Chapter 5: The Tournament
The fighters walked along the beaches of Shang Tsung's island. Some walked quickly with anticipation, some took their time calmly, and some hesitated with fear. Sub-Zero was one of the few who paced with anticipation. He wanted to enter into the tournament quickly so that he could plan out his assassination on Shang Tsung. Scorpion, however, walked with determination but in a steady pace. He blended in perfectly with the crowd around him, keeping to himself and speaking to no one.
After what seemed like a life time of hiking the beaches and mountains, the fighters made their way to the Palace of Mortal Kombat. It was a large structure with many secrets inside. The front doors were three times the size of a man and opened to the main hall for the fighters to gather. Many tables covered the ground, all sporting well cooked meat dishes with fruit, vegetables, and grails with tasty beverages.
Sub-Zero found a seat farthest away from the entrance and spoke to no one at his table. His eyes wandered about the massive room in search of Scorpion, but the Spectre was nowhere in sight. He took off his metal blue mask and began to eat the food served to him but kept his sights open.
Scorpion was one of the last to enter the palace. He stayed away from the diner tables being that his body, although it took a physical form, had no need for food consumption. He rested his back against a wall near the entrance doors and waited.
The fighters ate their food and conversed amongst themselves about different topics until a gong was heard in the distant. They stopped their chattering and saw Shang Tsung stand in front of his throne with two soldiers standing beside him. Tsung was an elderly man with a long, white beard as well as hair. He wore a purple robe that reached the ground he stood on.
"Welcome," said Tsung to the fighters. "You have been chosen to compete in Mortal Kombat. Your skills have been recognized to represent the Realm of Earth in a tournament held each generation. Some of you might even have the distinct honor, and pleasure, to face Prince Goro, our reigning champion. Mortal men and women fighting together and against each other in the greatest tournament of your generation. Treasure these moments…… as if they were your last."
Sub-Zero frowned at the old man's last statement. He felt very uncomfortable in this so called tournament. Perhaps this mission will take more time than he had thought.
The fighters went back to their meals and discussions as Tsung sat down on his throne. The tournament would not begin until morning the next day. One of the fighters kept a cautious eye on Tsung as he ate. The monk, Liu Kang, had entered the tournament to represent the Temple of Light in honor of his fallen brothers of the Shaolin Temple. Being a member of the White Lotus Society and having been trained by Bo' Rai Cho of Outworld, he had great skill as a fighter as well as great respect for life.
The man sporting the sunglasses and tuxedo was the American movie-star, Johnny Cage, whom sat next to and quickly befriended Liu Kang. His reasons for entering the tournament were mainly to regain recognition as a martial arts expert in his movies. Though his intensions were full of greed, he was nonetheless an honorable man with great skill in martial arts.
Joining them was Sonja Blade, a Lieutenant in the American Special Forces. She had quite an impressionable attitude but was a good natured woman. She usually kept to herself and neglect help from others, belittling them for getting in her way. Her sights were on a criminal sitting at a table not far from hers. The thug, Kano, was an Australian leader of the crime syndicate, the Black Dragon. The metal plate over his right eye emitted a red light where his eye would be located. Sonya Blade gave chase to Kano but was captured by Shang Tsung's men. Sonya was forced to compete in the tournament as well as show restraint on Kano until they face each other in the tournament, otherwise Tsung would destroy the men who followed Sonya.
Scorpion continued to keep to himself as he observed the fighters at their tables. During his observation, however, he quickly sensed the presence of an unknown creature. As a Hellspawn, his sense were heightened in many ways. As such, he could gather that the mysterious stalker was shaped like a man.
"I can feel your presence," whispered Scorpion as his back remained against the wall. "Come out from the shadows or I'll pull you out myself."
"Well well," spoke the invisible stalker. "It ssssssseems that you and I have ssssssssomething in common. We are both not of thissssssssss realm."
Scorpion slowly turned around to see a figure appear out of thin air. It was Reptile, an Outworld native with incredible stealth abilities. Reptile was a Saurian, a member of a long dead reptilian race. He was garbed in a black body suit underneath a green over mantle. His head and lower face was covered by the body suit and a decorated metal mask. Not much of his skin was visible, but what was seen was that he had scales rather than smooth skin.
"Tell me," snarled Reptile. "What name do you go by, ssssssstranger?"
"My name is not your business," hissed Scorpion. "Now be gone."
"Oh, touchy aren't we? No matter. A word of advice; behave yourself on this island. I am not to compete in this tournament, but I can be just as rude if you draw unwanted attention to yourself. You'll find that out when I take away your life-"
Scorpion grabbed Reptile by the throat and looked the Saurian dead in his yellow eyes. "I haven't a life to give!"
Reptile quickly knocked Scorpion's hand away and disappeared into thin air. Scorpion's sense told him that Reptile had quickly left the main hall. Scorpion once again leaned his back against the wall and returned his gaze upon the fighters, of whom were oblivious to the commotion that took place near the entrance.
The next morning, the fighters gathered around the fighting grounds of the Courtyard, one of the island's many battle areas. Tsung sat on his throne behind where the fighters were permitted to sit. The tournament would begin with Liu Kang. He and his opponent Fow Jung, another Chinese man with black hair, stepped up to the arena and bowed to each other. Jung then bowed to Shang Tsung, but Kang did not join him. The two stepped away from each other and awaited to begin.
"FIGHT!" shouted Tsung.
It was Jung who attacked first, throwing punches at Kang's chest. Kang blocked and countered with quick jabs and then paced back a few steps. Jung tried again, this time with a kick combo that started at Kang's thighs. Kang blocked with his feet and countered with a powerful right hook, one that knocked Jung down to his knees as Kang once again paced back.
The fight continued like this for a good three minutes, Kang always able to block and counter flawlessly and Jung unable to inflect any damage to his opponent. Kang's strikes were as incredibly fast as they were powerful and quickly wore Jung's stamina down as the fight continued. Jung's attacks were getting sloppy and were quickly overcome with counters before they could even be thrown. Jung made one last attempt with a right hook, but Kang ducked and countered with an elbow strike, followed by a three hit kicking combo. The combo did not, however knock Jung out. Kang paced back once more and prepared himself for his finishing maneuver. Jung bobbed his head from side to side as Kang performed a cartwheel flip, hitting Jung's face with his feet and then finishing the job with a bone cracking uppercut.
As Jung fell to the ground, Tsung clapped his hands and shouted, "Liu Kang wins! Flawless victory!"
The fighters applauded Liu Kang for his extraordinary skill. Kang bowed to Jung and left the arena without a word spoken. The next match would involve Kano and a young American kickboxer with long brown hair named Wilkerson. The two combatants entered the arena and bowed to Tsung. When they faced each other, Kano spat in Wilkerson's face instead of bowing to him. Wilkerson wiped off his face as the fighters shouted their disapproval, with the exception of Tsung who smirked at Kano's disrespectful gesture.
"BEGIN!" shouted Tsung.
Kano ran towards Wilkerson and threw punch after punch at him, each one blocked or dodged by the talented kickboxer. Wilkerson found an opening for a face jab and took it. To his dismay, the metal plate Wilkerson punched damaged his hand and left him open for Kano's punishment. Kano grabbed Wilkerson by the back of his head and punched his gut several times before lifting him by the throat and choking him violently. Wilkerson freed himself from Kano's grasp by kicking Kano's chest. Once freed, Wilkerson threw a few jabs at Kano's chest followed by a spinning back kick, knocking Kano down.
Wilkerson stepped towards Kano as the criminal got up to his feet. The American attacked with a jump kick, one that Kano dodged with a side step. As Wilkerson landed, Kano kicked his back hard enough to make him stagger. Before the kickboxer could turn around, Kano reached into his boot and threw a large knife at his lower back. The blade punctured and sent Wilkerson to his knees, screaming over the pain he felt in his back as blood oozed out of the wound. Kano walked up to Wilkerson and removed the knife, causing the blood to spray out rather than ooze. Kano then grabbed Wilkerson's shirt and punched him over and over again. The fighters watching were disgusted and demanded a stop be put to this butchery.
Shang Tsung stood from his seat and shouted, "Kano! Finish him!"
Kano reframed from punching Wilkerson and rose his victim to his feet. He winked at the kickboxer with his good eye before thrusting his fist into Wilkerson's chest. The pain was so unbearable that Wilkerson was unable to make a sound. He simply stood there with his eyes wide open as blood dripped from his mouth. Kano quickly pulled his hand out of Wilkerson's chest and pulled out what the unlucky kickboxer's heart, presenting it to Shang Tsung as Wilkerson's body went limp and fell to the ground. Though there were no cheers from the fighters, Tsung clapped his hands to applaud Kano's ruthless fighting technique.
"Kano wins!" shouted Tsung. "Fatality!"
As Kano began to step out of the arena, he caught a glance at Sonja Blade glaring at him with rage. He responded by chuckling at her and throwing the removed heart at her face. Sonja, enraged beyond belief, tried to push her way through the crowd and attack Kano but was overcome by the strong arms of Liu Kang and Johnny Cage.
As the day progressed, Scorpion began to watch from an elevated position in the distance to keep himself unseen. As luck would have it, the first match he witnessed involved a muscular Russian by the name Mishkin and the Lin Kuei assassin, Sub-Zero. Scorpion watched as Mishkin saluted Sub-Zero and to Tsung. Sub-Zero bowed to Tsung and to the Russian as well. They stared each other down and waited for the Grandmaster's signal.
"FIGHT!"
Mishkin was the first to attack by charging Sub-Zero. As Mishkin threw himself at the Lin Kuei warrior, Sub-Zero side stepped and dodged the tackle, causing Mishkin to tumble down face first. Sub-Zero approached the Russian wrestler and kicked at his kidneys, preventing him from getting up. The Lin Kuei then grabbed Mishkin by his hair and lifted him to his feet. To the masked warrior's dismay, Mishkin grabbed Sub-Zero with a head lock and tried to put him to sleep. Sub-Zero placed his hands on the arms that choked him and charged his Fa Jing. Suddenly, Mishkin shouted in pain as he felt his arms freezing to the point of numbness. He let go of Sub-Zero's neck and stepped away holding his left arm.
Sub-Zero quickly caught his breath and executed his sliding shoulder thrust. The impact of the attack sent the Russian behemoth to his knees and was followed by a flurry of punches from Sub-Zero's frozen hands. Mishkin, despite taking damage from Sub-Zero's punches, got to his feet and managed to lift the Lin Kuei over his head and throw him to the ground on a far side of the arena. As Sub-Zero sprung himself to his feet, Mishkin ran towards his opponent with a war cry. Sub-Zero responded by performing his foot slide maneuver, sweeping the Russian over his head. The Russian landed hard on the icy trail and struggled to get up. The Lin Kuei made the next move by throwing three kicks to the face of Mishkin and finishing the combo with an ice blast. The frozen wrestler could do nothing as Sub-Zero paced back and then performed a jump kick at the chest of the frozen victim. The kick shattered the ice that covered the Russian and sent him to the ground once more. While the wrestler lacked the strength to get up on his own, Sub-Zero lifted the bulky Russian by the throat and raised him to his knees.
"FINISH HIM!" shouted Tsung.
Sub-Zero glanced at Tsung before tightening his grip. In a quick motion, Sub-Zero removed Mishkin's head from his shoulders with the spinal cord dangling from the bottom of the neck and presented it to Tsung and the crowd of fighters. As Sub-Zero held the severed head high, Scorpion watched in utter rage as he saw the fatal move that ended his life two years ago. He wanted to run down the hill he stood on and attack Sub-Zero head on, but it wasn't the right time. There he stayed and watched the Lin Kuei have his moment of so called glory.
"Sub-Zero wins," shouted Tsung, obviously impressed with the Lin Kuei's skill. "Fatality."
There were no applause for Sub-Zero's victory. Those that respected him smirked, those who hated him frowned and glared, those who feared him covered their mouths in astonishment, and those who pitied him looked away. Sub-Zero threw the head on the ground next to its body and left the arena. It was the final match of the day, and there had already been five deaths. The true colors were beginning to stand out for some of the combatants, and it made them very weary of their surroundings.
Scorpion's first match would happen the following morning at dawn. His opponent was a Japanese mob boss wanted for several murders. The mob boss, Wushi Kamakura, was dressed in black leggings and over mantle and was armed with a katana, of which he gave to one of his hench men. Scorpion bowed to his opponent and waited for the first move.
"FIGHT!" shouted Tsung.
Kamakura ran towards Scorpion in a blind rage, shouting a war cry as he performed a jump kick. Scorpion silenced the Japanese mob boss by catching him mid-air and throwing him to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Kamakura sprung up to his feet and threw punch after punch at Scorpion, hitting nothing but air as Scorpion dodged each attack. Finally, Kamakura landed a punch on Scorpion's gut and began a punching combo. Scorpion deliberately stood there, receiving each punch and appearing to be unaffected. The combo was put to an abrupt halt when Scorpion grabbed Kamakura's wrist and twisted it, causing the mob boss to scream in agony as his wrist bent the wrong way.
Scorpion kicked Kamakura's side and then spun his body with a spinning foot sweep. Once Kamakura landed on the ground, Scorpion continued kicking at him repeatedly with haste. Kamakura futility tried to block the kicks, but was quickly overcome by the flurry of feet thrown at him. Suddenly, Scorpion knelt to the ground and grabbed Kamakura's over mantle, bringing the mob boss's face close to his. Horror struck the heart of Kamakura as he stared into the dead eyes of his opponent.
"Yield," shouted Scorpion.
At first, Kamakura was too frightened to respond, but Scorpion gave him some incentive with a head butt, one of which broke his nose.
"I yield!" cried Kamakura as blood oozed from his nose. Scorpion let go of his defeated victim and bowed to Tsung.
"Scorpion wins!" said Tsung as Scorpion began to leave the arena.
Kamakura stood up from his feet and caught the glares of the men that worked for him. They saw him as weak. Kamakura responded to their insolent expression by grabbing his katana and charging Scorpion with the blade unsheathed. Scorpion turned around in an attempt to stop Kamakura but was impaled by the mob boss's blade. For the first time since his death, Scorpion bled from his punctured shoulder. The Hellspawn was hurt but not finished by any means. He looked Kamakura dead in his eyes as he slowly forced the mob boss to pull the blade out of his shoulder. Scorpion then reached for his own weapon, his Kunai, while still holding on to Kamakura. With two swift movements, Scorpion slit Kamakura's throat and then severed his torso from his legs.
Kamakura's upper half fell on top of his legs with his entrails hanging out. The fighters gasped at the savagery they had just witnessed. Some of them even vomited at the gruesome site, including Kamakura's hench men. Sub-Zero kept his sights on his enemy while Shang Tsung smirked. Scorpion glared at Sub-Zero for a moment before leaving the arena.
Sub-Zero was not in the least bit comfortable with his situation. Not only was he under pressure trying to plan out his assassination of the island's Grandmaster, but he had a savage lunatic stalking him. He saw what short work Scorpion made of the dead mob boss, even after being impaled by the long blade. If he was going to get out of this alive he needed to keep his wits about him. Though his situation with Scorpion was a serious one, his main focus was Tsung. The quicker he could kill the Grandmaster, the quicker he could go home. He continued to fight in the tournament, killing his defeated victims and keeping a watchful eye out for the undead Spectre.
WOW! So much death and disaster! The next chapter may or may not end with Scorpion's battle against Sub-Zero, depending on how I approach the next chapter. But rest assured, when the battle does happen it will be a fight to remember! I'll try to update as soon as possible with my busy schedule. I appreciate your patience as well as your support! See ya next chapter!