Frost awoke with a start. Her neck ached from sleeping. She slumped over in her chair, and instantly regretted the position she was in. Slowly bringing her legs off the table, she winced as the blood rushed back into them.
She hadn't meant to fall asleep. Apparently sitting down to "meditate" when exhausted was a bad idea. Not that there had been much to meditate on. The first floor contained nothing except storage space and what seemed like a series of empty offices. It was in one of these offices that Frost had nodded off.
Even though her angry muscles protested, she stretched and performed a familiar kata in preparation of what would most likely be hours of frustration. That is, if the past was any indication of things to come. Her immediate goal was getting open the large warehouse door she spotted earlier. She had seen no visible mechanism for opening it, and she had a feeling it would take a while if she ever found one. However, she swore she'd get it open if she had to chew her way through it.
Cabin fever was beginning to set in, though Frost was more inclined to label it as severe frustration coupled with boredom. After staring at nothing but steel walls, she just wanted to get out by any means necessary.
She searched every room on the floor, checking seems and bolts for secret doors, but to no avail. "With my luck, the damn trigger will be back on the lowest floor," she grumbled before venting her anger on the nearest door, wishing it were a member of the Red Dragon.
She stalked down the corridors, half seething with anger and half ready to cry, until something very curious caught her attention. There was a faint sound of running water. Pressing her ear to the wall, she tried to find the source.
The door to her left led to a restroom, but the sinks were off, and no toilet was filling. She held her breath and listened for the water again, and it seemed to be coming from behind the far wall. She felt the cold steel, searching for a hidden seam, but there was nothing to be found.
Finally an idea occurred to her; she placed her hands on the cold metal, forcing it to become colder still: past freezing and heading rapidly towards absolute zero. When she was satisfied, a swift side-kick shattered the steel like glass, sending shards of razor sharp metal everywhere, much to Frost's dismay.
Her quick reflexes allowed her to dodge most of the debris, but she had to pause for a few minutes to yank several pieces of steal from her legs. She was gingerly pulling a fairly large piece from her hip when she heard voices echoing from somewhere within the pipe-space she had cleared.
The fluorescent lights of the restroom illuminated little of the pipe-space but it was clear that it was much wider than necessary, with enough space for a human to walk comfortably beside the water pipes. The pipes themselves seemed excessively large, even with the large amount of people normally occupying the building.
Frost cautiously withdrew from the now broken wall, and hid herself behind the row of stalls. The voices were growing louder and clearer and the light of a flashlight was becoming visible. Judging by the footsteps there were four individuals approaching and the voices all sounded male. She took a deep breath and prepared for battle.
---
Sub-Zero rushed through the stone corridors as fast as possible while still appearing dignified. Several novices had to throw themselves out of the way as their Grandmaster strode past, seemingly oblivious to whoever or whatever was in the way. He had been infuriated when Smoke had informed him that the four other masters were holding a secret meeting. The fact that the cyborg was not invited to attend only made the set-up more suspicious. Now he rushed to prevent trouble before it started.
Smoke was waiting in front of the double doors of the meeting room he suspected the masters were in. The doors were of heavy wood, inlaid with mahogany and ivory in the shape of the symbol of the Lin Kuei, but with one blow, the cyborg reduced them to nothing more than tinder. The Grandmaster calmly stepped through the breach and seated himself at the head of the room. "Sorry I'm late. What did I miss?" he asked to the masters' astonishment.
---
The first man to step from the darkness found a piece of flying steel suddenly embedded in the soft flesh of his neck. The flashlight he had been holding flew from his hand as his still bleeding corpse hit the ground.
The second man, seeing his comrad's untimely demise, threw up his arms in time to block the deathblow of the flying steel. Still, the impromptu knife stuck deep in his beefy arm was enough of a distraction for Frost to charge out of her hiding place and deliver a roundhouse kick right to the side of his head. Still, he did not fall, and the other two men had now come through the opening.
---
The masters recovered quickly, and most of them assumed a carefully composed façade of innocent surprise.
"Grandmaster, we are pleased to see you were able to attend our meeting. We were afraid you had forgotten, since you were so late," Master Li said pleasantly.
"Forgotten? It's hard to forget when you weren't told," Sub-Zero replied. "Who supposedly told me about this meeting?"
"Master Li was in charge of informing you," Master Zhong said, with the air of a tattletale.
"Aha. Well, I suppose there's no harm done, since I'm here," the Ice Master turned to Master Li. "However, I will assume that the next meeting I am 'accidentally' not informed of is an act of treason. Especially if Smoke is also somehow forgotten when you send out invitations."
Two of the masters looked insulted. Sub-Zero made a mental note that they might not have been conspiring against him. Master Li wouldn't be against lying to them and telling them it was a legitimate gathering. Neither Master Won nor Shen seemed to have enough of a following to truly want an uprising, either. Still, Won looked nervous.
"So what exactly did you call your fellow masters here to discuss?" Sub-Zero asked Li.
Li stiffened at the insinuation carried by the question, but blandly said, "We decided to gather in order to discuss our upcoming move."
"Interesting topic, considering you don't have a say in the decision. But don't worry, I'll make the decision soon."
Master Zhong raised a gray eyebrow, "You haven't made a decision yet?" His eyes flashed to Master Li.
"Of course not. Such things require much consideration," Sub-Zero said, trying his best not to smirk. Next to Zhong, Master Won was turning as red as his flame-embroidered robes and was practically shaking. He looked ready to explode. The Master of Wood, Shen, was glaring angrily at Li. "Besides I haven't told anyone, besides Smoke, which locations I'm considering."
Master Won leapt to his feet, his normally handsome face twisted in rage. True to his element, he was the first to anger. "You lied to us," he growled, pointing an accusatory finger at Li. "You said the decision had been made."
"I said nothing of the sort," Li answered haughtily, calmly coring his arms across his chest.
"That's odd, I seem to remember you informing us that we would soon be seeing our old headquarters again," Zhong said while examining his intricately lacquered nails. "Do you recall the same, Shen?" he asked his green robed neighbor, who nodded.
"Our old headquarters?" Sub-Zero pretended to think for a minute. "Well, I did tell that to Sareena, to get her to leave me alone." He was having trouble believing things were going as well as they were. It seemed the masters were more than ready to turn on one another.
"You've been speaking with that she-devil!" Won spat. "What other services has she been offering you?"
Li's eyes narrowed, and his hand flew to his side, where a long dagger resided in his belt. Luckily, Zhong spoke up before violence erupted. "You believed a demon? Surely you know better than that," he said silkily.
"I never said I was talking to the little bitch," Li hissed.
"Then where did you get your information from?" demanded Won.
"Master Shen, actually," Li said with a sardonic smile.
Shen shrunk back momentarily when all eyes turned to him. He shook his head almost violently. "I told you nothing. I was relying on you for information." He began to show signs of sweating, and not from Won's powers flaring up beside him.
"Relying on him for information of what?" Sub-Zero broke in, sounding almost casual. He was gazing at them in an uninterested way, like they were a vaguely amusing television show.
"It doesn't matter now," Shen mumbled, becoming very interested in the elemental designs carved into the floor.
"So there was something then?" Li seemed more than happy to shift the attention to someone else.
---
Frost landed two more hard kicks to her opponent's head before he went down. She hurriedly slit his neck with another improvised steel blade before turning to face her last two enemies.
The second pair of goons was a bit smarter than their peers, and closed in on Frost before she could launch any projectiles their way. She sized them up quickly, both were about six feet tall, Caucasian, and almost sickeningly muscular. They didn't give off the appearance of being agile, but Frost knew from experience that appearances could be deceiving. She'd have to be careful with these two.
---
"Shut up, Li!" Sub-Zero snapped, rising from his seat.
"I don't think…" Li started, but Sub-Zero waved a dismissive hand at him.
"Smoke, shut him up," he ordered, but the Water Master quietly sat down on his own. Sub-Zero advanced on the Master of Wood, drawing himself up to his full height. "I think it does matter now." He bent down until his face was inches from Shen's pale one. "What did you need the information for? And more importantly, who were you relaying the information to?"
Shen seemed to collect himself for a moment, and managed to sound almost convincing when he said, "No one."
"You're awfully scared of no one," Sub-Zero returned sarcastically. A glance at the other masters revealed that they were just as curious as he was. "They told you they'd kill you if you broke your agreement, didn't they?" Shen nodded almost imperceptivity. "Let's make a deal now; you tell me who you've been spying for, and maybe I won't kill you."
"You wouldn't kill me," Shen said, calming slightly.
"I wouldn't? And why wouldn't I?"
"Because you wouldn't kill that treacherous little lap dog of yours when she tried to steal the medallion."
Sub-Zero wasn't quite sure how it happened, but his right hand suddenly wrapped around Shen's throat, much to the other Master's dismay. "Hit a nerve did I?" Shen gasped, pulling at the offending grip.
"No, you've merely given up too much information." He squeezed a little harder, causing Shen to gasp for air. "What else have you been telling Mavado?"
---
Frost was busy dodging a barrage of punches from the third goon. Luckily, she had more experience dealing with slippery footing, and he faltered when he stepped in a spreading puddle. She landed a solid kick to his chest as his arms flew out to the sides for balance, and she felt the impact reverberate up her leg. It was like kicking a brick wall. She snarled angrily and formed her kori daggers. Her opponent was momentarily surprised but charged anyway, bringing an arm up for a blow to her apparently unguarded stomach. Frost dodged neatly, but caught the backhanded elbow he swung next in the ear. She violently shook her head to rid herself of the sting, and barely ducked a roundhouse punch. Countering with a feint towards his face, she came down hard with her heel on his kneecap, sending him crashing down as his leg collapsed.
The goon was not out for the count though, and rolled away from a falling dagger strike, causing one of the kori daggers to shatter on its impact with the floor. Not even bothering to form another blade, Frost brought an elbow down on her opponent's kidney before he could push himself back to his feet. The second kori dagger found a home between his shoulder blades before he even hit the ground again.
---
"Mavado?" Zhong asked sardonically. He smirked at the struggling Master and said in a mocking tone, "I knew you had no support within the clan, but I didn't think you'd be silly enough to outside the clan. Did you really think they wouldn't remove you from the equation once the Grandmaster was replaced?"
"I wasn't working with Mavado," Shen gasped out.
"Then where did you find out about Frost? I doubt Sareena knew anything about that," Sub-Zero shook his captive to regain his attention.
"So she did run off then?" Li interjected.
"I told you before she's on a mission."
"She's on a mission to the Red Dragon?"
"Your powers of deduction are phenomenal as always, but may we get back to the subject at hand?" He shook Shen again to emphasize his point.
Shen was rapidly becoming irate. "I don't have to take this from you," he hissed.
"No actually, you do," Sub-Zero growled back, his frown lines become more pronounced as he glared at the rebellious Master in front of him. "As Grandmaster, I have the right to pass judgment on anyone within the clan, including you."
"Judgment? We should be passing judgment on you! You've done nothing but turn this clan into Raiden's errand boys," Shen spat.
"And you would have had us be the servants of the Red Dragon," Zhong said from his seat. "I fail to see how your plan of action was any better."
"At least we might have been paid," Shen said, wriggling in an attempt to face the Master of Earth.
"We were paid for our services," Sub-Zero answered him, smiling at the Masters' surprise. "Or at least those who consented to Raiden's terms were rewarded. Money means little to him, after all, he is a god."
"So you do have a bit of the mercenary spirit in you," Won said appreciatively. He had calmed down considerably, and his skin tone no longer matched the color of his robes.
"I have no intention of making this clan a charity. That's what the White Lotus is for," he turned his attention back to Shen. "But you were too busy outsourcing to pay attention to what was happening here, weren't you?"
"Well, what are you going to do, spank me and send me to my room?" smirked Shen.
"No, You are a traitor to our clan, and you will be judged as such. In a public council. If you're lucky, you might have enough support to avoid being executed," Sub-Zero said grimly, tossing Shen to Smoke's iron grip.
"And what of your treacherous student?" Shen said, trying to shake off the cyborg's hold.
"Who said anything about treachery?"
"She's also working with the Red Dragon," Li "helpfully" pointed out.
"She is? I remember going over this before with you. In any case, we must first attend to the matter of our double dealing Master of Wood." Sub-Zero glared at the other Master's, daring them to bring up the subject again.
---
The fourth man, realizing that going up against the intruder unarmed had proved fatal for his companions, yanked a large piece of heavy piping from underneath the sink, sending water spurting everywhere. Frost eyed him warily as he brandished the pipe like a baseball bat, and lazily swung it to test its weight. Unfortunately, he had made one major mistake which he didn't realize until the wet floor flash froze beneath him.
Frost took advantage of her opponent's surprise to rush in before he could regain his balance. She had to duck a few wild swings of the pipe, but she made quick work of bloodying the grunt's face. Once he regained his footing however, she found herself weaving under a fierce series of homerun worthy swings. The blood dripping from split skin above her adversary's eyes was obscuring his vision, however, and he had to pause his attack to shake it away, giving the quicker ninja more than enough time for a counterstrike.
A kick to the gut doubled the man over as the air rushed out of his lungs. A side-kick knocked the pipe from his now loose grip, as he struggled to draw breath. The third kick, an axe kick, found him meeting the frozen floor face first, and the grand finale was a heel drop to the spine, ending his struggles.
After a moments pause to pick up the first goon's lost flashlight, Frost headed into the piping, leaving the four bodies for someone else to deal with.
---
Sub-Zero would have skipped down the corridors, if he hadn't been trying to maintain what little dignity he had left. Instead, he settled for grinning like a lunatic as soon as he was out of sight of the other three masters. This left several passing ninjas to question if their Grandmaster had finally lost his mind, but their questioning stares were completely ignored by the rejoicing man.
Master Shen was less than decorously being dragged to a holding cell by two of the Grandmaster's most loyal followers, while the three masters disappeared to destroy all evidence of themselves ever working with their disgraced brethren. This left Sub-Zero and his cyborg companion to deal with the aftermath of Shen's dealings with the Red Dragon.
"What on earth are you so happy about?" Smoke asked. "We aren't out of danger yet."
"But this has turned out so well. The Red Dragon are most likely heading the wrong directions, we found out who has been feeding them information; and it wasn't Frost, I might add, and I've shifted the attention somewhat away from my missing student," he was forced to relax his smile as his cheeks began to ache.
"All the Red Dragon will do is realize they were given bad info, and go back to their HQ or worse: attack us here."
"They won't have a headquarters."
"You psycho! We aren't in any shape to assault their headquarters, whether or not they're home."
Sub-Zero's grin returned in full force. "You're right, we don't, but Sonya and her boys are already on their way. I think we can spare them a little help, don't you?"
They stopped then in front of the engraved doors to the ceremonial hall, behind which there was Sub-Zero's "office". In reality, it resembled more of a guidance counselor's office than a luxurious suite for a Grandmaster, but that was why he had chosen the space. It was simple, comfortable, and nothing like the former Grandmasters' private meeting rooms.
Smoke regarded his friend for a long moment and Sub-Zero could only guess at what expression was behind the mask. Finally Smoke threw up his hands in an expression of defeat, and announced, "You must be the luckiest mother-fucker on the planet."
"What do you mean 'lucky'? This was all the result of my superior planning abilities," Sub-Zero said as he happily pushed open the doors and stepped through."
"Planning abilities? You have the same strategic abilities as your brother, and as I recall, he pretty much started an inter-deity was as well as a war between clans at the same damn time, Smoke said as he entered the hall.
There was a moment's delay, then Sub-Zero turned to face his friend. "One, Quan Chi started both those wars, not my brother. And two, as has been readily pointed out to me, I am not my brother."
"True. He probably would have been the one making the deal with the Red Dragon." The cyborg stopped. "Speaking of your brother and his dealings with unsavory types, what are you going to do about Sareena?"
"Nothing. She's been quite helpful so far. And since the mood of the clan seems quite apathetic towards the Dragon King and his allies, I doubt she'll be able to drum up any support for an attack on Quan Chi." He turned towards a nearby pillar and directly addressed it. "Or have you something grander planned?"
The shadow of the pillar seemed to move as Sareena stepped out from behind it, making quite a show of revealing \herself. "I've no plans made yet," she smiled toothily, though the two ninjas saw it more as a baring of her teeth. "I'll have to be more careful next time," she added demurely. "I hadn't realized that Shen was working with the Red Dragon."
"Because you're so opposed to working with cold blooded killers," Sub-Zero commented sarcastically.
"Because they are working with Quan Chi," she snarled back.
Sub-Zero tried hard not to look surprised. "Who isn't working for Quan Chi?" he said dismissively.
Sareena's predatorial smile returned. "I could find out…" she said almost nonchalantly.
"And you're just the trustworthy type of person I want to send out on a mission," Sub-Zero turned to walk away.
"I didn't say anything about your little whore," Sareena was turning away herself, but glanced over her shoulder at the ninjas when Sub-Zero spoke.
"Which little 'whore' might you be referring to?"
"Oh, have you got a harem going now?" the she-demon cocked an eyebrow. Without waiting for a response she added, "The one sitting in a cell in the Red Dragon's headquarters. Mavado seems to be less trusting than you are."
"Is telling me this supposed to make up for you leaking information?"
"No, but hopefully it will distract you."
"At least you're honest about it." The grandmaster thought for a moment, then said "Go find out whom Quan Chi is allying himself with now and I might not kick you out of the temple."
"That's reassuring," she said. She regarded him curiously for a moment, as if deciding whether or not his offer was in earnest. Then, with a dramatic sigh, she slunk back into the shadows.
"Do you think she'll actually do what you asked?" Smoke asked.
"If she thinks it will eventually hurt the sorcerer, I have a feeling she'd do just about anything," his friend replied. He stood staring at the Lin Kuei's emblem inlaid in the floor. "If I weren't worried for the safety of the temple, I'd be more than willing to do anything to take him out."
"Instead you're going to settle for taking out his allies," Smoke observed.
"Indeed. But instead of standing around talking about this, I need to do something about it. And right now that involves passing on some information to a certain female general."
---
Author's Notes
Wow, that took me forever to post. The sad part is this isn't really all of chapter 5. I just cut off here because it would have ended up being a 10,000 word chapter.
My excuse for the late posting is that I was getting my site up! Visit www.rated-mk.net if you're so inclined. We are accepting fan fiction and fan art!
And, just for reference, I'm going to post the past reviews (from when the story was originally posted) at the end of the next chapter. Not that you care.