Subzero groaned as he lay on his bed. Shouts had been rearing out across the boat yet he was too tired to do anything about it. He wasn't particularly interested in what had gone wrong. As long as it didn't affect him he was free to get some sleep. He rolled over and dropped a throwing knife that he had been playing with on the floor. He'd already turned the crystalline light off hoping faintly to get some kind of sleep in this horrid vessel but his eyes seemed powerless even when closed to finish off the day.
He felt sick. It had been a long time since he'd had to endure this kind of torment of rocking and turning and it was having an uneasy effect on his stomach that he was doing his best to control. The wood creaked as the ship swayed from side to side as if it might fall apart at any moment or break suddenly against unseen rocks. The seams round the porthole had only become damper as time went on and now a small puddle of salty seawater had gathered at the bottom of the bed dripping slowly out of cracks or small holes in the wood. Somehow the water had bit by bit gotten into the bed itself so that the quilt was damp and wet in places.
There was a feminine shout and the voices became louder. Subzero put his hands over his ears trying to ignore the commotion. Doors opened and closed outside in the corridor slamming and creaking as people rushed about the vessel.
"What's going on?" demanded a gruff voice
Subzero put the pillow over his head and clenched his eyes. He could hear Shangtsung's voice speaking quietly in the corridor. The strange whisperings from the planking were quiet now as if the sudden activity had stilled or stopped their restlessness. The voice stopped and a door closed. There was heavy breathing followed by the sound of someone coming down the steps in a hurry.
"Kano!" hissed a feminine voice, "I'll kill you"
Blows sounded out through the walls followed by a shout of pain. That name sounded familiar to Subzero. In the darkness it slowly began to ring bells in his mind. Of course! That's who Jarek wanted him to protect. He'd be really mucked up if the leader of the Black dragon died under his own supervision. Quickly he dressed himself as quickly as possible hurriedly fitting the blue mask into place. Scrambling across the damp covers he felt the dark wood and gripped his hand on the doorknob. With the other hand he picked up the throwing knife off of the floor. As he opened the door into the dim lantern light of the corridor the blade glinted.
Far on his right at the end of the dark corridor where the steps lead up to the boat that stupid Special Forces woman was flaying out punches at a man with dark hair and white ragged clothing. Subzero could only see the back of him and was a little confused when upon seeing one of Sonya's punches hit into the man's face it resulted in a clang. She cringed briefly as if she had just hit metal but continued to attack him anyway. He backed off quickly clearly taken by surprise.
"Damn you Kano I'll make you suffer for what you did to my partner!" she warned with a potent glare.
So this man was Kano. The door to his left opened suddenly and gazing the other way with a ruffle of blue robes Subzero spied the sorcerer Shangtsung coming out of his compartment swiftly. Subzero held up the metal shuriken and pulled his hand back over his head ready to strike. He had to be careful in case he hit Kano instead. Sonya noticed the gleam of metal and seemed to suddenly back off ducking more carefully positioning herself between him and Subzero. Just when he was about to strike a firm hand grabbed his from behind and took the shuriken out of it. Subzero turned expecting a fight to find Shangtsung squeezing past him. The frail man walked swiftly along the corridor unaffected by the sway of the boat towards Kano. Like lightning he delivered a swift blow to the man in the back. He slumped down to the floor in pain. Treading on the man's body in a whirl of blue robes he thrust the other hand forward fingers outstretched and hit Sonya firmly in the chest. She fell down to the ground where Kano was already groping about.
"Sonya Blaze you disappoint me," sneered the sorcerer, "You come to my boat and already you have tried firstly to stop my tournament and secondly to kill one of its participants"
"Black Dragon scum!" she spat at the helm of his robe. The line sounded cheesy yet there was true hate written all over it.
"Kano here may be just that but I am not. It's unfortunate that you two met so soon. I wouldn't have wanted to diffuse any of the marvelous anger between you. I think it's quite adorable myself. Have you ever thought of getting together? You'd make a unique couple"
Footsteps rang out hollow down the steps. A moment later a green Lin Kuei dressed warrior burst through the door to see Shangtsung standing on Kano with Sonya at his feet.
"Master! I beg your forgiveness! I stopped her earth realm magic but she broke free and ran away down the boat! We thought she'd have hidden behind the barrels but she must have gone all the way round and down the steps! It wasn't my fault"
"I'm afraid it was your fault Reptile," replied Shangtsung dangerously waving his hand at the creature as if dismissing his excuses and credibility, "Any person with brains and no means of safe escape would make for the captain of the vessel to try and take him hostage. You Reptile unlike most others appear to be lacking in that respect. Where are our other guests"
"Still up by the front of the boat my lord. Your soldiers hold them. They were much more cooperative," the ninja spoke with long hisses and s' after each important word or Noun like some kind of dangerous animal or spitting Cat. Whatever he was Reptile didn't seem human in the normal way.
"Stupid Bitch!" rasped Kano sprawled out on the ground, "Get off me!" he said turning his face to the sorcerer above him.
Shangtsung stepped easily away off of the man's body with a look of disgust on his face. Sonya got quickly to her feet and attempted to attack him again but strong hands grabbed her from behind as Reptile pulled her back, "Easy girl!" he hissed
"Let me go you freak!" she shrieked trying as best she could in the close quarters to kick him. Kano laughed and waved a finger in front of her nose.
"Do you want a cookie little girl"
"Now, now Sonya. Lets talk plane and simple here. What do you want most in the world above all else"
"The death of that man in front of me!" she said glaring at the white clothed Kano.
"Well Kano here has agreed to fight you in Mortal Kombat. Isn't that kind of him? All you have to do Sonya is cooperate and you will get your chance to fight him. Isn't that right Kano"
"Hell yeah," he replied gruffly, "I'm going to kick the crap out of you, you fucking whore"
"Your words are almost as ugly as your face," said the sorcerer, "Do we have a deal Sonya Blade? You behave and you can have your privacy time with Kano later on. How about that my little flower"
Sonya glared at each face in turn. Subzero felt her eyes on him strongly as he stood in the doorway surveying the scene. She looked at Kano for the longest gazing into his face with horrible intent, "It's a deal"
"Just you and me baby," retorted the Black Dragon leader with a gruff laugh
"Excellent!" smiled the sorcerer turning away, "Now perhaps we can all have some sleep. I'm dreadfully sorry about your backup Sonya. I'm afraid we've just entered what many people like to call the Bermuda Triangle in your realm. We'll soon be halfway in-between the two realms and far away from both my home and yours. No other boats will be able to follow us there and your chances of bringing my little event to earth realm justice will be slim if not futile," he turned and crossed the swaying wood towards his own quarters, "Oh I believe this is yours Subzero. Try not to kill anybody with it in future"
He handed the shuriken back to him with hardly a glance and walking away as the boat rocked from side to side. The old man entered his cabin and closed the door behind him with a quiet thud. That was the first moment that Subzero felt he had met the real Shangtsung. Kano turned his head to watch the man leave and Subzero got his first glimpse of the man's face. No wonder it had made a funny metallic noise, half his face was metal. One eye gleamed a robotic red while the other half of his face with dark hair looked almost normal, almost hansom in a firm confident way.
"Come with me," whispered Reptile
"I want to speak to the old man first," replied Kano
"That can wait. For now the both of you will come with me to your rooms. There will be no more fighting tonight"
Subzero lay awake long into the night. Strange noises came to him in the darkness. Sometimes he could hear weeping or the cry of a child in the night; other moments there seemed to be laughter coming out of the planks. He never saw which rooms Kano and Sonya had been put in. He had wanted to speak to the Black Dragon leader but the green warrior whom he now knew to be called Reptile wouldn't let him anywhere near the other fighters. Whatever else or whatever had exactly happened that night there were no further outbreaks. Shangtsung's unusual deal with Sonya Blade had apparently worked now if not permanently.
"Why is it that you wear the same garments as the Lin Kuei or the ninja of Japan?" Subzero had asked him, "What group do you come from"
"I know little of your Realm," Reptile had replied; simply with a hiss and click of the tongue, "This disguise was my master's idea. If it can fool you than I take it to be a success"
Subzero gazed briefly behind him to check that the sorcerer was not near, "How much do you get paid"
"Very little," he whispered, "But my loyalties to Shangtsung are much deeper than pure material. He has promised to do me a great favor in return"
"Then for your sake I hope he keeps his word"
"I have great confidence in the honor or my master. If I keep my loyalty then he will keep his"
When Subzero finally awoke there was a stream of sunlight coming in through the porthole. The whisperings had stopped and now the boat although still damp seemed more friendly. The part where the sunlight had rested on the duvet was completely dry and pleasant. Dust settled slowly through the air as he sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. Only last week he had been sitting comfortably in his home with no knowledge at all of the Mortal Kombat Tournament. It just goes to show how much things can change in so little time.
"If only I had left someone to deal with Sektor," he cursed. He knew there was something he had missed when he had been riding in that helicopter. He'd dealt with Hydro and knew pretty certainly that he'd be dead when he got back, but he'd left Sektor to cause all kinds of problems for him. What if word got out by mistake that he had been killed? Would Sektor become more powerful in the Lin Kuei? Might he even attempt to seize the Lin Kuei while Subzero was gone?
The boat rocked as he stood precariously to his feet. For a moment he lost his balance and had to lean on the opposite wall. Carefully he began to dress leaning against the wall and bed. The waves and horizon could be seen sparkling through the bright porthole. It fell softly on the damp planking illuminating the cracks and half screwed nails that held everything together. The room was still dark but the daylight was much more pleasing compared with the complete darkness and ghostly voices of the night before. It was the first time he'd actually been able to see anything out of the porthole.
Perhaps with the relaxing atmosphere of the weather the emotions of the people on board the boat might also change? Carefully he exited his cabin and looked along the dark corridors. The lamps that had been hung on the wall had all been blown or burned out seemingly quite recently as a light smoky vapor seemed to swirl out of each one. The silence of the boat suddenly seemed uncanny. The door at the end was wide open so that the light from above up the steps came down it in glittering sunbeams. It swung now and again as the boat rocked too and throw so that the passageway changed very quickly from dull sunlight to almost complete darkness with the quiet thud of the loose door hitting the wooden walls. He was amazed that the noise had not kept him awake as compared to other things.
As he walked up the steps he noticed the sounds of chirping seagulls in the distance. The sails seemed less dirty than the day before but the large rips in them proved their lack of care and gave some reality to the events of the night before. If Sonya and Kano were prisoners on this boat in some strange scheme then so was he. He was trapped here until the tournament was finished and even then he couldn't be sure that he would get away with his life. He had suspected from the start that this whole tournament was a mistake but really he had hardly had a say in the matter. Would it truly have been better for him to go up against Scorpion and the entirety of the Lin Kuei by refusing the honor of participating in 'Mortal Kombat'? At least he was still alive and while he was alive he had time to ponder Scorpion. Why? Surely killing Scorpion was not enough for this terrible vengeance? It did not make sense. If every person who was murdered came back to kill their attacker then Quan chi would have been dead long before Sareena knocked him down the Abyss. Presumably something much darker had happened in Scorpion's life that Subzero maybe was not aware of. Somehow he must have wounded the ninja much more deeply and darkly than he even realized himself. Of course his clan had been wiped out but he had been ignorant of that at death and it had been nothing to do with Subzero. So what possible other reason could the ninja have for returning from the grave?
Subzero shook his head as he came to the top of the steps and walked onwards across the planking until he came to the bow (front) of the boat. In darkness it had been hard to tell anything about the shape of the boat but in the broad daylight that now was present he could see clearly the figurehead of a dragon's head on the front of the vessel. Again it was that same design that he had seen in the Lin Kuei and numerous other places. Every mystic location he went to seemed to have that same style of artwork and same dragon symbol. What was the significance of this dragon? Why had so many artisans copied the design?
In the distance on the horizon the form of an island was coming into view. At the moment it was only a vague wisp but even from here Subzero could tell it was quite a big island. He looked about him across the water and could see no other land. The water was strangely quiet here with few clouds as if the moon did not pull it as hard. Everywhere he looked there was no far off dot of land on the horizon apart from this one wisp directly ahead of them.
He stood there for a long while thinking about what his plan of action should be. The ethereal calmness of the place helped him yet at the same time was almost disturbing. It contrasted so much with the night before that it seemed almost impossible: a dream or tangent in atmosphere quite unlike anything he had normally experienced. Quiet voices caught his ear from back down the steps. He turned his head to watch two people emerge. One he knew as Johnny Cage from the docks. The other he hadn't met and was trying with difficulty to remember the names that Raiden had told him. It wasn't long before Johnny Cage spied him out and talked quickly to the man next to him hurriedly.
Both the movie star and this other were wearing different clothing from the day before. Johnny Cage had put on a pair of white boxer shorts and a yellow t-shit with colorful images of palm trees. The sun still caught his shinny black hair even though it was impossible for him to have had a shower. Film-star-power he'd probably call it. The same cheesiness that allows top actress' to emerge from roaring waterfalls and Rainforest Rivers dry to the bone and allows themselves to be punched repeatedly in the face and not lose any teeth and suffer no damage apart from the occasional nose bleed or bloody cut.
The man next to him was dressed in black jeans with a dark green top that caught the shape of his muscled chest well. He had black hair the same as the movie stars but it was much longer coming down past his ears, much dryer and a little frizzled. His nose was slightly sharper and finer than the movie stars' yet still somehow Cage, Subzero had to admit, had more style.
"I knew it was you all along!" exclaimed Johnny walking up to him with a bright face, "Hey Liu this is the guy Sonya was asking about. I met him down at the docks. You saw my fight with Nimbus didn't you? What did you think"
"You beat him," shrugged Subzero, "There's nothing more to say"
"What do you think Liu? I reckon he's a better villain than you don't you think? I'll tell you what in my next movie I'll make you the cool oriental side kick, a bit like Channy Jack, and this guy can be the evil syndicate lord who we both have to defeat on top of that temple place of yours. How about "
"My name's Liu Kang," ignored the monk walking swiftly towards Subzero, he outstretched a hand, "What's yours"
Subzero looked down at the hand briefly in disgust. Grudgingly he took it and shook it slowly, "Subzero," he replied, "You look Shaolin to me. Is that right"
"It is indeed," grinned the monk, "And you"
"Is it that hard to guess? I'm Lin Kuei. Are you sure you haven't heard of me? I'm certainly very familiar with the monks of your temples"
"Then you must have been to a different temple as I have never had the honor of meeting you or any of the Lin Kuei"
'How ignorant he is,' thought Subzero darkly, 'It's a wonder he ever had the brains to get on this boat in the first place'
"Do you know what happened to that Sonya woman last night?" asked Johnny reluctantly getting over the fact that the other two had successfully ignored him, "We saw her sneak down into the boat and this person who looked like you ran after her. Shouts sounded out and Liu and me would have gone to help her if the soldiers hadn't stopped us. We're in a real squeeze here if these guys decide not to let us opt out"
"The last I saw of Sonya was her fighting with Kano. This so called Reptile put them in separate rooms to stop them from fighting at the orders of our host"
"I was worried they might have killed her," said Liu grimly
"A shame isn't it," sneered Subzero
"Who's Kano?" asked the movie star
"I don't know," he lied, "But I'm trying to find out"
"Do you know where the tournament is set to take place?" questioned Liu Kang anxiously
"Over there," pointed Subzero across the waves. They both turned and looked at the island that was now slightly closer on the watery horizon, "No doubt we'll all probably know much more about what this tournament is once we arrive"
"We could be dead before then," interrupted Cage, "Who knows what this madman is going to do next"
"I do not believe so," replied Subzero calmly, "I have had the experience of meeting people like Shangtsung in the past. He is a sorcerer and for whatever dark purposes he needs us, he will not discard us until the purpose we are required for is fulfilled. If I were you, who I thankfully am not, I would keep my eyes very carefully on the ball and try to discover whatever purpose it is he intends, and get ready to take action when the time comes"
The boat anchored in the bay of a great beach on the island. It curved inwards stretching for as far as you could see in either direction so that it formed a great bay. The sand in the distance was such that it surrounded the boat on both sides. It was almost as if a Kraken had taken a great bite out of the island. The sand was so far away on either side that it seemed almost misty or not quite clear to the eye like an Oasis in the desert or some kind of strange illusion in the flickering waves and heat.
There were few rocks to be seen that came above the water. Some strange kind of current perhaps had worked on this island over the years and eroded inwards destroying all the tall lumpy stones and debris that a beach is normally supposed to have, but the boat seemed to take the waves with ease even if there was a strong pull or current as if it were driven by rotors under the waves. A huge rattling of chains was heard as the anchor went over the side. Soldiers rushed about running back and forth across the boat and shouting to each other hurriedly as if their life depended on quick efficiency. Subzero watched from the dragon figurehead as Shangtsung walked up the steps the wind billowing against his blue robes with a purposeful royal and majestic air. Unlike the days before a sword now was stowed in a small belt round his waste. By the looks of the scabbard and length, it was a slightly unusually long rapier suggesting a slightly curved and almost Japanese style in forge shape. It was unique there was no doubt about that. Subzero rarely used actual blades favoring more his own icy abilities and of course throwing knives that were so much quicker and simpler than trying to kill with a blade.
The sorcerer was followed by several guards with Reptile who was escorting Sonya in front of him and Kano who plodded behind. Subzero still hadn't had a chance to talk to the Blackdragon leader. Whatever happened he certainly didn't want the sorcerer to know that they were connected in anyway yet he needed to speak to Kano soon before anything drastic happened.
More soldiers bowed stepping aside as the sorcerer stepped up on board the deck walking over to the helm. He stood still by the wooden wheel and looked out passed Subzero to the island horizon.
"We're going to go ashore now. Just across those waves is my island where all the excitement is going to begin. Here we are set apart from the world ready to do what has come naturally to all beings since the beginning of time: fight. There will be no publicity here and nobody to judge your losses or your wins. Here we are in isolation and the best of our abilities. There is nothing now to get in the way of your destinies"
Over the side they left the black boat behind in small rowing boats filled with soldiers. They rowed steadily towards the shore and the sun shifted lazily in between the clouds.