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Its here, its finally here, Soul vs Soul round 10...FIGHT!
Outworld, Shao Khan's Throne Room.
The Emperor of Outworld was pacing back and forth in front of his throne, his hands clasped behind his back as he leaned forward just a bit, growling as his eyes remained glued to his feet.
It was a week ago when his shadow priests had informed him that Quan Chi had managed to slip past them and cross through the portal in Shang Tsung's Soul Tombs. Shao Khan was not surprised to learn of this as he knew Quan Chi's loyalty was always to himself before any others and despite his anger towards the necromancer he was impressed to learn that Quan Chi had encountered and defeated one of the warriors from that realm.
Earthrealm as it was during its 16th century, to the Emperor's surprise when he first learned of it; the warriors in that time period were far more skilled than the defenders of the realm today. He had sent warrior after warrior into that realm in an attempt to learn more about a weapon called Soul Edge or even claim the weapon for him, but none had returned.
He himself had gone through and only barely made it back, since he had sent Reptile, Scorpion, Baraka and Mileena, and Ermac. Noob Saibot had also managed to sneak through the portal and now Quan Chi. As far as his shadow priests were able to investigate only Scorpion and Quan Chi were still alive, but their whereabouts were unknown. He needed to change his strategy.
The doors to his throne room opened and a slender woman dressed in a yellow and black midriff-baring top similar to a bustier, a menat necklace and several bracers. She wore black pants, high heeled boots and a yellow skirt. Her black hair stopped just above her shoulders, but her most distinguishing feature was her eyes, they were glowing a sinister white.
Her name was Tanya, a warrior from Edenia she was seemingly innocent before her corruption. She had begun worshiping Shinnok and allied herself with the Brotherhood of Shadow. After Shinnok's defeat she began serving Shao Khan. Tanya viewed herself as a survivor above all else calling her choices the "right ones" to continue her only real goal, it was her goal of survival that led her to betray her home realm Edenia turning against her own people and in the process earning the bitter hatred of her former friend Jade.
Tanya wasn't someone Shao Khan trusted, but it was her goal of surviving that made him choose her. He had sent some of his most loyal and elite warriors through that portal and all had been killed, he needed someone who had skill and experience avoiding such an outcome.
"You summoned me Emperor?" Tanya asked kneeling before him.
Shao Khan stopped pacing and turned to her, "There is a portal in Shang Tsung's Soul Tombs it leads to Earthrealm as it was several centuries ago. There is a weapon there it is called Soul Edge I want you to find out as much as you can about it".
"Forgive me my lord, but I'm not one for information gathering".
"No you are not" Shao Khan agreed, "But you are a survivor Tanya and that is a talent I need right now. I've sent Ermac, Baraka, Mileena and Reptile through that portal and they have all been killed. The warriors there are far more dangerous than this generation's. If you encounter any of them fight them if you must, but I want you to go and gather as much information as possible then return to me".
Tanya was silent as she thought on her orders, "I will do as you command my lord. Is there anything else you would like me to do while I am there? Or any information you can give me? I will be much more effective the more I know".
"My shadow priests will inform you of everything they have learned, but I do warn you. Scorpion and Quan Chi are both lose somewhere in that world, I doubt Scorpion will care if you cross paths, but Quan Chi is out for his own gain I am sure if he finds you he will attempt to kill you do not trust him".
Tanya looked up to meet his eyes, "If I happen to find Scorpion I could tell him Quan Chi wanders the realm as well. Considering his hatred for the sorcerer I'm sure he will be eager to track him down that should keep Quan Chi busy while I search".
Shao Khan grinned a little, "A sound plan. If you do encounter Scorpion tell him at the very least it will distract him and slow Quan Chi down. Now go".
Tanya bowed her head and then stood up, "As you command Emperor".
Tanya left for the Soul Tombs and spoke to the shadow priests before entering the portal herself. It seems the portal's exit destination was constantly shifting due to becoming unstable. When she was thrown out of the portal she was standing in the courtyard of some kind of temple.
16th century Earthrealm, Athens, Eurydice Shrine.
A slender young woman was in the middle of the courtyard, she was kneeling down making sure the straps of her short white boots were tight before standing up rolling her shoulders back.
She was wearing a white and blue dress with no sleeves and a pink neck tie fastened with a gold clip to her collar and a very short white and blue skirt. She wore long white gloves that almost reached her shoulders the end of them covered by silver colored steel pauldrons each with a pink ribbon tied to them. She also wore brown tights that ran the length of her legs tucking into her short white boots.
Her blonde hair shined with the direct sunlight and she shook her head a few times enjoying its warmth before running her hands over her hair smoothing out her flat bangs. Reaching to the top of her head she straightened her white hair band and kneeled down to grab her sword and shield from the floor.
Her name was Cassandra Alexandra. Cassandra knew of the evil sword's existence, but she never decided to search for it until that day, the day she witnessed a mysterious Asian woman entering her home carrying Cassandra's injured older sister on her back. Cassandra watched as the Asian woman drew shards of the evil sword from her sister's body while treating her wounds. Wanting to know what had happened to her sister who was a great swordswoman Cassandra demanded the mysterious woman to tell her what happened.
The woman first gave her name and informed her that she had allied with her sister in order to search for and destroy the evil sword. Their search ended in victory, but Sophitia was gravely injured. The woman carried her back to her family and stayed to treat her wounds to thank her for her aid. When the woman finished aiding Cassandra's sister she left and Cassandra finally had her sister back.
A few years later Sophitia disappeared again and after finding a strange metal fragment in her home Cassandra was sure that Sophitia had left to confront the evil sword again. Cassandra became angry at her sister's panicked reaction to the shard and took it to the shrine of Hephaestus.
"Why are you doing this to me sister?" she screamed holding the fragment up to the god's statue, "How can you claim to be an almighty god? Answer me!"
The hallowed grounds echoed with her voice until she fell to her knees exhausted from screaming, that is when she saw the fragment resonating with the holy sword Hephaestus himself had blessed. She realized then that Soul Edge really was still alive and the memory of her sister's injuries when she returned from her last quest flooded her mind, she could not let that happen to Sophitia again.
She returned to her sister's home and asked Sophitia's husband to give her a sword and shield and she set off on her own quest to destroy Soul Edge and free her beloved sister from the burden, for nothing was more important to her than her family.
Cassandra stood in the shrine her shield and sword in hand and she made a few practice swings with it allowing her arms to readjust themselves to their weight after what felt like an eternity ago, but the events of her last journey lingered so freshly in her mind.
"Sophitia" she muttered to herself looking toward the horizon, "Why didn't you wait for me. You promised me we would do this together".
The sky's color changed suddenly, no…not the sky, but the air, the air changed. There were lightning strikes flying around and a massive circle of fire appeared in the courtyard outside the shrine. Cassandra sensed the foul magic the emanated from whatever it was and cautiously approached with her shield raised and her sword drawn back. Then when the gusting winds stopped she watched a slender framed woman leap from the circle right before it vanished.
The woman was dressed in a yellow and black garb and even without looking into her pale, white eyes Cassandra could sense the evil coming from her.
"I don't know who or what you are" Cassandra began pointing her sword at the mysterious woman, "But you will regret trespassing here I suggest you leave, now" making sure to reinforce her last word with a threatening tone.
Tanya sneered at her, "I have no time to waste with a child such as yourself. Be gone and I will allow you to live".
"Don't…take me lightly" Cassandra warned keeping her sword pointed at her, "Last chance".
Tanya glared at the swordswoman and suddenly dropped to her knees throwing her hand out toward Cassandra summoning her magic to shoot a golden fireball at her opponent.
Cassandra's trained reflexes kicked in immediately, she dropped into a crouch and covered herself with her shield feeling the fireball impact the center of the shield, if she hadn't braced herself it would have knocked her over. Standing back up Cassandra set her eyes back on Tanya as she jumped high into the air and fired another golden orb of fire down at her, again Cassandra raised her shield to defend dropping to one knee to brace herself. The fireball impacted her shield from an angle causing the swordswoman to flinch, but she held her ground.
As Tanya landed she jumped at her opponent somersaulting with a kick directed right at Cassandra's shield. Her heel slammed against the center of the shield and Cassandra smirked as she launched herself back to her feet to capitalize on her opponent's lack of balance. This is what Tanya was counting on however, when Cassandra jumped upward she pushed Tanya back shifting her moment to her standing foot allowing the Edenian traitor to jump again and twist landing a vicious heel kick to the back of Cassandra's head knocking her to the ground.
Cassandra put her hands out to catch herself and turned onto her side just in time to avoid a swing from Tanya's weapon, a stick as long as her forearm with a pointed blade jutting out of the end. Tanya swung her arm in an overhead arc and flipped her weapon around aiming the curved blade's tip right at Cassandra's exposed neck, but the Athenian warrior rolled onto her side and raised her shield once again blocking what would have been a fatal strike. Right as the weapon bounced off her shield Cassandra snapped her arm out slapping the shield against Tanya's face before lunging up and attempting to impale her opponent with her sword, but she missed as Tanya jumped back.
Cassandra returned to her feet in a second and set herself back in her fighting stance holding her shield out and her sword back as she bobbed back and forth on her feet.
Tanya growled and rushed forward swinging one of her tonfas out in a wide left arc only for Cassandra to block it, but once her attack was blocked Tanya ducked down and brought her other weapon up in and uppercut attack, her knuckles catching Cassandra in her jaw and sending her into the air. Dropping her tonfas Tanya grabbed her airborne opponent's ankles and turned around slamming Cassandra into the ground and immediately reclaiming her weapons.
The air in her lungs lefts her body as Cassandra's back was slammed into the ground disorienting her, but she was able to keep a solid grip on her sword and shield. Her vision blurred as she coughed a few times, but she could still see clearly enough to notice her enemy standing over her preparing another strike and she raised her shield to block. She expected to feel the impact of the tonfa against her shield, but instead she felt the tip of its blade pierce her stomach and the burning pain that followed.
Kicking her leg out Cassandra knocked Tanya's knee out from under her causing her to collapse forward and as she did Cassandra smacked her across the face with her shield knocking her to the side before launching up to a sitting position and slashing with her sword cutting Tanya across her unprotected midriff.
Cassandra rolled to the side as Tanya gasped through clenched teeth, it wasn't the hit she was hoping for, but she managed to draw a good bit of blood. Tanya's midriff had a cut across it running at an angle from her hip and across her body leading up to her breast and she locked her sinister white eyes on Cassandra and snarled her hatred at the swordswoman.
Cassandra now back on her feet took a step back putting distance between them to give her a quick moment to check her own wound. It wasn't that deep, but she was bleeding, her white and blue dress stained a deep red and with every movement and breath she took she felt the pain. Straightening herself Cassandra held her sword back again and put her shield forward just as Tanya charged her swinging with her right tonfa from the side. Cassandra blocked pushing her shield and the deflected weapon out to the side and thrust her sword upward aiming for her enemy's throat just as her left tonfa was coming up to meet in her the same fashion.
Cassandra's sword was caught by the curved blade of the tonfa and the screen of steel grinding against steel echoed around them. Cassandra twisted her arm and swung it around pulling Tanya's weapon with it until their arms arced in a half circle and Cassandra's sword was freed from its clash against the tonfa. Capitalizing on her momentum Cassandra lunged forward ramming her shoulder into Tanya's chest making her stumble back and bringing her sword upward slashing her across the stomach again this time in a straight line.
Tanya jumped back just in time evading the attack the tip of the sword passing less than an inch from her gut, but her enemy wouldn't give her time to retaliate. Cassandra rushed forward and placed her foot against Tanya's knee before kicking off of her chest launching herself into the air and throwing her shield at her stunned opponent. The edge of the shield scored a direct hit against Tanya's chest knocking her down as Cassandra landed and jumped backwards to grab her shield as it fell from the air.
Quickly securing her shield she rushed forward again, but Tanya shot up on one arm and screamed launching another golden fireball at the charging swordswoman who didn't have time to block.
Cassandra tried to raise her shield, but only managed to block a bit of the fireball as it flashed past the edge of her raised shield and struck her in the chest knocking her back and to the ground. Before she could even gasp for air Tanya had struck again jumping up and dropped down on top of her splitting her legs out to the side and bringing her heel down on the exact spot where she stabbed Cassandra earlier. Cassandra's body curled in pain leaving her exposed for a brief second and Tanya struck, swinging her tonfa down shifting it so the curved blade was aimed at Cassandra's temple.
Cassandra barely managed to raise her shield in time, the edge of it catching the tonfa under its curved blade. Cassandra's eyes went wide with a mixture of fear, desperation and anger as the tip of the blade was mere inches from her eye as she tried to push it away, but with her enemy right on top of her and putting pressure on her stab wound she was defending from a weakened position.
Tanya pushed down shifting her weight forward and she grinned at the fearful and desperate look in her opponent's eye as she forced her blade ever closer to her eye. Cassandra's sword was pinned under her own shield, she couldn't strike back without moving her shield away, but her opponent was pushing down on her too much for her to move, a desperate whimper of pain and effort escaped her as she tried one last time to fend off her enemy.
She couldn't move her arms, she was pinned under her own shield and her opponent's weight all she could move were her legs and that would be her only option for defending herself. Bringing her knee up Cassandra struck Tanya in the pelvis between her legs, the unexpected hit stunning her opponent and allowing Cassandra to push the bladed tonfa away from her face. Pushing Tanya off her and to the side Cassandra sat up and swung with her sword scoring a grazing hit on her enemy's side drawing a good bit of blood before she kicked right where she just cut her.
Feeling her enemy's blade slice across her side Tanya's body retreated from the pain curling away from the sword only to feel Cassandra's boot shoot out to meet her in the same spot she was just cut. The kick caused Tanya to fall to her side and through clenched, watery eyes she watched as Cassandra crawled a few inches before getting to her feet and trying to put some distance between them. But Tanya wasn't going to let her run, holding her arm out she launched another fireball aimed at Cassandra's back scoring a direct hit at such close range knocking her down.
Tanya scrambled back to her and leapt at Cassandra raising both of her tonfas as she fell on top of her downed opponent, but Cassandra rolled to the left as Tanya landed and then counterattacked. Rolling onto her side Cassandra rocked to shift her momentum back and swung her sword slicing across Tanya's arm. Tanya recoiled away as the blade sliced down her forearm, but right as Cassandra tried to push herself off the ground Tanya lunged sideways at her driving the curved blade of one of her left tonfa into Cassandra's gut immediately twisting and pulling the blade free before shooting another close range fireball at her stunned opponent.
The point blank fireball struck Cassandra in the side and sent her flipping sideways through the air before she slid across the stone floor and began gasping for air. She curled her legs inward and pushed herself onto her knees feeling for the second stab wound in her side and wincing from the pain, pulling her hand away she saw her palm covered in her blood and her vision began blurring. This wound was deeper than the first and now she was really loosing blood, she grabbed her sword again and turned her attention back to her opponent who was gasping for air just as much as her.
Seeing this as her chance to finish her opponent off Tanya raised her arm holding it tight across her body and then swung her arm out throwing her tonfa at Cassandra and launching another orb of golden fire right behind it.
Charging in behind her two attacks Tanya waited for Cassandra to stand up and swing her sword to deflect the thrown tonfa and then the Edenian traitor jumped up as Cassandra raised her shield to block the fireball. Cassandra tried to block the fireball, but her wounded body gave out as the magical attack hit her making her stumble back and leaving her open for Tanya to launch another at her from above striking the Athenian swordswoman right as she lost her balance and fell back.
The fireball slammed into Cassandra's shield and she stumbled back losing her balance and falling backwards, her eyes rolling upwards just in time to see her opponent launch another golden orb at her from above. As she fell Cassandra tried to raise her shield, but she was too wounded and her reflexes were slowed, the fireball struck her in the chest adding force to her fall and slamming her into the ground. Cassandra's eyes rolled into the back of her head as her back was slammed into the ground, blood gushing from her stab wounds now and her entire body started feeling like she was being stuck with pins from all directions.
She was becoming numb and hardly able to move, her ears were filled with a faint ringing and her vision became even blurrier as she tried to sit up.
Tanya looked down at her grounded opponent and a cruel smile spread her lips, "I'm putting an end to this" she said.
Raising her arms and calling forth her dark magic Tanya surrounded herself in a fiery haze and turned invisible.
Seeing her opponent vanish before her eyes Cassandra panicked, she could her Tanya's pained chuckles getting closer and Cassandra began crawling backwards before turning onto her side and getting up to one knee.
"That look suits you" she heard her enemy say from somewhere too close.
Cassandra looked to her right and then her left and then to her right again, where was she?
Tanya chuckled again this time she was closer.
Cassandra's vision was too blurred to see at first, but now that it was closer she could make it out, a trail of blood.
That's right! Her enemy was bleeding.
She watched the trail of blood until it was right next to her it was on her left, her shield side. Of course anyone wounded would assume an attack would come from their most vulnerable spot, but if their attacker was invisible then take them by surprise and strike where they think they are guarded.
Cassandra didn't wait, it was now or never. She jumped and charged in the direction of the blood trail tackling her enemy.
The second Tanya was hit her magic wore off leaving her visible again, she tried to counter attack, but Cassandra was pressing her shield against her arm pinning it between them.
Tilting her shield as she moved past her Cassandra forced Tanya behind her and to the side as she pivoted around on her heel and dropped down extending her leg for a sweeping kick tripping Tanya and causing her to fall back.
As her enemy fell Cassandra sprang up and flipped her sword around, with the blade now aimed downward she dropped bringing her bodyweight down with her sword and driving the blade through Tanya's chest.
As the sword impaled her Tanya's body froze and as she was slammed to the ground she coughed, a gush of blood following the escaping breath and slowly as she struggled to keep breathing her eyes rolled back into her head.
"No" she thought terrified of the darkness closing in around her, "I always survive".
Cassandra stumbled back leaving her sword impaled in her enemy to be sure she was dead. Taking a long moment to catch her breath she fell to her knees and pressed her hands against her stab wounds, she was still loosing a lot of blood, she needed to hurry.
Dropping her shield she forced herself up and ignoring her dizziness and blurred vision ran back into the shrine to treat her wounds, leaving her defeated opponent to continue bleeding out in the courtyard, a testament to her determination, she will survive her injuries and she will set out to reunite with her sister and finally and permanently relieve her of her burden of destroying the cursed sword once and for all.
A/N. Alright, fight 10 is finally finished.
Both fighters are arrogant and hot-headed, but in the end only one can limp away. Tanya is thousands of years old giving her an apparent edge in experience, but her only real notable achievements are betraying her home realm Edenia and barely defeating Jade where as Cassandra has defeated Astaroth (with help) and several other fighters from her own world. So Tanya is older, but she lacks the win to loss ratio Cassandra has.
Also Tanya is a survivor more than a fighter only doing what she believes necessary to continue living where Cassandra's determination especially when it comes to protecting her family is unmatched and unbreakable. So Cassandra's drive beats Tanya's.
Finally we come to their fighting styles, Tanya is brutal and hot-headed (as evident by her move sets) preferring to rush in and finish an opponent quickly where as Cassandra's style allow her to defend and strike with a larger variety of quick and strong attacks and while she isn't as flexible as Tanya, Cassandra's sword and shield prove to be a better combination than Tanya's tonfas.
The winner is Cassandra.
And now that fight 10 is finished its time to announce my spin off series for Soul vs Soul. From this point forward you can request through reviews or PMs any kind of fight you'd like to see outside the MK and SC franchise. Garrus Vakarian vs The Arbiter, Alduin vs Deathwing, Darth Vader vs Darth Revan. You request it and I'll choose my favorite.
If you'd like to request the next MK vs SC fight feel free to do so, just read the rules posted on my profile first.