CHAPTER 10

Sub-zero glared malevolently at Johnny as she sat down next to Kenshi and Scorpion. He, however, didn't seem to be bothered by Sub-zero's hostility. He was still smiling.

"Sonya," he said, "Would you like to explain the rules?" Sonya glanced at Sub-zero before speaking.

"You know Johnny; I don't think it's appropriate to play such a game at this time." She said. "I mean, we barely know each other, and if we play this game, don't you think the new guys would be a bit traumatized." Her eyes flickered to Sub-zero and back to Johnny. Johnny continued to smile.

"Oh come on, Sonya they want to play." Only Sub-zero and Scorpion didn't nod. "Besides it's a great way to get to know each other." He reasoned. Sonya sighed.

"If you say so." She muttered under her breath. She shot Sub-zero an apologetic look before speaking. "The mechanics of the game is pretty simple; somebody spins the bottle, and the person whom the bottle is pointing at will be given two options; truth or dare." Sub-zero cringed. "If the person chooses Truth, one will ask him/her one question. If the person refuses to answer, he will do two dares. If the person chooses 'dare', the person will spin the bottle and the person whom the bottle is pointing at will give him the dare. Pretty simple, right?"

They nodded.

"So, who will spin the bottle?" Fujin asked.

"I'll do it!" Jax volunteered. He spun the bottle. Sub-zero closed her eyes. Not me, not me. She opened her eyes, and the bottle pointed at Sareena.

"Truth or dare?" Johnny asked. Sareena shrugged.

"I guess I'll go with 'Truth' it's much easier." She said. They spun the bottle again and it pointed at Kenshi. After a few moments of thinking, he grinned wickedly, earning confused looks from Sareena and Sub-zero. "Ask away."

"Do you have a crush on Sub-zero?" Sub-zero gave him a 'WTF-look' and Johnny looked as if he was going to die of laughter. Sareena looked towards the ceiling.

"Since Sub-zero isn't here anyway, I am going answer your question. Well, yes I suppose I do...Maybe I even love him...He is a pretty good-looking guy…and a skilled warrior as well. He's a kind-hearted person as well. I mean, he let me in his stronghold when I had nowhere else to go…and…well, he is hot." She grinned and Li Mei nodded in assent.

"I agree." She said.

Sub-zero smiled inwardly. He loved you too, Sareena. She looked down on the floor.

"Oh well, I'll court him someday." Sareena added. Dear Elder Gods, remind me to propose to Sareena the moment I get my gender back. Sub-zero thought.

And they laughed.

"Don't tell your Grandmaster." Sareena looked at Sub-zero, she merely nodded. I don't need to, she thought. Sareena spun the bottle and this time, Jade was the victim. She smiled wickedly. "Jade, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth." She spun the bottle and the one to ask the question was Liu Kang.

"Well…I've asked Kung Lao this question multiple times but he just wouldn't answer!" he paused. "Have you and Kung Lao…You know…done it yet?" he asked. After a few moments of silence, Kitana, burst out laughing; followed by Sonya and the others. Jade blushed profusely as she yelled at Liu Kang.

"We're waiting…" Ashrah said smugly. Jade took a deep breath.

"Yes…" she said inaudibly. Then, the laughter turned into wolf whistles and side comments. "Yeah…yeah…go on and laugh." She muttered and Kung Lao kissed the top of her head, earning a few 'awww's from the group. She spun the bottle and it landed on…Scorpion. He narrowed his eyes.

"Truth or Dare?" Jade asked playfully.

"Truth." Scorpion replied. The one to ask the question was Nightwolf.

"Well, what was your life like before you turned into a ninja specter?" he asked. Most of them stared at him curiously.

"What kind of fu-,"

"Language, Scorpion." Raiden glared at him.

"-stupid question is that?" Scorpion growled.

"A perfectly normal one." Nightwolf answered coolly. "If you don't want to answer it, just do the two dares."

"Fine." He barked. "I'll just do the two dares." He replied. "I don't even know why I have to play this fu-,"

"Scorpion." Raiden gave him another pointed look.

"-annoying game." He muttered. "What are we? Ten years old? People can swear when they want to, can't they?" he growled

"Not in my presence." Raiden replied coolly.

Sub-zero looked at him. So he told me everything, but he didn't want to tell anyone else?

"All right. First, take your mask off and show us what you look like."

Scorpion raised his eyebrow. "I'm a burning skull, you already know that." He said.

"Yeah but once, you told us you could show how you look as a human." Mokap said, speaking for the first time.

He sighed and pulled his ninja hood and mask off. Most of the girls stared at him. Scorpion was…for lack of better term for it, hot. His hair was long and black and it fell up to his chest. His skin was lightly tanned. Sub-zero gaped at his beauty. He was, without doubt, the best-looking guy she had ever met. Next to me when I was a guy, of course.. She thought.

"Happy now?" He asked. They nodded. "So what's the second dare?" Ashrah was the one to give him the dare. She giggled.

"Go and kiss Kitana." She said.

"What?!" Scorpion and Liu Kang screamed at the same time. Kitana blushed and looked at the floor, no doubt excited about kissing a handsome guy. Sareena whispered something into Ashrah's ear and she grinned.

"Or better yet, kiss the newcomer, Zeiva!" the two girls snickered. Kenshi and Ermac looked as if they were ready to kill someone. Raiden looked sheepish. Sonya looked horrified and Johnny looked disgusted.

Sub-zero smacked her forehead. Dear Elder Gods! This is not happening to me! I am a GUY!

"I am NOT doing that." Scorpion growled at them.

"I am not exactly partial to that notion, either." Sub-zero voiced her thoughts.

"Either her or Raiden-,"

"Hey!" came the Thunder God's protest.

"-you choose." Ashrah shrugged.

"…Fine." He replied after a few moments of silence. He turned to her and pulled her mask off, she was still too stunned to move. Before she knew it, his lips were on hers. It was warm and soft. He finally pulled away.

Sub-zero's face was still red. Sareena's and Ashrah's faces looked smug. Johnny, Sonya and Raiden looked horrified and apologetic at the same time.

"How was it?" Sareena asked. Sub-zero stared at the floor, still in shock. It was apparent that she did not want to answer Sareena's question. She seemed to get the message and said something else. "Spin the bottle, Scorpion."

"Wha-oh-right." He spun the bottle.

Sub-zero tried to act normally. However, after being kissed by her adversary, she found that it was a feat harder than killing Shao Kahn. After what seemed like hours and hours, the game finally ended and they returned to their respective rooms. Li Mei went upstairs with Sub-zero.

"Man, you're lucky to be able to kiss such a hot guy." She commented while changing into her sleepwear.

Sub-zero merely nodded.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Li Mei approached her and sat down beside her. "You've been acting weird since that kiss…are you all right?"

"Do I look all right?" Sub-zero asked obviously annoyed. When he saw Li Mei's hurt look, she apologized. "Forgive me…I'm not in the best of moods." She sighed.

"You can tell me if you think it'll help." She said. "Is it something about Scorpion's lack of expertise in kissing?" she joked. Sub-zero shook her head and looked at Li Mei seriously.

"Li Mei, I am going to tell you something, but you have to promise me that you'll just keep it to yourself." She nodded.

Sub-zero took a deep breath.

"I'm Sub-zero." She said as calmly as she could. Li Mei's eyes widened.

"Dear Elder Gods." She said. "So you're Grandmaster Sub-zero of the Lin Kuei?" she nodded. She hugged her. "And they made you kiss Scorpion? I'm so sorry."

"Yeah. We're archenemies for Raiden's sake! Not to mention our gender being the same." She ran a hand down her face and Li Mei tightened her hug. When she finally let go she asked Sub-zero all the details that lead to her transformation.

"Quan Chi, huh? Bastard." She said. She gave him a pitiful look. "So why are you so sulky about Scorpion kissing you? I mean, shouldn't you be angry?"

"It's not just my body that turns into a woman, you know. I get female hormones and I find guys attractive now." She sighed. "I'm not gay…but it seems that since I'm a woman now, I get everything."

Li Mei looked at her pitifully yet again.

"I'm suffering because, well I'm a guy who is forced to have female emotions…now I'm finding Scorpion attractive and it's killing me. And I was forced to kiss this guy. " She rubbed her temples. Sub-zero needed to talk to someone and was glad she could confide to Li Mei.

"I'll help you get your gender back, don't worry." She kissed her forehead.

"Thank you, Li Mei. And please don't tell anyone."

"I won't tell a soul." She grinned as she climbed onto her own bed and Sub-zero switched off the lights.