with a karate chop. Subzero rolled aside just in time as the stone slabs where he had been laying crashed shattered and broke flying up into the air. Scorpion rushed forward again and Subzero blocked a blow to the face he brought his arms up and attacked but the yellow ninja pushed them aside. He blocked a knee to the groin with his own defensive knee and continued the move outstretching the leg into a kick to Scorpion's face. He staggered back with a splatter of blood and back flipped away from a second cold charged blow the sane he had learned from the Shiri Ryu manuscript. Scorpion snarled with hate at having his own technique used against him, especially perversed and combined with Subzero's own cold skills. This time Scorpion took the defensive and Subzero followed up his limited advantage with as many pummels as he could. Scorpion blocked and Subzero deliberately aimed for his arms hoping to deaden it for the rest of the fight.
They crossed the room and Scorpion regained his senses just before the wall, pushing a punch aside he brought back his own attack onto Subzero who instead aimed kicks to the shins. They stopped for a second locking in a wrestling position they concentrated on kicks to knock the other off guard. Both arms were interlocked and straining to push each other back or over onto the floor. Subzero kicked out hard stamping on the yellow ninja's foot, he realized too late that Scorpion was falling back on purpose. He felt gravity tip and he lost control as Scorpion sent him flying over head, the leg kicking his backside further through the air. He landed a crumpled heap on the ground trying desperately to get to his feet and face in the right direction. Scorpion advanced at a deadly fast speed and Subzero brought a leg round the back of Scorpion's shins bringing the both of them to the stone floor with a crash.
The great stone door opened loudly and Scorpion looked up distractedly before he took a blow from Subzero to the chin. He collapsed on the ground and rolled aside backing off to see who was at the door. Sang came in red eyed with burning cheeks and charged forward with a shout towards the yellow ninja.
"I see you acquired a friend" chuckled Scorpion wiping blood aside "Lets see how good he is"
The monk advanced and attacked with the left hand. Scorpion blocked it and held the hand in place amused, the monk attacked with the right hand and Scorpion held that hand in place, he brought up his knee and Scorpion brought his up quicker he kneed the monk in the stomach and watched him reel in pain as he sank to the ground. Another kick sent the monk flying back across the stone floor blood landing either side of him onto the dusty tiles.
"He's more pathetic than you are Subzero" chuckled Scorpion turning round to Subzero he growled with pleasure. His eyes widened a moment as Subzero came shooting across the floor in an icy sliding kick. He caught Scorpion off guard and brought the yellow ninja to the floor he followed up the success with a series of kicks to the fallen ninja. There was a snap and he heard a rib break, that was always good. Scorpion cringed in pain and tried desperately to defend himself. He kicked out wildly suddenly and hit Subzero in the knee cap, he stumbled back in pain. Scorpion came up with almost no effort like a zombie rising from the grave. Subzero saw the blow coming and hardened his abdominal muscles as the fist hit there. He didn't want to fall the same way as Sang had. Now that would have been embarrassing. Scorpion brought the other fist flying forward and Subzero blocked it.
There was a slice of metal and a sword came flying through the air from Sang's hand. Without even looking Scorpion caught it and swung it round Subzero only just dodging "Thanks a lot Sang" shouted Subzero rolling aside as the falchion took another swipe at him. Swords were bad news he had to stop this one quickly. Scorpion brought it down vertically and quick on the uptake Subzero stopped it with both hands either side of the blade. With a rush of air he brought his leg up and hit Scorpion on the elbow the falchion went flying up into the air and landed on the floor with a clatter.
The yellow ninja advanced again with another long combo, Subzero blocked and blocked again as the blows brought him closer and closer to the wall of the room. Walls weren't good news either, he dodged aside suddenly but too late took a double kick to the stomach and chest and collapsed backwards. He rolled aside blocking Scorpion's attacks as best as he could, a foot missed his head by a centimeter. Leaping forward the yellow ninja pinned Subzero to the ground and wrapped his arm round his neck. Subzero struggled wildly trying to release Scorpion's death grip.
"I've got you now" smiled Scorpion his eyes flashing. Subzero pulled on the arms like crazy, if he didn't stop Scorpion quick his neck would break. Broken necks were not good things, they were worse than walls and swords. He felt Scorpion's grip tightening, this was extremely dangerous a moment's drop of concentration would be fatal. He had to find a way out of this quick and he wasn't sure if he could or not. Blood splattered to the ground and Subzero presumed for a brief instant that he was dead. Instead Scorpion flew backwards and crashed against the wall. Sang followed up the flying kick with another but Scorpion dodged the foot smashing painfully into the wall "Why you little Shaolin rat, I'll finish you off like I should have done last time"
Subzero wheezed his hands gripping his neck trying to release the wind pipe. He stood uncertainly to his feet to see Sang taking a bashing. The monk surprisingly managed to block several of Scorpion's moves. Coming back into the fight Sang actually hit the yellow ninja across the fore head, but the blow although strong was weak to Scorpion's brick wall of a fore head. The monk received Scorpion's boot and fell to the floor coughing and spluttering.
Scorpion was ready for Subzero this time, but he wasn't ready for Subzero's sudden force. Until now Subzero hadn't physically really warmed up, this combined with his irritation at being almost beaten by a ninja really heated him up. He punched wildly spinning multiple kicks at Scorpion who only just managed to block them. He grinned seeing an opening and gave Subzero a punch to the face. Subzero ignored it and followed up with a kick to Scorpion's groin. Scorpion cringed in pain before a kick sliced down from above on his head brought him face down on the floor with a slam. He rolled aside and another punch hit him, he was playing the rolling game now. Punches came from all directions but Subzero was only in one. A kick hit him there a knuckle knocked across his face here, he staggered to his feet to receive a blow to the stomach then chest, and then a spinning kick across the face he fell to his knees, blood dripping down his face and reddening his yellow silk costume.
"Spare me!" he whispered blood dripping down his mouth, he spat a tooth onto the floor and coughed up blood onto the dusty stones.
"Kill him! Kill him!" whispered voices in Subzero's head. This was his nemesis he should kill him, he'd be rid of the bastard forever. He'd never have to worry about meeting Scorpion ever again, this was his chance to prove that the Lin kuei were better than the Shiri Ryu once and for all. He readied a punch whitening the knuckles, but it didn't come. He paused looking into Scorpion's eyes. What then? What would he do when Scorpion was dead? Was that it? What next, it seemed so bleak, too easy. It could just have easily have been him who was dead now, what would happen then? Scorpion would have killed him taken the map and left. Now that things had reversed would Subzero now kill Scorpion and take the map? It made life seem so two dimensional, it was too simple. He didn't want to follow fate, he was too interested with following this idea of playing the hero.
He kicked Scorpion to the side of the head and the yellow ninja slumped to the ground unconscious. He walked over the fallen body and ascended the steps to the map. He felt his bruised cheek, it stung like mad. He walked up to the map and took it from its position looking it up and down. Sang came up behind him with a beaming yet warn out face of joy.
"Thank you for helping me" said Sang softly blood running down his face "I would have died if you had not been here, I am sorry I spoke so harshly to you back there when my brother died. You are indeed a merciful warrior"
"Thanks" said Subzero looking at the map and not at Sang. He raised his eyes to Sang. The monk bowed before him. A thought suddenly flashed through Subzero's head "Me merciful? Kind? Generous!? How dare he!" he brought his hand down on Sang's neck and the monk collapsed on the large steps unconscious. He took the map with one hand and walked back away down the steps treading, satisfaction running up his body, over Scorpion's unconscious body.
"Moron" he chuckled softly to himself. The door opened and he walked away across the corridor. He found the dead monk who Sang had crouched by and glanced over it briefly. Looking up he could see the rope, it rose high to the very top of the room. Jumping he took hold and started to climb up it swaying slowly from side to side. He could see the dark sky above. The ground below moved further away and he passed the floor with the gap in the wall and the wooden construction. It felt different looking out instead of in. He climbed precariously upwards until the wind started to blow again in his face. He felt cold snow flakes touch his face in the darkness of the night and felt that same pleasure he got after completing a job and starting on his way home. Jumping off he gripped the handle of a metal bar and went gliding down on a long rope away from the temple, the snow falling lightly on his sleeves. He had escaped and he felt proud of what he had done, yet somewhat irritated that he had not killed Scorpion. He tried briefly to some up whether he had done the right or wrong thing? Yet with a glimpse of distant mountains he remembered who he was and remembered with a smile that he didn't care.
"Do you think he will do it master?"
"I wouldn't have hired him if I didn't think he would"
The room was dark and filled with Shadows. A white face almost luminescent was lit by light from a square gap in the roof. Moonlight, or maybe something else was its source.
"What if he fails in the task?"
"Then Subzero will succeed"
"You never told me about a second ninja, who is this Subzero?"
"A mere mortal who wields powers over Ice, Scorpion is his nemesis. The two clans are
bitter enemies, I thought Scorpion would serve me better if I could ease his mind a little"
"You think Subzero will fail?"
"Scorpions is the greater fighter he'll tear Subzero limb from limb. I have high hopes
that he will join the brothers of the shadow, Subzero has more human emotion in him, Scorpion
will use it against him"
"And what if Subzero succeeds?"
"He won't"
Chapter 1: Snow
It was cold and in the distance the temple was sticking up into the night like a sharp knife. It cut the sky like a scythe the bricks once colorful had now faded with time. Now they were gray with weathering or black and green with moss and foliage. Creepers climbed up the bricks and caused damage to the once powerful design. Once long ago it had been a great temple with many followers and guardians of the treasures within, but time had passed and the monks had slowly dwindled away. It was rare even that you saw the chimneys of the kitchens burning smoke; it was a quiet silent place with few left to remember the ancient knowledge. Mortal Kombat... what was that now? I thought I remembered for a second, but alas it seems to have left my mind. There were few left to keep alive the old legends. There were many who were determined to destroy them forever, and with good cause. But as with everything that has the potential to bring great power; there were some who were determined to use this hidden power for their own ends. Selfishness greed and desire all work from the shadows of the Neatherealm. Deep down in the pits of Hell something had happened. A concept had been made, a plan of action that could tear the world itself apart. Underground they say that you are close to hell. Over ground they say that you are close to heaven yet the truth perhaps is somewhere in between.
The snow crunched as a blue cloak billowed towards the temple, its master an assassin. Blue cloth, black boots, cold hands. These things were all that he needed as he came slowly and trudgingly upon the temple. They were his style and his persona, the things that he used to strike deep terror into the hearts of his enemies "Oh Raiden save me its Subzero!" they would shout before he murdered them with a shuriken or ice blast. That gawking expression they pulled was indented into his mind, as with the slow breathing and the loss of life they passed away terrified as if they had seen a ghost. He breathed hard on his hands clutching the dark blue material around him, it billowed fiercely in the wind and he pulled it around him closer as best as he could. He stopped a moment and gazed up through his cold deep eyes at the temple with rising anger. It was not the temple that caused it, the fury came from within.
"I really could kill him?" he grumbled his teeth chattering in the cold wind, he wrapped the cloak tightly around him with a growl looking up at the huge structure in front of him with distaste and no acknowledgement of the achievement and creation of such a thing "Oh by the way Subzero!" he imitated "Here's another Sorcerer who has a small job for you. Just travel three thousand miles north across the lake of fire and recover a newspaper" he stumbled a moment and shouted out kicking the snow with his boots red in the cheeks, the full redness of his face was suppressed by the cold winds "I could murder that fool! When's he going to hurry up and die so I can take over? Don't I deserve the position after all I have been through?"
Subzero of course knew what the reason was, why the Grandmaster was still alive and rich as a powerful stockbroker. It was a simple but dangerous one. He of course was good at his own work and the reason the Grandmaster hadn't died yet, was because he was good at his. Murder of course wasn't what he meant. He was wondering when and where the Grandmaster was going to die of old age. He had been around for a good deal of time and you could notice his frailty. The eagerness to live and control were still there, but his physical form was failing fast. Subzero would be next on the stand, and he would have the chance to reenact some of his dreams, and also spend lavishly on all the money he would receive. That of course was the priority.
His boots crackled on the snow as he came closer towards the huge stone building. Stain glass windows with pictures and symbols on reached up into the high heavens. Cold snow was everywhere and he pulled the cloak tighter as a cold north wind gripped him. He looked inquisitively up at a window above. It was small but not too small. Down below the icy river that was being used as a moat roared with great sheets of ice and frozen logs passing by at high speed.
"That should do" he said irritated "Just big enough for my rolling corpse"
He took the blue cape off shivering and rolled it into a ball. Slowly he took a step back trying desperately to stop his teeth from chattering and failing in the process. He stepped back once more and then twice. With a burst of energy and chattering of teeth he ran forward leaping high into the air he curled up into a ball crossed the icy moat below and smashed right through the window into the temple.
The glass shattered spreading far across the room the coulered fragments scattered across the stone floor. He wiped the broken shards off of his body and dusted himself down, dabbing a small cut across his cheek with infuriation. The blue silk mask hid his mouth but left his eyes visible; the only sign of his emotion that at that moment had a very nonamused expression. But, it is hard to tell from the eyes, especially his eyes. Even so there was no doubt in the negativity of his emotion, the eyes showed perhaps contempt? Irritation maybe, aggravation malice hate, one of those was evidently clear, or more likely a combination of all of them together. Subzero was a nasty person, it was what made him live, what made him survive.
A black line ran down his middle like a tie with blue padded material to either side. His arms were mostly bare apart from small armored pads that protected his arm and wrists.
"You will fail" whispered a voice in the darkness. The sound crept right down his spine sounding horribly familiar. Footsteps sounded away in the shadows and there was silence: silent laughter. Subzero readied him self, he crept round the circular room looking for the source of the sound. Ornate patterns and designs were on the walls, he could only vaguely see the ones nearest to him, as his eyes had not adapted to the light; but he felt them more by touch than sight.
His ears picked up harsh breathing over at the other side of the room; he crept quietly across the stone floor, his black boots crunching on glass and snow. That had blown it, whoever was in here with him would definitely know he was there now. He blocked bracing himself for the impact with a cringe.
It didn't come. He stood there contemplating the situation silently. Nothing happened. He felt rather the fool; he shouldn't be feeling that he was the assassin here. He was the one in control he reminded himself.
"I know where you are" he said loudly and audibly "Come out now or I'll kill you" (Subzero was never one for subtlety, but the trick had often worked in the past much to the demise of the victims. "Or I'll kill you" has a certain charm to it that mentions nothing of the consequences of actually doing what he says)
A moan let out in the darkness and Subzero crept forward to the source of the sound not a flicker of worry in his face. Glass cracked and the wind and snow came in through the gap where the window had once been. It gave a dim blue dusty glow into the room that expelled heat and warmth. The wind sounded, a soft whistling where the air hit the broken shards of glass still left in place. Subzero shivered and crept closer to his target, he fingered a shuriken in his cloth. It glinted in the blue dusty light like six pins.
"Please don't hurt me," whispered a voice "I'll do anything you want, just don't hurt me" said the voice, it sounded wet and hoarse. Subzero knelt down and found the body in the darkness. The face was covered with blood and there was a large unusual wound in the chest that made Subzero cringe. He knew what kind of blow caused that mark, it was a Ninja move that he had stolen himself from Japan at the Grandmaster's orders. He wasn't supposed to have looked at the ancient scripts, but he and the Grandmaster both new that he would.
"You're cold," whispered the voice coughing slowly "Are you Death come to claim me?"
"Who attacked you?" whispered Subzero looking into the face. The head was shaved and had a bad wound across the top. The skull looked like it was cracked, it was evident this subject wasn't going to live very long. He might as well get as much information out of him before he died.
Subzero was a cold ruthless assassin, not a studier of ethics or morals. To him all that mattered was getting paid, and arriving back to a warm fire with his housemaid to serve him. To tell the truth as much as his reputation went he didn't really like getting cold.
"Answer me now, or I'll harm you further" threatened Subzero nudging the monk in the ribs "I'm angry and I'm not in the mood for useless shaolin monks like you"
"An assassin came; yellow as the sun as you are blue as winter. He knew an art greater than ours, please whoever you are, you must stop him. The map shows the location of an ancient danger, no one must touch it grave peril ... terror" he slumped to the ground choking on blood.
"Get up" enforced Subzero kicking the monk in the ribs. It did little good, the monk didn't move: he looked dead. Subzero stood up to his full height and looked the dead corpse over "Stay there then" he spat and with another kick he left the body where it lay. A large stone door was at the other end of the room. Placing his hands on it with wonder it opened sharply and he jumped back out of the way. He rubbed his hands together with a cold shudder "Looks like Scorpion's in the house, perhaps we can end this rivalry once and for all"
He walked carefully along the corridor looking to either side to find only walls and one way forward, fishy...
What's more the walls were painted and carved with images of skeletons and dead bodies. A celestial voice at this moment was perhaps speaking and advising Subzero not to continue, but he didn't believe in any of that crap.
"No map yet" he muttered to himself grimly "I hate long jobs"
A wooden structure stuck out of the wall to his left. Through it he peered through to see a rope dangling down inside of the wall. It disappeared into darkness. It probably led to the Belltower of the building or some other useless design that in Subzero's eyes was a useless expenditure of time and effort. It would be worth checking out to see if there was any treasure even so. The only problem was
he didn't know where the rope began, or what floor it lead to. He'd have to explore the rest of the building first, and of course Scorpion was somewhere around peering in the shadows, wouldn't that be fun? He didn't like the idea, Scorpion was more at home with stealth than he was, hiding in shadows and pouncing suddenly. But even so it would be worth removing him if he could, the pride of being able to say "I killed Scorpion" would do him no end of good amongst his rivals in the Lin kuei.
But why was Scorpion here in the first place? He growled suddenly as the position suddenly dawned on Subzero that someone had ordered Scorpion to do the mission. This filled him with rage and irritation. That sorcerer whoever he was had some explaining to do. He should have known that there would have been a ninja in the temple also after the same job, especially one as notorious as Scorpion.
He stopped walking suddenly and gazed up at the stone ceiling. A large circular stone was sticking out of the roof which seemed to have no other purpose than decoration. Subzero looked it up and down and noticed a large crack in the stone beneath the circular pillar. One plus one equals two. Evidently Scorpion had avoided that fate.
"I suppose it passes the time," grumbled Subzero reaching into the silk of his blue gear. He withdrew a small ninja star and threw it forward bouncing across the stone floor below. Two pillars almost immediately came crashing down onto the ground flattening the place where Subzero might have been standing. He touched the stone pillar, it felt dusty. A hand print above his print told him all he needed to know that Scorpion was in the house. Being paranoid he wiped both hand prints off and stepped around the two pillars. Nobody else was going to follow him if he could help it. Picking up the star he walked on to another door. It opened automatically to his touch as if it were powered by modern means. He raised his eyebrows, there was something unusual about this temple. Automatic doors? Skeleton painted walls? Squashing pillar traps? It didn't seem very holy to him.
The next room was much the same in fact it seemed identical to the first circular room. It was dark and hard to see, yet had a musty smell of some kind of incense that the other didn't. Some kind of ceremony room perhaps? He didn't know. Lin kuei didn't bother with all that rubbish, they used to but not so much in modern times. He tiptoed softly forward his feet making almost no sound. His foot nudged against something soft, a material. He knelt down and found another body in the dark. The skin was cold... a ninja star embedded in the bald fore head. The Shiri Ryu symbol was on the side, his lip tightened. He stood up again with a quiet sigh and walked on. He almost expected to find "Made in Japan" foot prints on the floor, alas he was not going to get away without running into him. He pulled the shuriken out wiping it on the folds of the monk's own robes and deposited it in his own stock.
Everything was quiet and even his own trained movement seemed to echo around the room as if it were a huge explosion of a noise. Across the room this time there was no door, a gentle wind came in through swinging wooden shutters. Scorpion had been through here. The wood slammed against the stone walls back and forth as the wind blew it. The gap where the door should have been instead lead out onto a balcony normally closed by the shutters. The sky was dark outside and the moon shone brightly clouds slowly passing it by. It was a full moon again. He'd seen a lot of full moons recently. He was getting tired of them.
He peered over the edge to see a large court yard, an awning was placed below presumably leading into the lower passages of the temple. He grumbled to himself at being forced to jump. There was no snow in the courtyard, this didn't seem strange to Subzero at the time, but it did later when he began to think about it. The courtyard was bare as if the snow had just melted away, the horizon looked like a Summer's night yet he overlooked it all to concentrate on his mission. Stepping up onto the edge of the balcony he balanced himself and then jumped down. There was a few seconds of weightlessness before he bounced off of the canopy and landed unbalanced on the stone below. He cursed and fell to his knees and cougthed white air like a cold dragon. He hadn't taken that jump quite right.
"You!" shouted a voice "Stay where you are!" he back flipped to his feet. His ankle hurt slightly but the pain soon passed. There was a monk in the doorway. Subzero readied himself putting both hands forward in a primitive dragon style.
"You killed my brothers! Hand over the map Now!" shouted the monk unsheaving a rather large sharp and disagreeably shiny falchion. His clothes orange, shone green under the moonlight and his bald head had a white moonlit glow across it. The eyes were focused on him, and Subzero felt a brief moment of nervousness but he was reassured that this person would most likely be more afraid of him than he was.
"I would if I had it" grunted Subzero, the monk's lip tightened "I came here for training" he improvised feverishly, "I'm innocent I promise you"
"I don't believe you" replied the monk with a frown "I've been in this temple for over eleven years and I've never seen your face neither yesterday not a year ago" that didn't sound good.
"I came here today (moron)" thought Subzero aside "You're wasting your time. If you fight me then the assassin will get away, we'd do better to work together"
The monk paused and the eyes flickered for a second to the floor. He'd lost the adrenaline and concentration. Subzero sensed it. In that moment Subzero could have killed him but he didn't something held him back. He'd almost persuaded the fool that he was doing something for the benefit of his people. He'd never played this game before and wanted to see how far it went. Perhaps he might even get some kind of satisfaction out of playing hero... at least temporarily.
"Alright... " Whispered the monk with a suspicious glance "I trust you. Follow me, do as I do. If he's still here then he's in the room where the map's kept... I hope your good, because I'll need your help if we're going to defeat him"
"I'm the best" grunted Subzero arrogantly and knew he shouldn't have said that. These monks were all out for ego control. He could be stuck here for hours now listening to a lecture about Budha. The monk merely snorted and turned towards the temple running faster than Subzero expected he followed briskly, cold blue air rising from his boots like dust in the morning sun.
They passed through another circular room sprinting very fast, the monk slammed his hands hard on the stone door and it opened quickly inwards. He stepped back and turned to Subzero with a glance.
"There's traps here" he called "Stay behind me"
With a flash of orange silk he kicked under a pillar, the great stone slab came crashing to the ground the same as the ones on the floor above. A little more risky than Subzero preferred, but evidently this monk had done it many times before. He wondered amused if the likely casualties were also the likelihood for the temple's lack of members. Inversely proportional he believed remembering some of his primitive maths. Subzero edged his way uneasily around it as the monk caused the other pillar to come down. He was already in the next room when Subzero got passed the final pillar edging around it carefully, the blue Lin quei sprinted on both hands behind him to find the monk kneeling by a fallen "brother". Blood was coming out of his nose like a tap on the drip. Another circular room, a rope dangled down in the center.
"Sang it's you!" smiled the dying monk blood streaming down his face. Subzero snorted and tapped his foot in impatience. He breathed hard on his hands to keep them warm. They'd been getting colder ever since he'd discovered his talent. He just hoped that they didn't continue to get any colder.
"Where is the assassin?" whispered the monk who appeared to be called Sang. His eyes looked worried and flickered from side to side hurriedly, this fighter had no concentration, Subzero rolled his eyes in disappointment. He'd stand no chance against Scorpion. He'd have to do most of the fighting himself, it was no surprise the monks had been massacred so easily.
"He's in the room up ahead!" he gasped "You must stop him! You know what will happen if he succeeds!"
"The map! Does he have the map!" hurried Sang shaking the fallen monk, the monk coughed blood and Sang's face changed to pity at his own forcefulness "Don't worry your going to pull through, just rest your head back and don't close your eyes"
"I won't survive" he said softly spitting blood onto his neck "You must go now, get the map back from him!" Subzero yawned impatiently and breathed hard on his cold hands. He stopped and looked down at the two monks with boredom.
"We know all this already" he grumbled, "Now lets get a move on or he'll get away"
Sang growled turning round on him suddenly with wild eyes "Have you no heart?" he spat "My fellow brother is wounded! I must save him!"
"I try to avoid it," replied Subzero "You evidently seem to lack brains if I lack heart now lets go! He's dead already. Lets get the damn map... I mean Scorpion"
"You're disgusting," growled Sang, he turned whiskingly back, he tore a piece of cloth from his leggings and used it to patch the blood from the monk's lips.
"Yes, I am..." said Subzero turning away "never mind lets get going. Is this the way to the map?"
"Yes" spat Sang getting to his feet. He looked back down at the monk on the floor, the eyes gently shut and the life of one of his best friends departed him forever.
"Are you finished? Lets go then, leave that corpse there" said Subzero turning away to the open doorway disregarding any feelings that Sang could possibly have had.
The monk broke out into tears and sobbed on the dead body suddenly with great wailing moans. He stayed there locked to the corpse with tears falling down with immeasurable grief.
"Stay there then" shrugged Subzero and turning he ran down the corridor without a second thought "Pathetic, if I'd just killed him I could have saved time and concentration listening to all that wet babbling"
He slammed his hands down on the stone door just as the monk had and stepped back quickly. It opened inwards into a large circular room, Subzero readied himself and walked slowly forwards the door closed behind him with a slam and he looked back with frightened eyes. Up at the end of the room large stone steps lead up to a white parchment that seemed to generate its own light. It hovered in its place, one of Earth's last magical relics, stone torches were on either side of it. Scorpion was here or nowhere. He had to find him quick before the yellow ninja attacked with the advantage.
Subzero raised both arms and prepared him self for combat. He'd done pretty well so far, he hadn't had to kill anyone. This had to be a record of some kind. He should get a medal "Subzero did a job without a single murder". The room was dark the only light seemed to come from the map itself and the two stone torch lights either side of it. Subzero's eyes wandered round the room across the walls and up at the ceiling. A yellow shape like a statue looked down at him from the middle of the ceiling. Those eyes he knew only too well like gargoyles.
"Are you going to come down or am I going to kill you first?" called Subzero shaking his fist up at the shape. The ninja above dropped suddenly like a rock and crouched one hand on the floor one hand on the ground. His head looked up at Subzero slowly and he stood to his feet like a wild cat. A smile must have come to his lips because it showed in his eyes, but it wasn't a nice smile. It was filled with efficiency and calculation, a desire for murder and destruction of his enemy.
"Subzero isn't it?" chuckled Scorpion. He moved his head both ways and there wasn't the slightest crack of bone "I've heard alot about you Lin kuei"
"Perhaps you know then what I do to my most hated victims" replied Subzero coldly with an icy glare. His knuckle tightened.
Scorpion laughed, "You have a sense of humor it seems"
"Shut your trap," replied Subzero with no flicker or movement in his eyes "I know you've sworn to kill me. And I know there's a thing between our two clans"
"That "thing" your talking about spans several millennia dating back to the dragon king" replied Scorpion with pleasure at having bested Subzero, he paused a moment gazing at him with desiring eyes "Before I kill you I want to say I'm sorry. If we had known each other outside of our duties then I'm sure we could have been the best of friends, but as it is... with the honor of my clan behind me and your clan behind you, it is what we represent that is more important"
"As long as I get paid you mean" replied Subzero "I don't know about you but I don't go along with all that honor crap. Now lets get on with this you are boring me" Scorpion shook his head from side to side with something of a grin.
"You seem so confidant Subzero. It will fill me with pleasure to show you just how good I've gotten"
Subzero wrung his hands and they slowly circled round each other coming slowly closer in a dance of death as it was commonly called between the two clans. Like in the wild it was a chance for both sides to size each other up and look for the best way to attack. They stopped a moment and Scorpion laughed deeply with sarcasm. With that the two men charged together meet with furious fists and blocking hands in the middle. Scorpion took on the offensive taking a round house kick over Subzero's head, he ducked in time to block another blow to the face. The next fist he reversed stopping a punch to the shoulder, he came in with a kick and scored a glancing below across Scorpion's torso. Subzero knew the kick was a dodgy move and a moment later took a nasty punch to the hip he fell sliding back across the floor on his back.
The yellow ninja was quick on the uptake; he jumped high into the air and came down with a karate chop. Subzero rolled aside just in time as the stone slabs where he had been laying crashed shattered and broke flying up into the air. Scorpion rushed forward again and Subzero blocked a blow to the face he brought his arms up and attacked but the yellow ninja pushed them aside. He blocked a knee to the groin with his own defensive knee and continued the move outstretching the leg into a kick to Scorpion's face. He staggered back with a splatter of blood and back flipped away from a second cold charged blow the sane he had learned from the Shiri Ryu manuscript. Scorpion snarled with hate at having his own technique used against him, especially perversed and combined with Subzero's own cold skills. This time Scorpion took the defensive and Subzero followed up his limited advantage with as many pummels as he could. Scorpion blocked and Subzero deliberately aimed for his arms hoping to deaden it for the rest of the fight.
They crossed the room and Scorpion regained his senses just before the wall, pushing a punch aside he brought back his own attack onto Subzero who instead aimed kicks to the shins. They stopped for a second locking in a wrestling position they concentrated on kicks to knock the other off guard. Both arms were interlocked and straining to push each other back or over onto the floor. Subzero kicked out hard stamping on the yellow ninja's foot, he realized too late that Scorpion was falling back on purpose. He felt gravity tip and he lost control as Scorpion sent him flying over head, the leg kicking his backside further through the air. He landed a crumpled heap on the ground trying desperately to get to his feet and face in the right direction. Scorpion advanced at a deadly fast speed and Subzero brought a leg round the back of Scorpion's shins bringing the both of them to the stone floor with a crash.
The great stone door opened loudly and Scorpion looked up distractedly before he took a blow from Subzero to the chin. He collapsed on the ground and rolled aside backing off to see who was at the door. Sang came in red eyed with burning cheeks and charged forward with a shout towards the yellow ninja.
"I see you acquired a friend" chuckled Scorpion wiping blood aside "Lets see how good he is"
The monk advanced and attacked with the left hand. Scorpion blocked it and held the hand in place amused, the monk attacked with the right hand and Scorpion held that hand in place, he brought up his knee and Scorpion brought his up quicker he kneed the monk in the stomach and watched him reel in pain as he sank to the ground. Another kick sent the monk flying back across the stone floor blood landing either side of him onto the dusty tiles.
"He's more pathetic than you are Subzero" chuckled Scorpion turning round to Subzero he growled with pleasure. His eyes widened a moment as Subzero came shooting across the floor in an icy sliding kick. He caught Scorpion off guard and brought the yellow ninja to the floor he followed up the success with a series of kicks to the fallen ninja. There was a snap and he heard a rib break, that was always good. Scorpion cringed in pain and tried desperately to defend himself. He kicked out wildly suddenly and hit Subzero in the knee cap, he stumbled back in pain. Scorpion came up with almost no effort like a zombie rising from the grave. Subzero saw the blow coming and hardened his abdominal muscles as the fist hit there. He didn't want to fall the same way as Sang had. Now that would have been embarrassing. Scorpion brought the other fist flying forward and Subzero blocked it.
There was a slice of metal and a sword came flying through the air from Sang's hand. Without even looking Scorpion caught it and swung it round Subzero only just dodging "Thanks a lot Sang" shouted Subzero rolling aside as the falchion took another swipe at him. Swords were bad news he had to stop this one quickly. Scorpion brought it down vertically and quick on the uptake Subzero stopped it with both hands either side of the blade. With a rush of air he brought his leg up and hit Scorpion on the elbow the falchion went flying up into the air and landed on the floor with a clatter.
The yellow ninja advanced again with another long combo, Subzero blocked and blocked again as the blows brought him closer and closer to the wall of the room. Walls weren't good news either, he dodged aside suddenly but too late took a double kick to the stomach and chest and collapsed backwards. He rolled aside blocking Scorpion's attacks as best as he could, a foot missed his head by a centimeter. Leaping forward the yellow ninja pinned Subzero to the ground and wrapped his arm round his neck. Subzero struggled wildly trying to release Scorpion's death grip.
"I've got you now" smiled Scorpion his eyes flashing. Subzero pulled on the arms like crazy, if he didn't stop Scorpion quick his neck would break. Broken necks were not good things, they were worse than walls and swords. He felt Scorpion's grip tightening, this was extremely dangerous a moment's drop of concentration would be fatal. He had to find a way out of this quick and he wasn't sure if he could or not. Blood splattered to the ground and Subzero presumed for a brief instant that he was dead. Instead Scorpion flew backwards and crashed against the wall. Sang followed up the flying kick with another but Scorpion dodged the foot smashing painfully into the wall "Why you little Shaolin rat, I'll finish you off like I should have done last time"
Subzero wheezed his hands gripping his neck trying to release the wind pipe. He stood uncertainly to his feet to see Sang taking a bashing. The monk surprisingly managed to block several of Scorpion's moves. Coming back into the fight Sang actually hit the yellow ninja across the fore head, but the blow although strong was weak to Scorpion's brick wall of a fore head. The monk received Scorpion's boot and fell to the floor coughing and spluttering.
Scorpion was ready for Subzero this time, but he wasn't ready for Subzero's sudden force. Until now Subzero hadn't physically really warmed up, this combined with his irritation at being almost beaten by a ninja really heated him up. He punched wildly spinning multiple kicks at Scorpion who only just managed to block them. He grinned seeing an opening and gave Subzero a punch to the face. Subzero ignored it and followed up with a kick to Scorpion's groin. Scorpion cringed in pain before a kick sliced down from above on his head brought him face down on the floor with a slam. He rolled aside and another punch hit him, he was playing the rolling game now. Punches came from all directions but Subzero was only in one. A kick hit him there a knuckle knocked across his face here, he staggered to his feet to receive a blow to the stomach then chest, and then a spinning kick across the face he fell to his knees, blood dripping down his face and reddening his yellow silk costume.
"Spare me!" he whispered blood dripping down his mouth, he spat a tooth onto the floor and coughed up blood onto the dusty stones.
"Kill him! Kill him!" whispered voices in Subzero's head. This was his nemesis he should kill him, he'd be rid of the bastard forever. He'd never have to worry about meeting Scorpion ever again, this was his chance to prove that the Lin kuei were better than the Shiri Ryu once and for all. He readied a punch whitening the knuckles, but it didn't come. He paused looking into Scorpion's eyes. What then? What would he do when Scorpion was dead? Was that it? What next, it seemed so bleak, too easy. It could just have easily have been him who was dead now, what would happen then? Scorpion would have killed him taken the map and left. Now that things had reversed would Subzero now kill Scorpion and take the map? It made life seem so two dimensional, it was too simple. He didn't want to follow fate, he was too interested with following this idea of playing the hero.
He kicked Scorpion to the side of the head and the yellow ninja slumped to the ground unconscious. He walked over the fallen body and ascended the steps to the map. He felt his bruised cheek, it stung like mad. He walked up to the map and took it from its position looking it up and down. Sang came up behind him with a beaming yet warn out face of joy.
"Thank you for helping me" said Sang softly blood running down his face "I would have died if you had not been here, I am sorry I spoke so harshly to you back there when my brother died. You are indeed a merciful warrior"
"Thanks" said Subzero looking at the map and not at Sang. He raised his eyes to Sang. The monk bowed before him. A thought suddenly flashed through Subzero's head "Me merciful? Kind? Generous!? How dare he!" he brought his hand down on Sang's neck and the monk collapsed on the large steps unconscious. He took the map with one hand and walked back away down the steps treading, satisfaction running up his body, over Scorpion's unconscious body.
"Moron" he chuckled softly to himself. The door opened and he walked away across the corridor. He found the dead monk who Sang had crouched by and glanced over it briefly. Looking up he could see the rope, it rose high to the very top of the room. Jumping he took hold and started to climb up it swaying slowly from side to side. He could see the dark sky above. The ground below moved further away and he passed the floor with the gap in the wall and the wooden construction. It felt different looking out instead of in. He climbed precariously upwards until the wind started to blow again in his face. He felt cold snow flakes touch his face in the darkness of the night and felt that same pleasure he got after completing a job and starting on his way home. Jumping off he gripped the handle of a metal bar and went gliding down on a long rope away from the temple, the snow falling lightly on his sleeves. He had escaped and he felt proud of what he had done, yet somewhat irritated that he had not killed Scorpion. He tried briefly to some up whether he had done the right or wrong thing? Yet with a glimpse of distant mountains he remembered who he was and remembered with a smile that he didn't care.