The two leapt with furious punches, Max the more powerful of the punches, had
his hand diverted by the Shaolin monk, it sky rocketed above the red ninja's shoulder as
Hrusa countered with a punch to the chest, Max stumbled back blocking as Hrusa
followed up with a powerful kick. Max caught his leg and threw the monk back, he
stumbled in the dust and whacked his hand down in annoyance in his mistake.
The huge wrestler charged forward attempting to follow up his limited advantage
but Hrusa soon rolled back onto his feet, out of harms way, Max stamped his foot with a
roar in the place that the monk should have been and attempted to punch him as he got
up. Hrusa barely blocked it and stumbled back further in a desperate retreat, Max could
throw punches like mad. Suddenly the shaolin monk surprised his opponent much to the
cheering of the crowd and swept down resting his one finger down on the ground and
swept a wide sweep completely destroying the large wrestler's balance. He landed with a
shout and Hrusa felt the ground shudder under his weight.
They were close to the grilled area of the arena now, Hrusa brought his leg up and
held it with powerful kinetic energy and brought it down aiming for Max's head, the
wrestler stunned but still having sense didn't try to block the move and rolled to the side,
the sand itching his elbows and getting everywhere. The kick landed with a dull thud that
send a cloud of dust out and made the attacker cough. Hrusa saw the blow too late to
dodge and tensed his stomach for the impact, it hurt but not as much as it would have
done if he had not hit the wall, the audience sat just above him on the stools. He winced
in pain as Max aimed another blow and swung round.
The huge wrestler's hand smashed into the wood sending chippings and sawdust
everywhere, the red soldiers above shuddered and one fell of his seat. With a pained face
the wrestler pulled his hand out to feel a nipping punch to the side, another to the torso,
and then a kick to the face as Hrusa swung blow after blow down onto his unguarded
body. The kick sent him flying back through the air and he landed painfully on his head
with a whelp of a shout.
"Enougth!" called a voice, Hrusa stopped breathing heavily and looked over to the
box. Shangtsung grinned at the fight "Round one over… move back to your positions and
we will commence to round two… Hrusa if you win this match you've one the battle"
Hrusa nodded and moved himself back to his original position breathing all the
while heavily. Max nodded and spat blood onto the sandy floor, Liu Kang winced in
disgust. Max dragged himself to his towering figure and limped a little, the sweep
seeming to have hurt his legs, he was still a towering figure. He hurried back to his
position and smiled "You won't get me so easily this time"
"A good fight" smiled Hrusa "Lets finish it"
Shangtsung looked from one to the other and them giggled with a strange malicious
air "Fight!" he called out suddenly and the battle started afresh.
Hrusa kept his eyes on his opponent all the time, this fight would be based on
defense for him, his ideas for attack on the other, were based on the idea that Max would
be much more careful this time. However he was suddenly proved wrong as his ideas of
the battle were turned upside down.
Suddenly with a shout Max grunted and with a roar that went round the arena
charged forward and leapt at the shaolin monk, the adrenaline coursing through both their
bodies. Hrusa widened his eyes with scarcely a chance to blink and punched rapidly
forward. The blow hit the wrestler hard in the chest but the maniac's force sent him still
flying and hit through, he landed on top of the shaolin monk and took him stunned in his
great muscular arms.
Max held him still, and picked him up in his great arms "I got you now you little
smart boy" he grunted squeezing the wind out of the red robed fighter so that his chest
was exposed. Shangtsung smiled from the boxes, perhaps it was Liu Kang's imagination,
but he thought he saw the sorcerer lick his lips. Hrusa grunted in pain, and held his pelvis
and abdominal muscles firmly, he could feel the wrestlers hands digging into his spine,
and new that if he let the tension go, then his flesh would move into his internal organs,
and would probably kill him out right. Hr grunted and strained raising his arms in
spasms. Liu Kang raised his hands to his lips in fear and looked to Shangtsung to stop the
match but the sorcerer did no such thing.
The huge wrestler squeezed and squeezed and the Shaolin monk felt the wind being
slowly squeezed out of him. Jarek watched from the tree tops with his binoculars, he
smiled to himself "No it's not Kano"
The wrestler whispered in the monks ear as he choked him, tighter and tighter,
Hrusa tried his best to strike out but it did no good, suddenly Max dropped him to the
ground and stepped back. Shangtsung suddenly stood up "What are you doing?" he
shouted.
"It's round two ain't it?" asked Max staring down at the monk who lay winded and
clutching his stomach "Only trying to be a sport" he smiled, his curly brown hairs
sticking to his sweaty face.
Shangtsung looked down at the fight with superiority in his eyes "Very well" he
muttered "I suppose we should stick to the rules seeing as it is the first fight, I'm sorry I
was enjoying your passion for fighting so much, you have a good soul"
"Thanks" returned Max with a grin "Come on you, get up, we ain't done yet"
Hrusa groaned and rolled over in the dust. It took him awhile but he finally stood to
his feet breathing heavily. He clutched his stomach irritably and with a quick breath in
stood to his full height. They looked to Shangtsung who smiled, but this time he stood up.
"This is the final round" he chuckled with an almost demonic air, he flicked a finger
and suddenly many of the red soldiers jumped up and ran to the grate doors guarding it
and pulling out swords and weapons. The two warriors looked around then with
suspicion.
"What's going on!?" asked Hrusa looking round him with a panic stricken face.
Liu Kang strained his head to see what was happening. The lines on the ground
were pulled upon suddenly by great chains and the metal grilled sandy surface revealed a
ring around the arena. Sand sunk into the deathly pit below as razor sharp spikes gleamed
in the morning sun.
"What the hell are you playing at!" roared Max looking defiantly up at the sorcerer.
"This is mortal kombat" he smiled looking down at them "You take the
consequences to the grave, this is the deciding round, the spikes are just to make things
easier"
The pits were too far apart to jump, and the new circular platform gave them little
room to stand on. They looked at each other, Hrusa stepped forward and prepared to
jump. But a red soldier pointed forward a spear at the other end.
"What the hell is this?" exclaimed Liu Kang standing up, spears pointed at him and
he woefully sat down. The sorcerer looked from one to the other, at each fighter in turn
"You have no choice, one of you is going to die in this deciding round, and only you and
your fighting spirit can decide"
Hrusa turned pleadingly back to Max "This is outrageous!" he pleaded to the
wrestler "What can we do?"
"I'll tell you what we can do, we can refuse to fight in this outrageous tournament"
,Hrusa seemed to agree and both of them with drew their hands to a neutral position in
defiance of the demonic figure of Shangtsung above them.
Shangtsung smiled with a quiet chuckle "I thought you'd do that" he smiled, the
audience quieted down, and several moans of disappointment arose from the lack of
blood "Now, I'm afraid I must break the bad news to you both, if you don't fight you
will die anyway and be erased from the tournament, the principle also evolves erasing all
the people connected with you, the Shaolin temple for instance, your wife and family
Max, your sister and your mother sick as she is, and you die without honor"
"This is terrible!" shouted Liu Kang standing up again, the spears came back but he
thrust them aside knocking the soldiers back, one fell over the fence into the pit and with
a shout and a fountain of blood spurted up from beneath. Liu Kang widened his eyes, and
looked at the blood on his hands.
"I warn you Liu Kang, I allowed you to come to this match, the same rules applies
to you as well, if you want out of this tournament that you entered as a mortal, into mortal
kombat then there is no going back, look at the soldier you just smote"
Liu Kang stepped silently forward and the red soldiers stepped back in fear like
Wolves at the loss of one of their own to a bear. He took one step on the wooden barrier
and looked over edge. The red soldier lay with a razor sharp spike thrust through his
middle, blood leaked out over the sandy chamber below.
"Don't let him get me!" he moaned, blood leaking from his torn mouth "Don't let
him get me!" he repeated the phrase over and over again. Liu Kang widened his mouth in
shock and watched the body twitch and the mouth shudder. His face ghostly rested down
as his mouth started to fill up with blood, thrashing in his own saliva. A green light shot
out of him suddenly and his body reached out, the soul tearing away from it's body, and
smoke and the smell of decay filling the monk's nostrils.
It thrashed across the sky, and landed in the palm of the Sorcerer's hand he closed it,
and smiled "Do you both want this fate?"
Liu Kang sat back in shock "So the legends were true"
The two fighters looked stunned at the display before them, the most unholy display
of destruction, the most fowl act that any living could commit, the thieving of one's very
soul. Shangtsung folded his arms and with a commanding voice he spoke again.
"Now Fight" smiled the sorcerer and say back down in his seat "Don't disappoint
me Max"
Max looked to the ground a tear coming to his eye, he looked up to Hrusa and with
an almost pleading look said the following words "I am sorry Hrusa but I cannot allow
my family to suffer destruction because of my cowardness"
"I too must honor my brethren" returned Hrusa already defeated in mind if not in
body. He raised himself to battle, and Max did the same. The spikes gleamed shinning all
the while in the hot sun. The smell of decay filled the arena as the body in the pit rotted
away.
They faced each other off for the last time and prepared for mortal kombat. The
sorcerer flickered his eyes down at them. He chuckled with a secretive smile. They raised
their arms in the best stances they both knew and prepared for a match to the death. Hrusa
shook his head and looked bravely upon his opponent who acted similarly.
The cheers for blood started up again and Liu Kang muttered to himself, he had
never killed a single person before in his life, and now he had done it. The feeling of
shock riveted through him as he looked down on the blood shed on his hands. He tried to
dry them on his cloth but it only made them itch. The red soldiers ignored him now, they
didn't even seem to care about the fallen, who had met a most ghastly fait down below
amongst the sharp blades.
Max's face was tense, and suddenly the two figures leapt furiously towards each
other, this time the blows were well calculated and were the best both fighters could
muster. Max's punches were strong fast and he expected them to be blocked, Hrusa was
fast and agile and was prepared to be hit. None of them were prepared to make the crucial
mistake that would inevitably lead to their defeat.
The cheers continued as the blocked combos showered round the arena, they closed
in on the edge at several points but diverted at the last moment, Hrusa tilted the match the
other way, and Max looked almost lost at one point as a finishing kick missed him by
inches. No one was scoring any successful blows, or defeats, they were trying their
ultimate potential against each other. The tension increased at one point as Hrusa rolled
to one side barely missing a quick punch, he only just blocked the following one which
came on as if Max were more machine than man. His equally strong punches came on
like a machine used to press mortar into buildings, thump thump thump, there was no
halting tiring or stopping in his equal strokes.
Hrusa had no choice but to block the strokes or try with pain staking difficulty to
divert to the side, which he could only just do and gave him no advantage. The fists were
like large wooden pistons. The crowd cheered as Hrusa's foot slipped back a foot, and
sent a shower of sand down into the spike pit, the heel of his foot hung dangerously over
the edge for a good few seconds before he somehow managed to roll out of the way.
Unfortunately it was as he did this that a strong slam came down on his back, and he
crashed to the ground. It hurt bitterly but he struggled to regain the advantage he had
sorely just lost. Max with a deafening roar tried to take him down with a bone shattering
elbow to the back, somehow Hrusa found it in himself, seeing for a split second the
Shaolin temple burning to the ground, with voices shrieking and running, burning figures
running towards him their ghostly hands outstretched; he rolled to the side. Max's elbow
cracked on impact with the floor, and he whimpered with a horrifying shout as his arm
twisted badly in agony. The Arena actually cracked as sand on all sides plummeted into
the spiked pit below. Before he had time to recover, Hrusa pushed up on both hands in a
flip, and with a double kick sent the huge wrestler flying down into the pit with a cry in
agony. The monk only just saved himself from going over the edge as well.
The noise was deadly, the soft sound of a sword blade ripping through flesh, a
fountain of blood piercing the unclean air. Hrusa didn't have it in him to look over the
edge, instead he put his hands on his ears and looked sitting at the floor in the opposite
direction. There was a shriek from below as smoke and ash rose from a decayed corpse,
and the once strong soul faded away into the clutches of the Grand master above them all.
His hand closed with finality.
"Round over, Fatality… you win Hrusa … I guess I underestimated your potential"
A silence went round the arena, and then an unholy cheer pierced the sky. Jarek
opened his mouth with shock, and then closed it. He looked stunned from the tree tops at
the scene below him. He clutched his blade with anxiety, so that it cut into his hands, he
gave a quiet whimper and looked down at his hand, blood seeping in his palm. He hid the
blade, and quietly descended the tree.
his hand diverted by the Shaolin monk, it sky rocketed above the red ninja's shoulder as
Hrusa countered with a punch to the chest, Max stumbled back blocking as Hrusa
followed up with a powerful kick. Max caught his leg and threw the monk back, he
stumbled in the dust and whacked his hand down in annoyance in his mistake.
The huge wrestler charged forward attempting to follow up his limited advantage
but Hrusa soon rolled back onto his feet, out of harms way, Max stamped his foot with a
roar in the place that the monk should have been and attempted to punch him as he got
up. Hrusa barely blocked it and stumbled back further in a desperate retreat, Max could
throw punches like mad. Suddenly the shaolin monk surprised his opponent much to the
cheering of the crowd and swept down resting his one finger down on the ground and
swept a wide sweep completely destroying the large wrestler's balance. He landed with a
shout and Hrusa felt the ground shudder under his weight.
They were close to the grilled area of the arena now, Hrusa brought his leg up and
held it with powerful kinetic energy and brought it down aiming for Max's head, the
wrestler stunned but still having sense didn't try to block the move and rolled to the side,
the sand itching his elbows and getting everywhere. The kick landed with a dull thud that
send a cloud of dust out and made the attacker cough. Hrusa saw the blow too late to
dodge and tensed his stomach for the impact, it hurt but not as much as it would have
done if he had not hit the wall, the audience sat just above him on the stools. He winced
in pain as Max aimed another blow and swung round.
The huge wrestler's hand smashed into the wood sending chippings and sawdust
everywhere, the red soldiers above shuddered and one fell of his seat. With a pained face
the wrestler pulled his hand out to feel a nipping punch to the side, another to the torso,
and then a kick to the face as Hrusa swung blow after blow down onto his unguarded
body. The kick sent him flying back through the air and he landed painfully on his head
with a whelp of a shout.
"Enougth!" called a voice, Hrusa stopped breathing heavily and looked over to the
box. Shangtsung grinned at the fight "Round one over… move back to your positions and
we will commence to round two… Hrusa if you win this match you've one the battle"
Hrusa nodded and moved himself back to his original position breathing all the
while heavily. Max nodded and spat blood onto the sandy floor, Liu Kang winced in
disgust. Max dragged himself to his towering figure and limped a little, the sweep
seeming to have hurt his legs, he was still a towering figure. He hurried back to his
position and smiled "You won't get me so easily this time"
"A good fight" smiled Hrusa "Lets finish it"
Shangtsung looked from one to the other and them giggled with a strange malicious
air "Fight!" he called out suddenly and the battle started afresh.
Hrusa kept his eyes on his opponent all the time, this fight would be based on
defense for him, his ideas for attack on the other, were based on the idea that Max would
be much more careful this time. However he was suddenly proved wrong as his ideas of
the battle were turned upside down.
Suddenly with a shout Max grunted and with a roar that went round the arena
charged forward and leapt at the shaolin monk, the adrenaline coursing through both their
bodies. Hrusa widened his eyes with scarcely a chance to blink and punched rapidly
forward. The blow hit the wrestler hard in the chest but the maniac's force sent him still
flying and hit through, he landed on top of the shaolin monk and took him stunned in his
great muscular arms.
Max held him still, and picked him up in his great arms "I got you now you little
smart boy" he grunted squeezing the wind out of the red robed fighter so that his chest
was exposed. Shangtsung smiled from the boxes, perhaps it was Liu Kang's imagination,
but he thought he saw the sorcerer lick his lips. Hrusa grunted in pain, and held his pelvis
and abdominal muscles firmly, he could feel the wrestlers hands digging into his spine,
and new that if he let the tension go, then his flesh would move into his internal organs,
and would probably kill him out right. Hr grunted and strained raising his arms in
spasms. Liu Kang raised his hands to his lips in fear and looked to Shangtsung to stop the
match but the sorcerer did no such thing.
The huge wrestler squeezed and squeezed and the Shaolin monk felt the wind being
slowly squeezed out of him. Jarek watched from the tree tops with his binoculars, he
smiled to himself "No it's not Kano"
The wrestler whispered in the monks ear as he choked him, tighter and tighter,
Hrusa tried his best to strike out but it did no good, suddenly Max dropped him to the
ground and stepped back. Shangtsung suddenly stood up "What are you doing?" he
shouted.
"It's round two ain't it?" asked Max staring down at the monk who lay winded and
clutching his stomach "Only trying to be a sport" he smiled, his curly brown hairs
sticking to his sweaty face.
Shangtsung looked down at the fight with superiority in his eyes "Very well" he
muttered "I suppose we should stick to the rules seeing as it is the first fight, I'm sorry I
was enjoying your passion for fighting so much, you have a good soul"
"Thanks" returned Max with a grin "Come on you, get up, we ain't done yet"
Hrusa groaned and rolled over in the dust. It took him awhile but he finally stood to
his feet breathing heavily. He clutched his stomach irritably and with a quick breath in
stood to his full height. They looked to Shangtsung who smiled, but this time he stood up.
"This is the final round" he chuckled with an almost demonic air, he flicked a finger
and suddenly many of the red soldiers jumped up and ran to the grate doors guarding it
and pulling out swords and weapons. The two warriors looked around then with
suspicion.
"What's going on!?" asked Hrusa looking round him with a panic stricken face.
Liu Kang strained his head to see what was happening. The lines on the ground
were pulled upon suddenly by great chains and the metal grilled sandy surface revealed a
ring around the arena. Sand sunk into the deathly pit below as razor sharp spikes gleamed
in the morning sun.
"What the hell are you playing at!" roared Max looking defiantly up at the sorcerer.
"This is mortal kombat" he smiled looking down at them "You take the
consequences to the grave, this is the deciding round, the spikes are just to make things
easier"
The pits were too far apart to jump, and the new circular platform gave them little
room to stand on. They looked at each other, Hrusa stepped forward and prepared to
jump. But a red soldier pointed forward a spear at the other end.
"What the hell is this?" exclaimed Liu Kang standing up, spears pointed at him and
he woefully sat down. The sorcerer looked from one to the other, at each fighter in turn
"You have no choice, one of you is going to die in this deciding round, and only you and
your fighting spirit can decide"
Hrusa turned pleadingly back to Max "This is outrageous!" he pleaded to the
wrestler "What can we do?"
"I'll tell you what we can do, we can refuse to fight in this outrageous tournament"
,Hrusa seemed to agree and both of them with drew their hands to a neutral position in
defiance of the demonic figure of Shangtsung above them.
Shangtsung smiled with a quiet chuckle "I thought you'd do that" he smiled, the
audience quieted down, and several moans of disappointment arose from the lack of
blood "Now, I'm afraid I must break the bad news to you both, if you don't fight you
will die anyway and be erased from the tournament, the principle also evolves erasing all
the people connected with you, the Shaolin temple for instance, your wife and family
Max, your sister and your mother sick as she is, and you die without honor"
"This is terrible!" shouted Liu Kang standing up again, the spears came back but he
thrust them aside knocking the soldiers back, one fell over the fence into the pit and with
a shout and a fountain of blood spurted up from beneath. Liu Kang widened his eyes, and
looked at the blood on his hands.
"I warn you Liu Kang, I allowed you to come to this match, the same rules applies
to you as well, if you want out of this tournament that you entered as a mortal, into mortal
kombat then there is no going back, look at the soldier you just smote"
Liu Kang stepped silently forward and the red soldiers stepped back in fear like
Wolves at the loss of one of their own to a bear. He took one step on the wooden barrier
and looked over edge. The red soldier lay with a razor sharp spike thrust through his
middle, blood leaked out over the sandy chamber below.
"Don't let him get me!" he moaned, blood leaking from his torn mouth "Don't let
him get me!" he repeated the phrase over and over again. Liu Kang widened his mouth in
shock and watched the body twitch and the mouth shudder. His face ghostly rested down
as his mouth started to fill up with blood, thrashing in his own saliva. A green light shot
out of him suddenly and his body reached out, the soul tearing away from it's body, and
smoke and the smell of decay filling the monk's nostrils.
It thrashed across the sky, and landed in the palm of the Sorcerer's hand he closed it,
and smiled "Do you both want this fate?"
Liu Kang sat back in shock "So the legends were true"
The two fighters looked stunned at the display before them, the most unholy display
of destruction, the most fowl act that any living could commit, the thieving of one's very
soul. Shangtsung folded his arms and with a commanding voice he spoke again.
"Now Fight" smiled the sorcerer and say back down in his seat "Don't disappoint
me Max"
Max looked to the ground a tear coming to his eye, he looked up to Hrusa and with
an almost pleading look said the following words "I am sorry Hrusa but I cannot allow
my family to suffer destruction because of my cowardness"
"I too must honor my brethren" returned Hrusa already defeated in mind if not in
body. He raised himself to battle, and Max did the same. The spikes gleamed shinning all
the while in the hot sun. The smell of decay filled the arena as the body in the pit rotted
away.
They faced each other off for the last time and prepared for mortal kombat. The
sorcerer flickered his eyes down at them. He chuckled with a secretive smile. They raised
their arms in the best stances they both knew and prepared for a match to the death. Hrusa
shook his head and looked bravely upon his opponent who acted similarly.
The cheers for blood started up again and Liu Kang muttered to himself, he had
never killed a single person before in his life, and now he had done it. The feeling of
shock riveted through him as he looked down on the blood shed on his hands. He tried to
dry them on his cloth but it only made them itch. The red soldiers ignored him now, they
didn't even seem to care about the fallen, who had met a most ghastly fait down below
amongst the sharp blades.
Max's face was tense, and suddenly the two figures leapt furiously towards each
other, this time the blows were well calculated and were the best both fighters could
muster. Max's punches were strong fast and he expected them to be blocked, Hrusa was
fast and agile and was prepared to be hit. None of them were prepared to make the crucial
mistake that would inevitably lead to their defeat.
The cheers continued as the blocked combos showered round the arena, they closed
in on the edge at several points but diverted at the last moment, Hrusa tilted the match the
other way, and Max looked almost lost at one point as a finishing kick missed him by
inches. No one was scoring any successful blows, or defeats, they were trying their
ultimate potential against each other. The tension increased at one point as Hrusa rolled
to one side barely missing a quick punch, he only just blocked the following one which
came on as if Max were more machine than man. His equally strong punches came on
like a machine used to press mortar into buildings, thump thump thump, there was no
halting tiring or stopping in his equal strokes.
Hrusa had no choice but to block the strokes or try with pain staking difficulty to
divert to the side, which he could only just do and gave him no advantage. The fists were
like large wooden pistons. The crowd cheered as Hrusa's foot slipped back a foot, and
sent a shower of sand down into the spike pit, the heel of his foot hung dangerously over
the edge for a good few seconds before he somehow managed to roll out of the way.
Unfortunately it was as he did this that a strong slam came down on his back, and he
crashed to the ground. It hurt bitterly but he struggled to regain the advantage he had
sorely just lost. Max with a deafening roar tried to take him down with a bone shattering
elbow to the back, somehow Hrusa found it in himself, seeing for a split second the
Shaolin temple burning to the ground, with voices shrieking and running, burning figures
running towards him their ghostly hands outstretched; he rolled to the side. Max's elbow
cracked on impact with the floor, and he whimpered with a horrifying shout as his arm
twisted badly in agony. The Arena actually cracked as sand on all sides plummeted into
the spiked pit below. Before he had time to recover, Hrusa pushed up on both hands in a
flip, and with a double kick sent the huge wrestler flying down into the pit with a cry in
agony. The monk only just saved himself from going over the edge as well.
The noise was deadly, the soft sound of a sword blade ripping through flesh, a
fountain of blood piercing the unclean air. Hrusa didn't have it in him to look over the
edge, instead he put his hands on his ears and looked sitting at the floor in the opposite
direction. There was a shriek from below as smoke and ash rose from a decayed corpse,
and the once strong soul faded away into the clutches of the Grand master above them all.
His hand closed with finality.
"Round over, Fatality… you win Hrusa … I guess I underestimated your potential"
A silence went round the arena, and then an unholy cheer pierced the sky. Jarek
opened his mouth with shock, and then closed it. He looked stunned from the tree tops at
the scene below him. He clutched his blade with anxiety, so that it cut into his hands, he
gave a quiet whimper and looked down at his hand, blood seeping in his palm. He hid the
blade, and quietly descended the tree.