"Who are you, strangers?" Scorpion asked.

"Glad ya asked, mate," said the one eyed man in a thick Australian accent. "Let's just say some yobbo paid a hefty price for your heads, and who better to get the job done than the Black Dragon, and the face of it, me. Kano's the name, quid is my game."

"You are wasting your time, mercenary," replied Sub-Zero, standing. "You are in the presence of those who are not to be underestimated: an undead Shirai Ryu ninja, and a Lin Kuei assassin."

"Don't care, really. I got guns, and that's enough to beat that kung fu shit o yours. Heh, scuse me. And now, let's git down to business."

Sub-Zero fires a beam of ice at the guns the thugs are carrying. The guns are frozen stiff and completely useless. The thugs throw them down and attack the duo face to face. With the power of hellfire, Scorpion teleports behind the criminals and dispatches them quickly.

"Bah. Dills. I can take you drongos mano a mano." Kano challenged.

Powering up his mechanical eye, Kano fires a laser at the two primary colored warriors. The duo quickly jump outta the way of the oncoming blast, which completely burns the tree behind them. It was a stunning scene.

"Such technological power," Sub-Zero observed. "Who gave you that implant? The Lin Kuei? Sektor?"

"Don' know who you talkin' about, mate. I made this thing meself after one o those Special Forces bastards took me eye. Those army grunts 'ave been huntin' me for years, but I've always found a way to outwit 'em. The more I survive, the more quid I get."

"Greed is not a virtue, cretin." Scorpion said. "It is what all say about it: the root of all evil. There is no honor in such."

"What good's honor if you don't get paid?"

Pulling out his knife, Kano dashes toward the duo and thrusts at Sub-Zero's chest. The assassin quickly jumps back and freezes the scumbag's feet in place. Walking towards Kano, Sub-Zero prepares to deliver a mighty punch. But then Kano spits in his eye and headbutts him to the ground. Lifting his feet up as hard as he can, Kano breaks free of the ice.

Scorpion teleports in front of him and kicks him to the ground as well. Pulling out a knife from his foot sheath, Kano tosses it. The knife is quickly grabbed by the yellow painted ninja, who drops it like it was a little pebble.

"You will have no money today, Kano," he said.

"Gotta make a buck, mate."

"Your greed has no limits, does it?"

"That's a feature. Not a bug"

"As is your lack of honor?"

Standing back up, Kano fires his eye laser again, only to have it blocked by a wall of ice. Sub-Zero quickly stood back up to protect his friend from the wretched smelling delinquent. Unfortunately, the laser beam was proving to be much stronger than the six layers of thin ice, and the shield was quickly melted and destroyed, staggering the cryomancer. Quickly picking up his knife, Kano slashes...and the knife goes across Sub-Zero's face and over his eye.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"SUB-ZERO!"

Growling under his breath, Scorpion bursts into flames. With a massive leap forward, he puts his feet in front of him, and delivers the most powerful kick he has ever mustered. Kano is sent flying so far, he landed in the tall grass. Looking at the van, Scorpion got an idea. He runs to Sub-Zero and helps him up.

"Quick! To the car!" he ordered.

Getting into the front seat, Scorpion sees that the keys are left in the ignition. Putting it in drive, and with Sub-Zero in the back, the duo quickly speed away, stealing the Black Dragon vehicle.

XXX

As the duo drive through the grassy terrain as much as they can, they try to contemplate what happened.

"If the Lin Kuei didn't send bounty hunters after the two of us, who did?" Sub-Zero thought aloud.

"Those mercenaries did not seem cheap," Scorpion replied. "Whoever this unknown threat is must have a lot of money...or worse, it is backed by an ally of his. We must find the shrine of Raiden soon, and most importantly, we must discover who the warriors on the wheel are."

"Let us pray that the God of Thunder will answer our call."

"If not, the realms are forfeit."

XXX

Back with Kano and his thugs, the scum sits at the area of the battle taken place and rubs against his wounds. Suddenly, the blood on the ground begins to move on its own towards something...or someone. Looking up, Kano recognized the woman before him, holding a ball of the blood that used to soak the dirt.

"Where is the delivery?" she asked.

"Well, uh...ya see...it's gotten mucked up and uh...well, let's jus' say that uh...it'll probably take longer to gut those..." Kano stuttered.

"DO YOU INTEND TO BLEED ME!?"

The woman grabs Kano by the throat using a tentacle made of blood.

"No...I...can get...those...drongos...ACK-UG...you'll...augh...get what...you-mmrrr...want..."

"I had better Kano. For your sake. Just remember: My bloodlust is insatiable."

Throwing Kano down to the ground, the woman disappears into a pool of blood and slithers away, taking the pool with her.

Looking up, Kano watched as the blood woman disappeared into the grasslands. Taking what she said in mind, he had to think of a way to kill Scorpion and Sub-Zero fast, otherwise who knows what will happen to him. That would be bad for business. Pulling out a comm link, he makes a quick pick up call.

"Kabal! Send out an airship to pick us up."

It was time to think bigger, time for Plan B.