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Title of Chapter: 'Til Death Do Us Part
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for Lucipher and Hadoken!
Warning: Violence, mild language, the usual.

A/N: deegirlsjs owns Luna!

Next Day

Jarek woke me up the next morning by kicking me in the side with his booted foot. I slapped his ankle half-asleep, until I opened my eyes just a smidge to find him standing there. "Let's go find the others," he said, starting for the door. The little old lady was shuffling around her kitchen, so I stretched and got to my feet, pulling on my black gloves and black boots. By the time I got outside, Jarek was a good ten feet ahead of me, so I had to jog to catch up to him. His strides were drawn out, further than Sub-Zero's, might I add.

A lot of people were staring at us like we were freaks, but who could blame them? I suppose it wasn't often that you saw a Cryomancer running around with a 6'1 guy with a kick axe on his belt. I shrugged to myself and ignored most of them, but door after door slammed closed as we passed. "What is this, 1965?" I muttered under my breath, looking over my shoulder. Stopping in my tracks as it began to snow again, I put a hand on my companion's shoulder, causing him to turn around.

I looked around inquiringly and noticed that people had begun to reopen their doors and stare at us, as if we were some piece of hot gossip. And then my magnificent idea hit me, so I began, "Jarek, we need to look more innocent. People are beginning to seem…weary of our presence." He snorted once, rolling his eyes, but I could tell that he agreed. "So either you ditch the axe," I said whilst pointing, "or you act more like a gentleman. You decide." I leaned back on my heels and folded my arms across my chest.

"The axe is special," Jarek shot back, but he continued by saying, "and why would I act like a gentleman?"

"Because, if you do, people won't suspect us," I said, my voice hushed. Jarek growled, his hand touching the hilt of his axe. "Ah, ah, ah, you have to go back to the others with moi in one piece. Why do you think I helped you out at the river yesterday, huh?" I quirked an eyebrow and smirked at his furious expression. This was amusing, very amusing. "So, I suggest you figure something out." I closed my eyes as if I was victorious, but before I could tell what had happened, I was on Jarek's back.

There was scarcely enough time to grab hold of his massive shoulders so that I wouldn't fall off; he was obviously in a hurry. I dug my knees into his sides to annoy him but it didn't seem to faze him. He just folded his arms across his chest and continued walking, a smug look on his face. It did however make us look more innocent, as people smiled at us as if we were a couple. I flicked some snow off of my shoulder and noted that it had gotten considerably colder, not just because of the snow.

"Stop that!" Jarek complained. "It's cold enough; you're not helping!" But I had no idea as to what he was blathering on about.

"What on God's green earth are you talking about?" I demanded shortly. "If you think it's me making everything colder, it's not. I lost that power a long, long time ago." A shadow crossed my face before I looked away from the snowy path, recalling the incidents that occurred five years prior. I suppose a part of me still hated Sub-Zero, but I believed it was fading. No matter what I told myself, I knew it was fading away. So for now, I grasped it with both hands and used my vengeful fury to my advantage.

Before either of us knew what was happening, a blue clad ninja ran into the path and fired an ice ball. I jumped off Jarek's back and landed with one knee on the ground and my palm face down. The snow turned to ice and jutted up before the ninja, knocking her off balance. I stood up and dusted myself off, looking upon the ninja curiously. It was Frost. "Hey, lunatic, same side, remember?" Frost snarled, jumping up. She and I circled each other for a moment while Jarek looked on.

"We're not on the same side, Frost – you tried to kill me in the forest!" I snapped, drawing out my water sword. The woman with the spiky white hair drew out her daggers and glared at me, her icy blue eyes ablaze. "C'mon Frost, you wanna fight me? Then let's fight, because you know full well we were trained by the same ninja!" She jumped forward in a heated rage, and so I did the same. We clashed for a moment before I kicked her back and slashed at her. She jumped up and came down with the dagger.

I moved out of the way and put my palm on the ground, creating a small barrier of ice between us. She shattered it with a kick but I turned the ice crystals to water and then into a cobra. It was smaller than the one formed from my water sword, but it was a cobra nonetheless. The transparent blue creature slid forward, hissing and spitting at her. Unlike Sub-Zero, she didn't know she could freeze it, so she backed away – not in fear, but in caution. I extended my hand quickly and the cobra shot forward.

It latched its teeth into her leg and the freezing process began, as her leg froze. I called the cobra back, making a fist, ultimately crushing and destroying the cobra. She was half frozen so she couldn't get away. I took a menacing step forward, but Jarek came from behind me with the axe and hit the ice. There was a moment of silence until Frost screamed. Her leg was bloody, with a gash going from her thigh to her ankle. Jarek backed away slowly, coming to stand next to me.

To our great surprise, we heard, "GET OVER HERE" shouted rather loudly. A kunai shot out of the shadows and stuck in Frost's back. A look of pain crossed her face as Scorpion appeared. He jerked the kunai out as Luna walked out, her blonde hair flecked with white snowflakes. She jumped forward and slashed Frost's back, causing her to cry out in pain, yet again. The white haired Cryomancer crumpled to the ground in pain, angry looks mixing with pained ones.

Luna was going in for the kill shot when I stopped her. "Don't," I warned, a dark look crossing my face. My friend looked up at me with a frown but she backed off, her bloody fire sword still in hand. "Let Frost suffer. Her wounds will heal." Frost had the same ability I had – the one where our wounds freeze over. I could see that the process was already beginning, so I had no worries and I felt no guilt. Luna gave me a curious look. "Good to see you and your…husband…Luna."

"How'd you find out?" she asked incredulously. "Lemme guess, Sub-Zero told you?" I nodded once and put away my weapons, as Jarek sheathed his blood stained kick axe. "Hey, wait…why the hell are you with a Black Dragon clan member?" All the villagers screamed and the doors slammed shut, so I face palmed. Luna jumped up and tried to stab him, but he kicked her out of the way. "You'll pay for that!" she said, wiping some blood from her face. That kick had split her open, unfortunately.

"Stop, Luna, wait!" I shouted, jumping in front of him. "He's an ally, he's an ally!" She stopped and looked at me as if I was a traitor. Scorpion looked curious as he dragged Frost's body to the side of the path, and let her lie there to watch things unfold. He approached us and stood with Luna. "Sub-Zero, Kung Lao, Kenshi, Jade, Li Mei, and I – we all teamed up with Kano, Kira, Kobra, and Jarek here to take down Mavado!" I explained, waving my hands frantically. The behemoth behind me nodded.

"Well you could mention that!" Luna exclaimed, blood dripping across her cheek. She wiped it off and huffed. "That fat idiot," she began, pointing to Jarek, "just split me open!" I nodded once and looked around. "Whatever. So why aren't you guys with the others?" the blonde questioned, taking a piece of cloth to her forehead where the cut was.

I explained about our situation, but just as I finished, a blood curdling scream lifted through the air. We all spun around to see a few of the huts on fire…and Daegon coming towards us.

Tasia was in tow, a sick smirk on her face. Mavado was nowhere in sight, but I guessed the others were fighting him. "Run," I told Luna. Scorpion got into fighting position, and Luna followed suit. I slapped my hand down on her shoulder and she looked at me, determination written all over her face. "Luna, I need you to get the villagers out of here! They'll die if you don't; that fire is spreading too fast." The blonde nodded and ran off. "Scorpion, I hate to ask, but could you…follow after her?"

"I don't take orders," he started, "but somebody has to keep her out of trouble." Scorpion ran off in the other direction, so Jarek and I turned back to Daegon and Tasia. Frost was healed by now, so she ran off, avoiding this confrontation. Jarek pulled out his kick axe and I drew out my ice staff. The fire was spreading quickly; at least half of the village was now burning. The two Red Dragon clan members laughed haughtily.

"You think you beat us?" Tasia snorted. I looked over at Jarek, who was eyeing her with a deadly gaze. I knew the Black Dragons were evil, but they still had some form of order within their ranks, and a traitor was not to be tolerated. I let Jarek have Tasia, and the two went at it, beating the crap out of each other. I looked over at Daegon, who was approaching me slowly, a blade in hand. I was scared to say the least, but I wasn't gonna run away from a fight like this one.

Daegon burst forward all of a sudden, his blade coming awfully close to my face. I moved out of the way and tossed the staff aside – what I needed was my sword. So I drew it out and we sparred, but he kicked me back. I got back to my feet just in time to fall back down to the ground, as he came straight forward. I tripped him up and came down hard with the sword, and it stabbed him square in the hand. My goal was to get him to drop his weapon, but it didn't work. Daegon held on to the blade and stood up, making a swift motion with his hand.

The blade cut my arm, and it hurt. It hurt bad. I glared at him and fired a kick to his temple, something I used to do to Sub-Zero when we would train together in the clearing. He was barely affected, besides the fact that he was a little dazed. I made an X across his chest and stomach, but he caught my hand and sliced my arm. It stung, worse than a few good wasp stings. The cold of the freezing ability I possessed made it sting ten times worse, but I slashed at his shoulder, making a clean cut.

However, we never finished our battle, because Daegon ran off towards Mavado, who had appeared, a fierce and vicious cut across his face. The two retreated, along with Frost, surprisingly enough. Tasia was battered and bloody, but she got away as well. It all happened so fast, that I didn't quite understand what was going on. Jarek was a strong fighter, but he collapsed in the snow. I approached him and found a gash; it was a very deep one at that. It was one I could not heal, and it was in his chest.

"Jarek?" I asked wearily, kneeling down next to him. He gave me an annoyed look and closed his eyes; I could see that he was in a lot of pain. "Why'd they all take off?" I doubted that he knew, but there was no harm in asking, and the best thing I could think of doing to help him out a little bit was to keep him talking. "Mavado looked bad; he has a nasty cut in his face." Jarek now looked curious, as he opened both eyes and struggled to sit up. We both looked over our shoulders and we were both shocked to see the group standing there.

Kenshi came over to us; he looked me over first, and finding no considerable damage he looked to Jarek. The latter's breath was jagged and it was obvious that the gash had cut deeper than I had originally thought. "Where's Sub-Zero?" I asked quietly, looking around. I didn't see him, but I just thought he was doing the same thing that Luna and Scorpion were doing. Kenshi glanced at me and then helped Jarek to his feet. I stood up and waited impatiently for an answer.

"Sub-Zero is half-alive," Kenshi said carefully.

"What the hell happened?" I demanded, stepping in front of him.

"Saibot showed up, that's what happened," Kung Lao spoke up, eyes fierce. "Him and Smoke; they almost killed him. Frost didn't do much to help, either, and last we saw, Saibot was following after Mavado. We managed to run them off." So it was Noob Saibot who had appeared now, eh? I wanted to see Sub-Zero; how bad could it be? Li Mei and Kira were kneeling next to my fallen former master. It was hard for me to look at.

Sub-Zero had a gash deeper than even Jarek's in his chest, along with a slit at the base of his throat. Li Mei and Kira gave me unsure glances as I looked over the rest of the cuts and bruises. "He's conscious," Kira confirmed as Subs tried to get to his feet. The three of us helped hold him up as blood stained the once pure white snow. There was a cut in his back, too. I don't know why I felt anger towards Saibot. Hadn't I been bent on getting revenge for what Sub-Zero had done to me? If the answer to that was yes, then I should've been glad that Saibot had done half of the job for me.

I could kill him now, and finish the job…I would have done what I had strived for.

But I found that my resolve was gone; now I only felt sorrow. I was worried about Sub-Zero, surprisingly enough. And it confused me in more ways than one. I was supposed to hate him, but now that I saw him in his weakest state I couldn't find any of that hate. If I searched all the corners of my being I wouldn't be able to find any of that hatred. It was gone… Replaced by a feeling unlike any other, and it closely resembled a feeling of loss. Kenshi gave me a reassuring clap on the shoulder.

Upon looking further I could see that a few of us were injured much to the fashion of Jarek; Kobra was nursing a gash that cut right across his stomach, while Kung Lao had a cut in his back that was bleeding profusely. We were all hurt, but those of us who were seriously injured ended up being: Kobra, Kung Lao, Jarek, and Sub-Zero. "We'd better find a place for them to rest," Jade pointed out, as Luna and Scorpion joined us.

"The village has been evacuated," Luna reported. I bowed to her, a grateful look on my face. She bowed in return. "Mind if we join you all?" It was fine with us; now was not the time to be nit-picky. "Alrighty then, there's a house up through that forest – I believe Liu Kang and Sindel are there, among others." After we put out the fires, we headed towards the forest. Kenshi kept a watchful eye over Jarek and Kung Lao, while Li Mei, Kira, and I kept our eyes on Kobra and Sub-Zero.

It was hard going with four of us injured like this. But what more could we do? Now we just had to make sure that those four survived the night.

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