The tavern Scorpion led them to was textbook 'hole in the wall' Almost passed the point of being cliche. It was overcrowded, badly lit and smelled of smoke and whiskey.

Cecil coughed as scorpion led her to a table in the darkest corner.

A mug of ale and a plate of food was shoved in front of her. It wasn't exactly what she meant when she asked to get a decent meal. But it was hot and it smelled delicious, so she dug in. They ate in silence for a while. Scorpion staring at his mug, Cecil looking around at the throng of drunken regulars.

"What were you trying to buy earlier?" she asked, breaking the silence. Scorpion didn't look at her, he didn't seem to have heard her. He looked as though his mug was the most interesting thing in the world. "You're a million miles away aren't you?" She said.

When he didn't answer she waved her hand in front of his face. It worked. He swatter her hand away roughly.

"What?" he growled.

Cecil visibly recoiled, the hurt evident on her face. To her utter embarrassment she felt her eyes start to fill with tears. "Nothing...I was just...I'm not hungry anymore" she pushed her almost full plate away and started walking away "I'll wait for you outside" she said quietly, pushing past the lump in her throat. It seemed that no matter what she did he was never going to like her. She couldn't wait until they reached Liu Kang's hideout so she would no longer feel like a burden.

Scorpion made no move to stop her. In fact, with her gone he might finally be able to think!

His blood was still simmering at the bold accusations of the stall merchant. The fact that he wouldn't be able to buy supplies was far from his mind, and no major inconvenience.

Scorpion had never cared for his personal appearance since being resurrected. He knew he had ghostly white eyes, and the tendency to combust into flames when he was angry. None of that bothered him before today. He had always considered himself a decent man. So to be accused of such debauchery as kidnaping an innocent girl, left him feeling angry and a small amount of self pity.

Still, it wasn't Cecil's fault. She was beautiful after all and he was...well...

Cecil swallowed hard, squeezing back the tears forming in her eyes. If she could just make it outside...maybe the fresh air would clear her mind. She felt weak and was glad she had the sense to retreat before she cried in front of Scorpion. He already thought she was a weakling.

But just as she looked up she saw some guards enter the tavern. There was three of them, and when they entered they removed their hats and scanned the tables. The shortest one grabbed the attention of the general and pointed in her direction. Her feet froze in place, and as hard as she tried they would not move.

General Hamoto and his peons made a beeline for her, which was not a hard thing to do considering that she was rooted in place in the middle of a smokey tavern.

Hamoto! What was he doing here? Her thoughts ran frantic. He was supposed to be in Kish. Would he recognize her?

"Excuse me miss, can we ask you a few questions?" The general asked as he approached. His voice was more nasal than she remembered and he smelled of women's perfume.

Cecil kept her head down, afraid to move. Where was Scorpion? She thought. He was only on the other side of the tavern, why didn't he notice that she was in trouble? Some bodyguard! He was probably too busy wallowing in his own imagined self pity to even notice that the man she was sold to was standing right in front of her. Legally, she belonged to Hamoto. Even if she were to ask a stranger for help, nothing could be done. The law was against her.

Suddenly Cecil felt very alone. Here she was in the middle of an unfamiliar city with no friends, no one to help her. The only person she knew for hundreds of miles would barely talk to her and seemed to hate her for existing. She wished she could just go home...

"Miss?"

And just like that she was free from the fearful state that rooted her in place. Now being controlled by something much more unpredictable, she made a mad dash for the door.

Hamoto, for his part, seemed too momentarily shocked to make a grab for her. Too bad for Cecil he had two other men working for him. The first one grabbed her by the arm and spun her roughly towards him. Her palm connected firmly with his nose in an upward motion and once he was sprawled on the ground she kicked him hard in the stomach.

She jumped easily over him and ran for the door. So close!

But she never made it. The second guard grabbed her by the hair and yanked her down. She let out an involuntary cry of pain as she felt several handfuls of hair rip from her scalp. The sound reverberated in her skull. Her wrist was then bent backwards and shoved into her back. There was several gasps from the denizens of the tavern. Though none made any move to intervene. This must have been a regular sight for the people of such a large, and apparently, crime ridden city.

Cecil was spun around violently to face Hamoto, who had an amused glint in his eye. She struggled against her captor until his hand reached around to grab her neck and squeezed firmly.

General Hamoto laughed, walking close to her and gently moved some hair from her face "So much trouble for one little...Cecilia?" A change, so instant it shocked her, came over the general then. His hands, no longer gentle, grabbed that bit of hair in his hand and yanked her towards him. His hands came around her throat as he dragged her toward the door.

Cecil tried to yell for Scorpion, but a large angry hand was clasped too tightly around her throat.

Scorpion was debating with himself wether or not to apologize to Cecil for being so openly cruel. He didn't exactly feel as though he owed her one, but it would make traveling with her much easier if she wasn't angry with him. He sighed and was about to go in search for her when he heard a scuffle break out by the bar. He figured it was a regular occurrence in a place such as this, after all, they were in the very heart of city scum; a bar.

He dropped some money on the table and stood up, his white eyes scanned the room, seeing knocked over chairs, the faces of people trying to look as though they hadn't just seen a fight break out, and lastly, being dragged out of the tavern by her throat was Cecil.

Scorpion was across the room in four strides, anger fueling his feet faster than any battle lust he'd ever felt. He swung the door open so fast that it almost hit one of the guards tailing Hamoto.

"Put. her. down" Scorpion said, rage making his words come out slow and deliberate. Each one a threat, a promise for pain.

Hamoto and his men spun around and to their credit they didn't choose to flee, though Scorpion could tell it was not far from their minds.

The General's grip tightened on Cecil's throat and she coughed out a sound that was barely audible. A sound that made Scorpion's blood boil. Literally. Heat began to emanate from his body, the very air around him warping from the warmth within him. He growled a low menacing sound that intensified the air around him, making it somehow palpable. Real flames bean to spurt from his body, small at first but seemed to grow with each furious breath. The fire grew so intense that Hamoto's men took an involuntary step back, gasps coming from their horror stricken faces.

Scorpion smiled. "Don't make me repeat myself" He said, voice low and full of promise, a promise for death and perhaps a fate worse so. When Hamoto made no move to cooperate Scorpion reached behind him and drew a sword from the sheath on his back. The flames seemed happy to dance their way up the hilt, spiraling joyfully until they reached the sharp tip and sat there billowing like a thing alive.

"The...the townsfolk say you kidnaped this girl" The general said "We are to return her safely back to her family. Leave us be and...and we will spare your life" he was backing up, looking to his men to defend him.

Scorpion laughed, loud and menacing. The very sound of it echoed in the heads of the two guards, and would haunt their dreams for many moons "Save your words for prayer lech, I know what you plan to do with this girl and I will not allow it"

Hamoto's face contorted into a mask of anger at being caught in a lie. His grip tightened on Cecil, who sat wide eyed and defenseless in his grasp "So you're here to play savior ne? And what makes you think she would choose you over her own fiancé?"

"Let her choose then" Scorpion said, the flames licking at his armor died down a bit as he extended a hand in her direction.

The general almost laughed. He remembered the first time he saw her. It was simply a routine trip to establish ties with the local townspeople. He had only planned on staying for one night, eager to get out of the shithole town as quickly as possible.

Until he saw Cecil, carrying a basket of freshly washed clothes, tired and sweaty. His loins ached to have her. So he had stayed and spent the next several days convincing her father to trade for her. It wasn't even a matter of convincing him to trade, but how much. His interest sparked the ideas of several of the other men who offered up their daughters to the great general, but he would have none of it. He wanted Cecilia. And why wouldn't she choose him? There were plenty of women who would kill to trade places with her. Suddenly, he felt like playing along "Alright then" He smiled "Honey, who would you rather go with? I can provide you with a beautiful home, all the best sewn dresses. You'll never have to work a day in your life. Women will be jealous of you for miles around" He whispered in her ear and she cringed at the sound.

She looked at Scorpion who was still standing there with his hand held out.

"Do I really have a choice?" she asked the general, turning in his grasp to look innocently in his face.

"Of course you do, my dear" His voice was laced with false sincerity.

Cecil took a step out of his grasp, but could still feel his hands hovering over her. "I choose.." she turned to stare General Hamoto in the eyes "...Scorpion" she said and walked away from him. Her hand reached out to Scorpion's, but she only got a few feet.

"She belongs to me!" Hamoto screamed, reaching for Cecil's retreating form. But she had expected his treachery and had planned accordingly. The hand she eagerly reached for Scorpion with came around in a wide arch, fingers straight and stiff and jabbed the angry general in the throat. A move she had learned from none other than Liu Kang.

She then ducked, hoping that Scorpion would use the opening to make a move. He did.

Cecil heard the sound of a chain and felt a heavy swooshing above her head. She turned to Hamoto to see a spearhead land in the center of his chest. She had just enough time to roll out of the way as the general was jerked forward so hard that blood spurted from his torso and landed on her.

Scorpion grabbed the man by the collar, lifting him to look into his eyes.

"She is free to choose who she wishes" Scorpion said, and then looked at Cecil on the ground "And she chose me..."

Scorpion grabbed the chain and wrapped it around his hand once, twice. Cecil looked away and heard a sickening crunch and the tell-tale sound of blood splattering on the ground. She didn't need to look to know that Scorpion had ripped the spearhead out of Hamoto's chest, claiming it for his own once more.

Her mind didn't register the terrified gasps of the other men, or the sound of their retreating foot steps. All she knew at that moment was a hand extended out to her as she sat in the dirt. A hand that didn't let go of hers even as they ran out of the city and back into the comforting arms of the forest.