Sorry for the long wait guys. I suffered a bad writer's block but now my resolve is strengthened a thousand fold! In this chapter, we get to see two ninja duels: Scorpion v.s. Reptile, and Sub-Zero v.s. Mileena. There was a time when I was going to have Scorpion play the role of the spectator and not actually have him compete in this tournament, but I figured that as something for a hidden character to do in a written story. So here it is! Enjoy!
FIGHT!!! ...I always wanted to say that...
Chapter 8: Unexpected Discovery
Scorpion was the last fighter to enlist himself in the Outworld tournament. He kept himself hidden from the other combatants so that he could stalk his prey without interruption. His objective was Sub-Zero. Without the Lin Kuei's death, his vengeance would not be complete and his soul would not rest until it was so.
Scorpion was the first to fight in the tournament. He was escorted to the Wastelands of Outworld, an area that was to be used in the tournament, by a Shadow Priest. Once there, Scorpion saw that his opponent was none other than Reptile, the Saurian spy he met on Shang Tsung's island. He was clad in the same attire as before when Scorpion met him for the first time. When Reptile finally caught a glimpse of the ninja Spectre, an evil grin escaped his scaly lips as the two fighters approached each other.
The Shadow Priest remained there to record the outcome of the fight for Shao Kahn. Scorpion gave Reptile no gesture of respect and stood in his fighter's stance. Reptile tilted his head and smirked at Scorpion.
"Well well, if it issssssn't the myssssteriousssss ninja I met on the island," said Reptile. "You left quite an impression back then, but you will not be sssssssso lucky in your asssssualt on me thissssss time."
Scorpion responded by charging Reptile head on, wasting no time in his attack. He leapt high in the air and extended his leg outward but hit nothing as Reptile literally disappeared from sight. Scorpion landed on his feet and looked for the Saurian in all directions. Though Reptile was no where to be found, Scorpion felt something collide with his face followed by another impact on his gut. Scorpion threw a wild punch in the direction of where he presumed the sneaky Saurian was, but he failed to connect his fist with his face.
Scorpion stood his ground and closed his eyes, opening his senses to try and find his invisible attacker. After a moment of slight meditation, he caught a glimpse of Reptile behind him. Scorpion immediately grabbed his Kunai and threw it in that direction. To Reptile's dismay, the Spear punctured his shoulder, and he finally materialized out of thin air.
"COME HERE!" shouted Scorpion as he pulled Reptile towards him. Scorpion removed his weapon from Reptile's shoulder and performed a powerful roundhouse on Reptile's face. The blow sent Reptile spinning in the air until he landed on his back.
Reptile quickly sprung to his feet and hissed at Scorpion. The ninja Spectre stood his ground and waited for Reptile to make his next move. Reptile then lobbed a green energy ball at Scorpion, one that the Spectre dodged with a back hand spring. Unfortunately for Scorpion, he was hit by another energy ball and was sent towards Reptile by some unknown force. Scorpion landed on his back in front of Reptile and was overcome by a flurry of punches from the scaly fists of the Saurian.
Scorpion stopped Reptile's assault by grabbing both of his fists and launching Reptile high in the air with his feet. Scorpion then sprung to his feet and turned around to see Reptile quickly get up to charge the Spectre. Reptile fought like a snake, attacking Scorpion with blindingly fast jabs and elbow strikes. Scorpion blocked each punch and countered with a three hit punching combo, ending with a massive right hook to Reptile's face. Reptile staggered a few steps and was then sent back to the ground by a charging side kick to his side.
Reptile got back up and spat at Scorpion with what could only be described as acid, as the green liquid burned Scorpion's chest. Reptile took Scorpion's distraction to his advantage by performing a leaping drop kick. To the Saurian's dismay, Scorpion caught Reptile's legs and threw him to the ground. Reptile struggled to get up but was unable to get to his feet as Scorpion kicked Reptile relentlessly. Seeing that Reptile was unable to continue, Scorpion halted his flurry of kicks and walked away from Reptile. The repulsive Saurian was not the one Scorpion wanted to kill, so he spared Reptile's life and left the Wastelands with the Shadow Priest, leaving Reptile there to lick his wounds and shame himself with defeat.
Shortly after Scorpion's match, Sub-Zero was scheduled to face Mileena, the twin sister of Princess Kitana, the Emperor's adopted daughter. Though they were twins, Kitana and Mileena wore different cloths from each other and were usually separated, with Kitana ever watchful of Mileena. Kitana wore blue, puffy sleeves on her arms and shoulders with white, floral trim. She also wore a black, one piece corset with lace trimming. Her legs covered with high heeled boots that reached to the middle of her thighs and had the same design as her sleeves. She had long, black hair that reached down to her shoulders and she wore it down with a blue head band and a blue mask was worn over her nose and mouth. Unlike most of the combatants she was armed with two weapons; her two razor fans to be exact. She was Shao Kahn's greatest assassin, and she was in fact an Edenian.
Mileena, however, was clad in a different attire. Instead of a mask, she wore a loose, pink veil and she wore her hair up in a pony tail. Her attire consisted of a pink halter top with a wide cut down the middle, revealing a tantalizing hint of her breasts and belly. She wore black spandex and purple boots that reached just above her knees. She, like her 'sister' was also armed with two hand held weapons; a pair of sai.
Scorpion, as he had done in the first tournament, watched from a distance as Mileena and Sub-Zero approached the arena of the Armory, a massive chamber with scattered weapons filling the racks all around. They bowed to each other and stood in their comfortable fighter's stance.
Mileena ran towards Sub-Zero with both of her sai in hand. Sub-Zero responded to her charge by releasing an ice blast to the floor. The ice puddle caused Mileena to loose her footing and slip. Sub-Zero then performed a sliding foot sweep and grabbed her sai from her hands, freezing them and throwing them to the ground. As the sai shattered, Mileena twisted her body and performed a scissor kick, bringing the Lin Kuei to the ground with her. She retrieved a third sai and tried to stab Sub-Zero in the chest but was stopped when the Lin Kuei grabbed her wrist, forbidding her to thrust her weapon into him. He then charged his Fa Jing and began to freeze the wrist he held, causing her to shriek at the pain and drop her last sai. Sub-Zero used his feet to shove her off and sent her tumbling elsewhere.
Enraged, she sprung up to her feet and lunged at Sub-Zero. As the Lin Kuei got up, she brought her knees to her chest and began to roll her way towards her opponent at high speed. Unable to react in time, Sub-Zero tripped over Mileena and landed on his side. Mileena then retrieved her last sai and threw it at Sub-Zero. As the weapon whistled its way towards him, Sub-Zero concentrated on the weapon and caught it inches away from his chest. He then thrust the blade into the marble floor and tugged it to the left, breaking the blade and making the weapon useless in battle.
"You will pay for that," spat Mileena as she ran towards him again. Sub-Zero got up and lobbed an ice blast at her. Suddenly, Mileena literally sank to the ground and disappeared from sight, only to reappear above him and catch him off guard with a jump kick to his face. Sub-Zero fell to the floor once more as Mileena landed on her feet. Sub-Zero got up and waited for his enemy to attack.
Scorpion watched from a distance and kept his sights on Sub-Zero. There was something strange about the Lin Kuei. He had not thrown a single punch at Mileena and fought defensively for the most part. The Lin Kuei warrior that Scorpion knew was a purely offensive fighter and a cold blooded killer. It almost seemed as if this was someone else.
"Your thoughts do not betray you," spoke a heavy voice behind Scorpion. The Hellspawn Spectre quickly turned around with his Kunai drawn to see the mighty Thunder God himself, Lord Raiden. Convinced that the seven foot tall God was not there to fight, Scorpion put away his weapon and returned his gaze to the fight.
"My thoughts are not your business," hissed Scorpion. "Go and leave me in peace."
"What peace does a tortured soul ever have, Scorpion? I know why you have entered the tournament. You seek to destroy the man who killed you. Your quest for revenge, however, has misguided you."
"How would you figure that," said Scorpion. "He is right over there as clear as daylight."
"Once again you let your thirst for vengeance control your thoughts. The man you so blindly stalk is not the man who took your life and made you into what you are now. He is Sub-Zero, the brother of the Lin Kuei warrior you destroyed."
Scorpion stared at Raiden in disbelief. "Sub-Zero has a brother," he asked after a long pause.
"Sub-Zero had a brother, yes. His death was on your hands at the end of the first tournament. Now that the eldest of his generation has perished, the man you see before you has taken the family name to honor his dead relatives. Now you must ask yourself, Scorpion, if you truly think it is right to destroy him as you did his brother."
Scorpion looked back at the two combatants. He was in a great state of confusion. "How do I know you aren't trying to save one of your warriors from Earth Realm?"
"Practice faith, Scorpion." With that, a bolt of lightning struck down and Raiden suddenly vanished from sight. Scorpion continued to watch Sub-Zero fight Mileena.
"I have not the luxury of faith."
Meanwhile, Sub-Zero continued to fight defensively against Mileena as he blocked and only countered with foot sweeps and throws, wearing Mileena down and causing her to get clumsy. Her attacks were wild and poorly executed while Sub-Zero's occasional attacks were well performed and effective, now that he had worn her down and studied her purely offensive fighting style. After another throwing counter from Sub-Zero, Mileena sprung up to her feet and snarled at her opponent.
"You coward," spat Mileena. "Enough of this defensive charade! Do you hold back your attack because I am a woman? Well perhaps this will even things up!" Mileena removed her veil to reveal a hideous discovery. She had an atrocious set of nail-like teeth, much like the Tarkatan Baraka. Sub-Zero squinted his eyes in disgust at the horrid sight.
"Now fight me," shouted Mileena as she ran towards him once more.
Sub-Zero stood his ground and said, "If you insist."
Once she was within range, Sub-Zero threw a strong right hook at her grotesque facial features, causing a few of her sharp teeth to fall out of her mouth. With that, Sub-Zero began his offensive maneuvers by performing a sliding shoulder thrust followed by an ice blast that froze her in place as she staggered back from the impact. Sub-Zero then performed a jump kick, which shattered the ice that covered Mileena and sent her tumbling to the ground. Before she had a chance to get up, Sub-Zero grabbed her hair and lifted her to her feet. He then executed a deadly combo starting with a right hook, followed by a left kick to her face to keep her from falling and then a spinning roundhouse. Mileena fell to the ground once more, unable to get up to her feet. Sub-Zero confirmed her inability to fight by freezing her hands and feet to the ground. Mileena, with what strength she had left, struggled to free herself from the ice, but it was no use.
"Go on," said Mileena once she finally lay still. "Kill me quickly!"
Sub-Zero simply turned away and said, "You're not the one I came for." With that, Sub-Zero left the Armory with the Shadow Priest, leaving Mileena behind.
Sub-Zero's mercy shocked Scorpion in a way that surpassed his surprise when Raiden told him who Sub-Zero really was. Scorpion was ready to take the Thunder God's word to be false, but now he had just seen something that his killer never expressed when he was alive: mercy. It was then that Scorpion realized that Raiden spoke the truth. This younger Sub-Zero was not Scorpion's killer. The Hellspawn Spectre remained in the Armory for a time, pondering his future actions for when he faces Sub-Zero in the tournament. Would he continue his curse on the Lin Kuei, or would he spare this man's life in the end? Only time would tell of this difficult decision.
Well there you have it! Two fights involving four of the favored MK2 characters! As you've obviously guess, I had a little fun describing Kitana and Mileena's attire. Believe it or not, the clothing compositions were not actually my own. I made the descriptions, mainly with Kitana, based on a fanart I saw on deviantART. Mileena's costume was created based on the games, for the most part. Anyway, the next chapter should be posted quicker than the time it took to post this one. I have recovered from my writer's block and I intend to get this fic up to speed! See you guys next chapter!