CHAPTER 14

"Sonya..." Sub-zero rubbed her temples as she threw her cards on the floor. She slumped in her seat and eyed Sonya.

"Awww, come on, Zeiva. You know this game would be corny if less than seven people play it." Sonya reasoned. The others looked eager to play as well.

"But we've been playing it for like, three hours already!" Sub-zero complained. Scorpion nodded in assent.

"But everyone wants to play…"

"At least let me skip two rounds." She bargained. Sonya sighed and finally nodded and Sub-zero stood up and went outside the house with Scorpion. She sat down by the river and Scorpion mimicked her action.

"You're worried about Raiden, aren't you?" he asked.

Sub-zero frowned.

"He's been gone for over a week now." She replied. "I'm beginning to think he isn't coming back at all." It was so easy to talk to Scorpion. He patted her head.

"He'll be back." He tried to console her. She nodded. She stared at the flowing river. She touched it and almost immediately, the part she touched turned into ice.

"How do you do that?" Scorpion asked curiously. Sub-zero looked up, confused.

"Huh? What?" she asked.

"How do you freeze? Is it some sort of skill you master or are you born with it?" he asked. Sub-zero grinned and shrugged.

"I suppose I was born with it. But it isn't something that you could master overnight." She explained. "If my brother didn't teach me so well, I wouldn't have been able to freeze anything."

"Really? You're brother sounds like…a very decent person."

Sub-zero bit her lip shut. If Scorpion knew who her brother really was, 'decent' wouldn't be his first choice of words.

"I guess…" she replied uncomfortably and vaguely. Scorpion raised his eyebrow and Sub-zero avoided eye contact.

"So…what was your brother's name?" he asked trying to sound nonchalant. Sub-zero frowned.

"His name isn't important." She still didn't meet Scorpion's eyes. She stared at the river with sad eyes. Her brother became a wraith…it wasn't easy for her to talk about him.

"What happened to him?" his words burned with curiosity but it sounded like he didn't want to force the story out of her.

Sub-zero kept her eyes on the river. She took a deep breath.

"…He was a murderer." She blinked back the tears. Whoa, Sub-zero. Getting a little too emotional, aren't we? "He wouldn't spare anyone…He was evil." She said with heaviness in her heart. "I didn't want to admit it at first but I saw the damage he's done. He died and somehow came back to life…and he seeks to destroy me."

"…I'm sorry."

Wow, Scorpion? Sympathizing with me?

Sub-zero looked at him and smiled sadly.

"Don't worry about it."

The two sat in silence for a long time until they heard someone scream. They jumped in surprise.

"What was that?" Sub-zero asked as they ran towards the direction of the voice. Scorpion didn't answer and the two continued on running. They reached edge of the mountain and they saw an old man hanging on for his dear life. They hurried over to him. Sub-zero pulled him up. He panted.

"Look out!" the old man shouted. Sub-zero looked quickly behind her and was hit by what seemed to be a spark. She flew back and was thrown off the cliff.

"Zeiva!" Scorpion shouted.

She summoned her Kori Blade as quickly as she could and plunged it into the rocky structure in front of her. As she came to a stop, she summoned two small ice daggers, much like Frost's weapons and used them to climb back up.

The old man took Sub-zero's hand and pulled her up. She ducked just in time to evade another spark that was sent her direction.

Seeing her unscathed, Scorpion turned towards his enemy. He was a Tarkatan. Sub-zero had already seen him before; he was an ally of Shao Kahn. Scorpion drew out his spear and threw it towards the creature's direction.

"Get over here!"

The end of the spear impaled itself into Baraka's chest. And as Scorpion tugged at his spear, the Tarkatan was pulled along with it. Scorpion took hold of his spear and kicked Baraka. The spear left a gaping wound on his chest. Baraka growled at him. Sub-zero's eyes widened as she saw large blades come from both of his arms.

Scorpion unsheathed his own blade and thrust it in front of him in an effort to block Baraka's blades. He crouched down in an attempt to knock Baraka off his feet. The Tarkatan jumped up and brought his blades down on Scorpion. He rolled away, but one of his blades managed to slice his stomach.

Baraka smirked-at least, that was how it looked to Sub-zero. Scorpion retaliated with his own move. He backed up a few meters, took his mask off and spewed out fire.

The tarkatan, now, half-burnt decided to retreat.

"One day, hellspawn!" he shouted as he disappeared into the forest. Scorpion fell to his knees and clutched his side.

"Do you need help?" she asked worriedly. He grunted before shaking his head and standing up.

He turned to the old man. "Come on, old man."

The three went through the forest and back to the house. Kitana opened the door for them and let them in. Scorpion went upstairs, in need of a bath. Sub-zero and Kitana interrogated the old man.

"Who are you?" Sub-zero asked.

"First, let me thank you, stranger. If you hadn't found me, I would have been dead by now." He bowed his head.

"Don't mention it. By the way, please call me, S-Zeiva." She almost slipped.

He nodded.

"My name is Shujinko. I am…a bearer of bad news." He finished lamely. However, Kitana seemed to be intrigued.

"Bearer of bad news?" she asked.

Shujinko sighed. "Do you know the story of the Dragon King?" he asked. The two shook their heads. "Millennia ago, there was a ruler of Outworld named, Onaga. He was known as the Dragon King. His army was unbeatable because he could use his heart to resurrect anyone he wishes to. He had all a King could wish for but no…he wanted more. He wanted to gain immortality. Therefore, he ordered his followers to hide and guard the last Dragon Egg in hopes that its blood would somehow grant him immortality…That same night, he was poisoned by one of his chief advisers…Shao Kahn." The two gasped and he paused to let the information sink into their brains.

"What are you telling us about him if he's already dead?" Kitana asked.

Shujinko sighed and let his shoulders slump.

"That's the bad news…He's back…and I am to blame." He said. The two stared at him, not comprehending.

"So this Onaga…he's back?" Kitana's voice was barely audible. "But why did you bring him back?" He frowned at her.

"Young lady, do you think that if I had known that he was Onaga, I would have freed him?" he asked in an insulted tone.

She shook her head.

"Onaga tricked me into collecting the Kamidogu for him. In the process, the dragon egg hatched and sent its energy to a Saurian named 'Reptile'. Onaga then used the transformed body of Reptile and fulfilled the prophecy. Onaga absorbed the Kamidogu's power and has now become more powerful than anyone."

"Dear Elder Gods." Sub-zero and Kitana said with wide eyes. He nodded.

"Not to mention Quan Chi and Shang Tsung's alliance." He added. Kitana snarled at the name but Sub-zero remained motionless with bewilderment.

"Quan Chi and Shang Tsung allied with each other?" she finally managed to ask. Oh yeah. They killed Liu Kang...

He nodded.

"Yes. The thunder god person - Raiden if I'm not mistaken - tried to stop them. But then, he was ultimately defeated. But their victory was short-lived." He said grimly. "Onaga came in and the members of the Deadly Alliance, and the recovering Raiden had tried to kill him. But even their combined energy wasn't enough. They were defeated and now, Onaga has allied himself with the Tarkatans, his new army." He finished his story.

Sub-zero didn't notice but others also listened to Shujinko's story. Kenshi, Ermac, Sonya, Cyrax, Nightwolf and Jax were in the living room as well.

"What can we do?" Sonya asked. "Even Raiden, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi…" she shook her head.

"Do not lose hope young one." He replied. "I will need all the help I can get. Are you all who reside in this house? If not please call the others, I would appreciate it if you would help me." Sonya nodded and went off to call the others.

After about a minute, the rest went into the living room as well. They were all standing up because of the tension they felt. Shujinko was at the center of the room.

"First, we must eliminate his source of power, his Kamidogu." He said. "It wouldn't be an easy task. I'd bet my life the place would be guarded like a fortress." He warned. "After doing so, we must find a way to seal his soul to the Netherrealm."

"Yeah, but how?" Jade asked. "I don't think there is any way to do that…"

"There is one way…" Nightwolf spoke for the first time. Shujinko nodded at him to elaborate. "It is called, the Sin Eater. I have absorbed the sins of my tribe." He paused. "I would have to go to the Netherrealm, draw Onaga's soul to me and unleash my people's sins, ultimately binding him to the Netherrealm." He finished.

Shujinko nodded.

Sub-zero thought that the old man was doing so even though he didn't really understand what Nightwolf was saying. Hell, even Sub-zero didn't understand what he said.

"I'm counting on you." Shujinko said. "We have to at least divide into groups." They nodded. "How many are we?"

"Eighteen. Oh, seventeen. Fujin left the other day." Sub-zero answered.

"I'll be in Netherrealm at that time so you'll only be sixteen."

"We will polarize into three groups. Two groups will be made up of five; one group will be made up of six. You could pick your own members if you want." He added.

They all fought over the groupings. In the end, they got it all settled. Group one consisted of Jade, Kitana, Sareena, Li Mei, Ashrah and Kung Lao. Group two was made up of Sonya, Johnny, Cyrax, Jax, and Mokap. The last group consisted of Sub-zero, Scorpion, Shujinko, Kenshi and Ermac.

"All right, now that we all have that settled, we will begin our attack tomorrow."

They all nodded and went to their respective rooms.

After a moment, Sub-zero went to Scorpion's room. She knocked on the door lightly.

"Come in." Scorpion's voice answered. She let herself in and saw Scorpion trying to put the bandage on properly. The intense concentration on his face made Sub-zero laugh. He scowled at her. She made her way to his bed.

"Need help?" she offered.

"I do not." He said stubbornly as he continued to wrap his bandage around his stomach, though unsuccessfully.

Sub-zero's chuckle turned into fullblown laughter when the bandage slipped from grasp.

He sighed. "Maybe I do need some help."

"Was that too, difficult?" she asked.

"Yes." Scorpion replied without hesitation, and Sub-zero shook her head at him.

She took the bandage and helped him wrap it around his body. "There." She said. Sub-zero looked up and blushed at their proximity. They were literally centimeters away from each other. Scorpion raised one hand and touched her cheek, which undoubtedly turned red the moment he did so.

Sub-zero could hear the pounding of her heart. It was so fast it actually hurt. He inclined his head to the side. Sub-zero forgot how to breathe as his face was nearing hers. She shut her eyes and tried to calm herself. He merely brushed his lips over hers. Their lips barely touched, but Sub-zero almost lost it.

Scorpion pulled back, also blushing. "Uhh...Thank you." He said and he lay back down. Sub-zero hummed the tune he always used to sing and soon enough, Scorpion fell asleep. As she was about to stand up, and arm grabbed her from behind and she fell back onto the bed. Scorpion held her still. At first, she thought he was awake and fooling her, but soon enough, she realized he really was asleep. She tried to break free from his grasp, but he hugged her tighter. She sighed. So as not to wake him, she snuggled closer to him and after a few moments, she fell asleep in Scorpion's arms.