Mortal Kombat and its' characters are owned by Netherrealm Studios and Ed Boon

Ratel and Serval are owned by me.

*Note: Scorpion's costume in this story will be his primary costume from Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. I didn't think his costumes from Mortal Kombat 9 fitted him for this story as he's still alive in this #reminder that this series takes place before MK 9#.

Episode 2: New and Old Enemies

Ratel and Sub Zero stood out in a courtyard, preparing for a training battle. Sub Zero and Ratel ran towards each other. Sub Zero tried to throw a punch at Ratel, but he blocked it with his arm. Sub Zero tried to another punch with his other hand, but Ratel grabbed it. Ratel then delivered a kick to Sub Zero's gut, knocking him back a few feet. Sub Zero regained his posture.
"Well done, Ratel," he commented, "You are doing well with physical combat."
Ratel didn't say anything, but nodded.
"However, we must test your ability with weapons," Sub Zero said with a serious tone, "Actual handheld weapons such as swords and spears are extremely useful in combat."
"Okay," Ratel said, "I'll go get my spear."
Ratel began walking towards a bench where he left his spear and shield, but Cyrax stood there with a leather, whip-like object in his hands.
"Cyrax, what are you doing here?" Ratel asked.
"I saw that you and Sub Zero are preparing for a weapons training session," Cyrax answered, "I came to bring you a weapon that you should use instead of that spear."
He handed Ratel the weapon.
"What is this?" Ratel asked in fascination as he looked down at the weapon he held in his hand.
"It is called a 'sjambok'," Cyrax said, "It often used for cattle drives, but still makes an effective weapon."
"Thanks," Ratel said as he headed back towards Sub Zero.
Sub Zero had five stuffed dummies put out for the training.
"Ready?" he asked Ratel.
"Ready," Ratel replied.
Sub Zero formed a blade made of ice in his hands.
"This is a 'Kori Blade'," Sub Zero told Ratel, "Tundra and I use these as our weapons."
Sub Zero clutched the blade and sliced down on one of the dummies, cutting in half. He looked at Ratel.
"Now you try," he said, "Maybe you can put that weapon to good use."
Ratel clutched the sjambok and swiftly swung it at the dummy's head, cutting it in half. Ratel looked at the sjambok and the dummy in disbelief.
"Amazing," Sub Zero commented, "I didn't think that weapon packed that much force."
"What can I say?" Ratel said, "I do it badass!"
Soon, two Lin Kuei soldiers walked out towards the courtyard.
"The Grandmaster wishes to see you two," one of them said.
Sub Zero and Ratel looked at each other, then followed the two soldiers.

Sub Zero and Ratel walked into the Grandmaster's room, where The Grandmaster sat on his throne. The two warriors kneel and bowed.
"What do you seek of us?" Sub Zero asked.
"There's a mission for both for you," The Grandmaster said, "There have been news of that archaeologists have discovered an ancient temple in the Himalayas. It is believed to be The Temple of Competency of legend."
"What is this 'Temple of Competency'?" Ratel asked.
"According to legend, the most powerful warriors were selected to come to the temple," The Grandmaster said,"Some say that they competed and fought to see who would dominant. Some say that they guarded an ancient scroll that holds the secret to their sacred warrior training. However, nobody really knows as when a warrior went to the temple, they never returned."
"Interesting," Ratel replied, "What do you want us to go there for?"
"I want you two to find that scroll," The Grandmaster said, "With it, we will have the best warriors in the world."
"Sounds simple enough," Sub Zero said.
"Not quite," The Grandmaster replied, "You must be careful out there. I wouldn't doubt that Shirai Ryu also know of the temple. Most likely, they will send out Scorpion and Serval."
"Serval?" Ratel said in shock, "That's a creature from my homeland. I remember someone from my tribe ate the flesh of one and gain extraordinary abilities."
The Grandmaster nodded.
"You must not waste any time," he said, "You must start now."
Sub Zero and Ratel got up on their feet, turned around and walked away from The Grandmaster.

Sub Zero and Ratel were walking along a path in the mountains.
"Ratel," Sub Zero said, "I know this is your first mission. So, I have some tips to help you."
"Go on," Ratel replied.
"First off, be alert as you'll never know what hiding," Sub Zero explained, "The Shirai Ryu are really skilled at hiding. So beware."
Ratel stopped walking and pushed Sub Zero to the ground.
"What the-," Sub Zero asked, but was cut off as he noticed a spear tied to a rope go pass him.
"Damn it!" A voice said in frustration.
The two Lin Kuei warriors looked behind him and saw a ninja dressed yellow. He also had a yellow face mask that covered the bottom portion of his face. He also had a belt with a skull on it and a yellow loincloth. His had pads on arms and legs that were black with a tint of yellow. A few pads had a skull on them. He also had two swords attached to his back.
"Scorpion," Sub Zero said in anger as he got back up on feet.
"Sub Zero," Scorpion said, "It's nice to see you again."
He turned his attention towards Ratel.
"You must be the newest Lin Kuei recruit," he commented.
"I am Ratel," Ratel said, ready for a challenge, "I do not fear you, Scorpion!"
Scorpion chuckled, evilly.
"I bet Serval can scare you," Scorpion said.
"Serval?" Ratel said in confusion.
Suddenly, another warrior jumped in front of the two Lin Kuei warriors. Like Ratel, he was dark skinned. He wore a yellow ninja suit with a loincloth and spots, making it resemble that of a wild cat. He wore black boot and fingerless gloves. He also had yellow and black spotted bands around his legs. He also had a yellow face mask with a silver circle resembling a jaw of a cat. His hood had two black crests erected to resembled the ears of a cat.
"I am Serval," the Shirai Ryu warrior said, introducing him, "And I will give you death!"
Serval took a pose, ready for a challenge.
"Do one of you, Lin Kuei warriors dare to challenge me?" Serval asked in a challenging tone.
Ratel stepped forward.
"I am Ratel," Ratel said to Serval, "And I accepted your challenge."
Serval looked at Ratel and noticed his ratel clawed gloves.
"I recognize those gloves," Serval said, "With those gloves, I could receive some major wounds, Ratel or should I say...Kamau!"
Ratel gasped in shock.
"Absko?" he said in shock.
Serval pulled down his hood and mask, revealing an African man who looked to be in his late-20's or early 30's.
"You know him?" Sub Zero asked in shock and confusion.
"He was a member of my tribe back in Kenya," Ratel told him, "I helped him get his abilities. Then, he tried to killed me out of jealously. So, we battled and I knocked him into a river. I thought he was dead. The whole tribe did."
"Well," Serval said, "I survived. The Shirai Ryu found me and offered to take me to Japan. I accepted. Now, I found you and I can have my revenge."
"Absko!" Ratel shouted in anger, "You were never the best! You were and still are inferior to me."
Serval pulled his hood and mask back on.
"I've been training for this moment," he said, "Now...you will be died!"
Serval grabbed a throwing spike and threw at Ratel. Ratel's arm was hit and the spike shattered on impact.
"I don't believe it," Scorpion commented in disbelief.
Ratel pulled out a shuriken and threw it at Serval. Serval managed to jumped out of the away, causing the shuriken to hit Scorpion in the arm. Scorpion grabbed his arm in pain as his arm began to bleed.
"You bastard!" he shouted as he fired his kunai at Ratel.
However, Ratel managed to grab it and pulled Scorpion forward. After doing this, he jumped to the side as Scorpion landed and slid on the ground. Scorpion got back up and looked at Ratel. He pulled out of one of his swords from his back. Just as he was about strike Ratel, Sub Zero counterattacked it with his Kori Blade.
"I will never let you kill him without going through me!" he told Scorpion.

Ratel turned and was tackled to the ground by Serval. Serval grabbed Ratel's throat and delivered a punch to the face. However, Ratel swiped at Serval's arm, causing Serval to release his grip and leaving three deep and bleeding wounds. Ratel delivered a punch to Serval's gut, knocking him off. Ratel and Serval got back up on their feet and exchanged glares. Serval pulled out three shurikens and threw them at Ratel. The shurikens hit Ratel's chest, but bounced off on impact. Serval pulled out some nunchuks and jumped behind Ratel. He put the nunchuks in front of Ratel and pulled them towards his throat.
"Give up;" he whispered to Ratel, "I trained for this day. You'll never win."
Ratel reached down and felt his sjambok. He grabbed it and delivered a hard smack to Serval's leg. Serval released his grip on the nunchuks and jumped back, holding his leg pain. Ratel grabbed Serval's arm and flipped him over. Ratel delivered a kick to Serval's face, knocking him unconscious.

Scorpion swung his sword at Sub Zero, who retaliated with his Kori Blade. This time, Scorpion kicked it out of Sub Zero's hands. The Kori Blade hit the ground and shattered.
"Looks like you're defenseless," Scorpion said as he pulled out his second sword.
Suddenly, Ratel appeared and punched Scorpion across the face, knocking him on his side and swords out of reach. Scorpion looked up at Ratel. Then, he looked aside and saw Serval lying on his back, unconscious.
"You defeated Serval?" Scorpion said in disbelief, "That's impossible!"
"Well, guess what," Ratel replied with some cockiness, "I just did!"
Suddenly, Scorpion grabbed Ratel's legs with his own legs and tripped him aside. Scorpion rose back up on his feet and looked down at Ratel.
"Well," he said, "I will make you pay!"
Scorpion rose up his right foot; about to perform a stomp on the fallen Ratel, when suddenly, he was hit by a ball of ice and froze in place. Ratel rose back on his feet and looked at the frozen Scorpion. Sub Zero walked over to him.
"There's a lesson to be learned here," he told Ratel, "You must always be aware of your surroundings."
"Exactly," Ratel said, "Scorpion seemed to forget that there were two of us here, not just one."
"Indeed," Sub Zero replied, "However, we must get the Temple of Competency."
Ratel and Sub Zero started back on their trek to the temple, leaving behind the frozen Scorpion and the unconscious Serval.

Sub Zero and Ratel soon came to a hill. There, they saw a long, stone stairway up towards an old Chinese temple.
"This looks like the spot," Ratel said.
"Yes," Sub Zero replied, "Before we go, you must remember to watch your step and do not let your guard down."
"Alright," Ratel replied.
The two warriors began to walk up the long stairway.
"Remember," Sub Zero said to Ratel, "This is an old temple. Most old temple had many sorts of traps to discourage outsiders."
"I do not fear those traps," Ratel replied.
"Even so, you should not let your guard down," Sub Zero said.

After a long walk up the stairs, Sub Zero and Ratel found themselves at the temple's entrance. Ratel and Sub Zero pushed open the large doors.
"We must enter with precaution," Sub Zero said to Ratel, "Even if you do not fear what lies ahead, you should to be alert and weary."
Ratel didn't say a word, but he showed that he understood Sub Zero as he slowly and cautiously entered the temple. Seeing Ratel enter the temple, Sub Zero follwed, also taking a slow and cautious approach. Suddenly, a spear hit Ratel's abdomen, but shattered on impact. Suddenly, a group of ten skeletons jumped at the two Lin Kuei Warriors. Two skeletons wielded spears, four wielded maces, three wielded swords and one didn't have a weapon. The weaponless skeleton lunged at Ratel. Ratel grabbed the skeleton's neck and threw it to the group. He stomped on the skull, which shattered beneath his foot. Seeing this, the two spear wielding skeletons jumped at Ratel. Luckily, Sub-Zero fired his ice beam at one of skeleton, freezing it in place. Ratel pulled out his sjambok and whacked the skull off of the second spear wielding skeleton. Sub-Zero formed a Kori Blade in his hands as a sword wielding skeleton jumped at him. The skeleton swung his sword at Sub-Zero who countered it with his Kori Blade. Sub-Zero delivered a kick to the skeleton's ribs, which broke off and knocked the skeleton down. Sub-Zero looked down at the fallen skeleton until he noticed another mace wielding skeleton running towards him. Quickly, Sub Zero formed an ice ball and fired it at the skeleton. The ice ball hit the skeleton, which froze on impact. Sub Zero jumped at the frozen skeleton and grabbed its mace. He swung the mace at the frozen skeleton which shattered on impact. Meanwhile, Ratel noticed the last two remaining skeletons running towards him. Ratel quickly ducked down as the two skeletons swung their maces and shattered each other's skulls.
"Living skeletons," Ratel commented, "They could have come up with better traps if you ask me."
Soon, Ratel noticed a chest nearby. He ran over to it.
"I bet the scroll is inside of here," he said.
He slowly opened the chest and there lied a scroll tied together by a red string.
"I found it!" Ratel shouted with joy as he grabbed the scroll.
Sub Zero walked up to him.
"Good job, Ratel," he said, "You did well on your first mission. Now, we must return to the Lin Kuei Temple."
The two Lin Kuei warriors turned around and left.

Back at the Lin Kuei Temple, the Grandmaster sat on his throne as a Lin Kuei guard approached him.
"Grandmaster," the guard said, "Sub Zero and Ratel have returned."
"Excellent," the Grandmaster said, "Bring them to me!"
The guard turned around and left to go get Sub Zero and Ratel. A minute later, Sub Zero and Ratel entered. Ratel approached the Grandmaster and handed him the scroll.
"Here is the scroll you wanted," Ratel said.
The Grandmaster took the scroll.
"Thank you," he said, "I must say Ratel that I am impressed. Not many Lin Kuei warriors do well on their first missions."
The Grandmaster turned to Sub Zero.
"You have also done well," he said, "Under your guidance; Ratel could be one of the best warriors that has ever joined the Lin Kuei."
"Indeed," Sub Zero said.
Sub Zero turned around and left with Ratel following.

Next Episode: Smoke's Struggles

Smoke is being plagued by horrible dreams that maybe answers to his past life. As Smoke has no memory of his past life, he doesn't know the origins of his powers. When Lin Kuei soldiers are found dead near a shrine where Smoke was found before he joined the Lin Kuei. Smoke decides to go to the shrine and see if he can find out more about his past.