Chapter Twenty Five

Outdoor Arena

Once again, the morning sun rose into the Outworld sky. It was another day for round two, another day of fighting, and another day of less fighters gaining the chance to possess The Blood Tournament's grand prize.

As the morning matches were performed, Yun, Yin, and Yang Lee sat on the front benches of the Outdoor arena, watching these matches as patiently as they could. Some matches went quick, some took a long time before a winner was announced. Some were quite impress while others were, well, boring.

The three siblings were mostly quiet as the matches continued. They were here because Yang was going to fight today. When that was, they weren't sure. All they knew was that his notice card said to be there at 9am this morning and nothing more, as it normally was for all the fighters in the tournament.

Yun let out a small yawn before breaking the silence. "It makes you wonder how many fighters are here. I have to give credit to those running the show. They're handling the amount of fighters attending quite well."

"Considering this is another world," replied Yin. "It might not even be a bit of a problem to them."

A match soon ended. Yang found himself sighing a little. "To think Grandfather was invited to this tournament. I still feel guilty about leaving him behind."

Yun turned to his brother at the mention of their grandfather Gen. "He wanted us to come here."

"There had to be a reason," Yang mentioned. "Something tells me that he wouldn't just let us go to this tournament, not with all that was happening."

"We shouldn't worry," said Yin. "When you guys told me about the tournament, Auntie offered to go down to Hong Kong from Shanghai to look after him. We don't have to worry about anything." She then sighed. "I just hope he's still with us when we return to Earth."

That statement alone completely silenced her brothers. They had been living with Grandfather since they were toddlers, ever since their parents divorced. Their mother, now deceased, had taken Yin up to Shanghai to live with their aunt while the brothers were supposed to stay with their father. However, their father mysterious vanished one night and Gen had taken them under his wing almost immediately.

The three seemed to have dazed out for a bit, not paying much attention to anything around them. That was until the Shadow Priest hosting the tournament in this particular arena announced the first of two fighters for the next match.

"Yang Lee!"

The grim feeling suddenly seemed to disappear as the three of them stood up. "Make it quick," said Yun. "It's almost lunch time!"

"Good luck Yang!" said Yin, now feeling a bit excited.

Yang managed to smirk at his brother and sister. "Thanks," he said before stepping into the ring. He managed to get himself in the middle before his opponent was announced.

"Nina Williams!"

Yang was a bit surprised when he heard the name. As the blonde agent stepped into the ring, a thought came to Yang.

Didn't Yun fight someone who had the same last name? Yang smirked to himself a little by the coincidence. I wonder if they're sisters.

Come to think of it, Yun had even fought in the same arena a few days ago.

Nina walked near the middle of the ring before stopping, leaving some space between her and Yang. Hmph, he's one of the 'kids' living in the cave, she thought. At least he's one of the better amateurs.

Without saying anything, the two got in to their fighting stance and immediately after, the match was called to begin. The two of them circled each other for less than a minute before running towards each other. Immediately, they exchanged hand-to-hand combat, both of them switching between offense and defense. Both fighters had the same determined look on their faces as they each hoped to dominate the other.

Meanwhile, Yun began to find himself daydreaming a bit. He thought back on his last match. It may have been the match he lost, but it happened to be the match when he first met Anna. He hasn't see the young woman since their encounter in the tournament and he wondered where she was right now. He couldn't remember the last thing she said to him, but he wouldn't forget the little wink she gave him along with the blow kiss.

She's such a beauty, he thought.

Then, his thoughts were quickly interrupted as he felt a nudge on his arm. Yun turned his head and faced his sister Yin. "You better be paying attention," she demanded. "You could learn a few things from Yang."

"Yeah yeah," Yun replied before turning his attention to the match.

Back in the match, Nina and Yang continue they hand to hand combat. Both fighters were able to get a few hits, but that was it, for a while at least. Yang made a decision then once he was able to find an opening.

"Raishin Mahhaken!" he cried out. He quickly stomped on one foot, then, at the same time, he performed a spear-hand strike at Nina's stomach. The move caught Nina by surprise as she keeled over a bit. Then, she was hit with a few punches before Yang dashed past her and jabbed an open a palm at the flesh of her neck. He only applied the move just enough that he didn't end up killing her.

Nina fell on her knees as she tried to catch her breath, coughing in the process. Yang stood where he was, giving her the chance to recover. Not even thirty seconds past when Nina began getting back on her feet, still trying to catch her breath. Yang got back in his fighting stance then, prepared for her next move.

Without turning around, Nina spoke. "Not bad… not bad at all… and I rarely admit that too." Then, she quickly turned around and covered the short distance between them. Nina quickly threw a right hook punch, but Yang quickly blocked it. He attempted to follow up with a left uppercut, which Nina blocked as well.

This went on for another minute before Nina found a wide opening. She slightly smirked to herself as she jumped up and wrapped her legs around Yang's neck. She then dropped the rest of her body upside down, placed her hands on the ground, then manage to flip Yang over her. Yang flew a few feet forward before stumbling out of the ring.

"Crap," Yun muttered as he and Yin quickly made their way to their brother.

"Winner: Nina Williams!" the Shadow Priest called out as Nina straightened herself out. She thought nothing more as she made her way out of the ring.

Yun and Yin soon reached Yang as he slightly shook his head a little from the impact with the ground. "She was one heck of a fighter," Yang mentioned. "Too bad I lost."

"It's all right Yang," answered Yin. She then smiled a little. "Look on the bright side, at least your little sister is still in the tournament."

Yang looked at Yin. "Yeah."

Then Yun spoke. "You have to admit though, that last move she did… that was hot."

Immediately, Yin nudged Yun, but harder than previously. "Owe!" Yun called out.

Indoor Arena

Weapons clashed as the shaman Nightwolf fought against his opponent Sodom. The two had been going at it for a couple of minutes, with Nightwolf using his two tomahawks against Sodom's two juttes.

Just before the match began, Nightwolf sensed that Sodom was the arrogant type just by the way the former Mad Gear member displayed himself, speaking in random Japanese. Though Nightwolf didn't speak much Japanese himself, he was able to understand the language well. What he basically got was that Sodom was going to beat him into a blood pulp.

Overconfidence… it was what made Sodom arrogant.

Their weapons continued to clash with one another as the fighting between them continued for a little bit longer. Then, the weapons collided with such force that both fighters lost their grip on their weapons. The four weapons slid away from them with only one of Nightwolf's tomahawks sliding out of the ring.

Immediately after, the two of them exchanged punches and kicks, both of them on offense and defense. This only last for a few seconds before Nightwolf got the upper hand. A few kicks from him forced Sodom to pull back a little in order to give himself room to recover from the hits.

Sodom was able to quickly shift his eyes under his blue helmet and saw that he was just a foot away from one of his juttes. Quickly, he picked them up as Nightwolf attempted to go after him. Sodom quickly slid himself forward, swinging his jutte in the process. Nightwolf saw the move in time and tried to get out of the way, only to get a cut in his left arm.

Nightwolf clenched his teeth a bit, covering his hand over the wound he just received. I'll admit, he's fast, the Earthrealm shaman thought to himself.

Then, Sodom used his weapon and quickly threw it at Nightwolf. Being more prepared this time, Nightwolf spread his arms apart as his body was surrounded by a green aura. Just when one would thing that the jutte would slice right into Nightwolf's chest, the weapon suddenly seemed to reflect right off of him and headed back towards Sodom.

Sodom quickly jumped out of the way of his own weapon, despite being quite surprised by the attack. With him jumping out of the way, this gave Nightwolf the chance to perform another move. Still surrounded by the green aura, Nightwolf slid himself towards Sodom, covering the distance between them, and slammed himself shoulder first right into his opponent. The force of the move pushed Sodom right out of the ring.

After a few seconds, the Shadow Priest stood up. "Winner: Nightwolf!"

The audience clapped in unison after the announcement. Sodom was on his hands and knees, attempting to get up. Some people in the audience tried to help him, but the Earthrealm native pushed their hands away harshly. He got to his feet and turned around. He felt surprised when he saw Nightwolf standing there, his tomahawks placed away. In his stretched out arms were Sodom's juttes. Sodom stood there for a moment before taking his juttes back in his hands. Then, silently, Sodom turned around and walked out of the arena. A moment later, Nightwolf followed.

A few more matches followed. Maxi was one of the handful of other fighters waiting for their turn to participate in their matches today. With him were his close allies Kilik and Xianghua, who were both there to support their friend.

"I forgot to mention," Maxi began to say as he looked over at Kilik. "Congratulations on making it to round three yesterday."

"Thanks," Kilik replied as he slightly leaned against his rod weapon.

"I have my match tomorrow," said Xianghua. "I wonder who I'll be fighting."

Maxi decided to joke with her then. "Hopefully against someone who doesn't have a pretty dress for you to ruin."

Kilik couldn't help but chuckle a little as he remembered Xianghua mentioning how she ruined a very nice dress her last opponent wore during the first round. Xianghua sighed to herself, ignoring the comment.

After a few more minutes, a match ended. The victor stepped out of the ring as his unconscious opponent was dragged out of the ring by his allies. Once everything calmed down, the Shadow Priest stood up.

"The next match will begin." It was silent for a brief moment before announcing the first of the two opponent for the next match. "Maxi!"

"Finally," Maxi said.

"Good luck," Kilik and Xianghua said at the same time. Maxi nodded, acknowledging them before going under the ropes and headed into the ring. Once he got in the middle, he stretched his arms and neck a little, then checked to see that his two nunchakus were still in place on either side of his hips.

Then, his opponent was announced. "Vega Fabio De Cerna!"

Maxi shifted his eyes around in search of his opponent. After a brief moment, someone from the audience performed a forward flip, then landed in the ring just a few feet away from Maxi. It was definitely Maxi's opponent Vega. After the landing, Vega slowly straightened himself out, revealing his 6'2'' frame. Maxi looked up at him, not intimidated by his height despite being only 5'8'' himself. He saw the mask, which made him raise an eyebrow. Just who was this guy?

Vega laughed just after Maxi raised his eyebrow. "So I'll be fighting you?" He then looked at his hair. "I must say though, you are one ugly excuse for an Elvis wannabe."

Who? Maxi asked himself. Being from Keisei, he has never even heard of Elvis in his life. However, he did call him ugly…

"Hmph, and by your looks and that stupid laugh, you're more girly than your mother!"

Unknown to Maxi, that hit a major nerve on Vega. Years ago, Vega's beautiful mother was murdered by his own ugly stepfather, all because he believed that she didn't respect him. His ice blue eyes quickly widened in rage and, nearly as quickly, he darted after him before the Shadow Priest had the chance to call the match to begin.

Maxi was nearly caught by surprise by Vega's speed. However, nothing caught him more with surprise than the three sharp claws presented on Vega's left hand.

Quickly, Maxi took out one of his nunchakus and dodged out of the way of Vega's path. Vega past him, but he managed to quickly land on the ground safely with his feet. Then, with equal speed, he stepped forward and slashed his claw continuously. Maxi was forced to jump back with each slash.

Damn he's fast! Maxi cried out in his mind. At one point, he placed his nunchaku in front of him to avoid more slashes from the claw. I wonder how long I can keep up.

After another swing from Vega's claw, Maxi was able to regain himself and began lashing back with his nunchaku, let out battle cries with each new swing. Both fighters lashed at each other with their weapons along with dodging from one another in order to avoid getting hit.

Then, Vega was able to land three cuts, one from each claw, on Maxi's left arm, the wounds immediately bleeding. Aside from drawing a sharp exhale, the Keisei native ignored the pain and bleeding altogether and continued fighting.

The two fighters fought in the same fashion for a little while longer. Maxi was able to smack Vega with his nunchaku a few times while Vega managed to draw more blood from Maxi's body. Not wanting to get anymore cuts (or a fatal wound for that matter), he had a plan, and had to do it now.

Maxi stepped aside from another jab from Vega. Taken by surprise, Vega stumbled forward a bit. Maxi then wrapped his nunchaku around Vega's left wrist, pulled forward, then with his free hand, he was able to get the claw off of him and threw it aside.

"How does it feel to not have the only thing you rely on?" Maxi asked in a serious tone.

This immediately angered Vega. With his free arm, he jabbed his elbow into Maxi's side, forcing the Keisei native to let go. Vega then rolled forward before getting back on his feet. He turned himself around, then quickly covered the distance between them. Maxi had long placed his nunchaku away and now they would fight hand to hand.

Vega jabbed a fist forward, which Maxi blocked. Vega then followed up with a left hook, which connected. Maxi head swung back a bit, but that didn't stop him from throwing a punch of his own, which landed on the side of Vega's head. Vega quickly pulled back then and attempted a few kicks. Some of them hit Maxi, but he was able to block and dodge most of them.

Then, Maxi performed a round house kick, forcing Vega to turn 180 degrees. Following that, Maxi lifted his foot up as far as he could, then landed a hard kick to the back of Vega's head. Vega let out a small yelp as he fell forward face first. Maxi expected him to get up afterward, but after a few moments, Vega still wasn't moving. Maxi slowly walked over to him and slightly nudged his foot just under his stomach. Indeed, he was unconscious.

"Winner: Maxi!" the Shadow Priest called out.

Indeed, Vega was fast, but perhaps he didn't have the brawn Maxi had. Maxi smirked to himself as he looked down at his defeated opponent. "Hurts doesn't it? That's what it's like to lose." He then turned around and headed back to where Kilik and Xianghua were. Beforehand, Maxi realized that the strand of hair in front of him, previously clumped together and nicely curled, was now going in different directions.

Man, he messed up my hair…

Underground Lair, Later that Evening

Ivy Valentine looked over at her opponent with interest. She only knew him by his name, Kabal, and he bared an oxygen mask and countless scars. She noted his hookswords too and became even more interested. For the last few days, she noticed him around Shao Kahn's palace. She was curious to know what kind of fighter he was.

Kabal himself was thinking the same thing as he studied the woman he was about to fight. Determination was written all over her face and nothing more. In her right hand was her sword, which he heard from Havik that it was able to uncoil itself and become a whole new weapon.

Neither one of them said a word to each other as they placed themselves in their fighting stance. Because he had other things to attend to, as it was announced before the first match of the night in the lair, a Shadow Priest had taken Shang Tsung's place as host of the tournament. Once it saw that the two fighters were ready, it called for the match to begin.

Not wasting any more time, both Ivy and Kabal lashed their weapons out and went after each other. The weapons quickly collided, the beginning of yet another weapon battle. The sound of steel hitting steel was heard around in the quiet arena along with the battle cries that escaped of the throats of both Ivy and Kabal.

The weapons continued to collide for a while long before Kabal pulled back, then ran past Ivy in such speed that he almost became a blur. Ivy wasn't sure what he was doing, but she prepared herself for it. However, she didn't expect herself to suddenly spin around continuously and out of her own control.

Kabal wait for a brief moment as Ivy became nothing but a blur, almost resembling a cyclone. Then, he put his foot out and kicked her in the abdomen, sending her flying a few feet back. Ivy was glad to be out of that situation… however, she was more dizzy than she has ever been in her entire life. She closed her eyes, hoping that the spinning feeling would cease.

After another minute, she was able to hear Kabal's footsteps coming towards her. Ivy opened her eyes. She was still feeling dizzy, but not as bad as before. She then was able to feel the hilt of her sword… her treasure.

"Sing, my sword," she whispered. The Keisei native quickly lashed her sword out, causing it to uncoil into eight pieces. Because Kabal wasn't expecting this, the tip of the uncoiled sword manage to leave a cut on his right forearm, now adding to the collection of scars he had on his shard body. He briefly stopped in his tracks to recover from the unexpected pain.

"You are indeed a very worthy fighter," Kabal admitted, his deep voice reaching Ivy's ears. "No one in the past has been able to recover from my move as quick as you have."

Ivy was finally able to get back on her feet then. She slightly smirked a little. "I don't know what to say… however, I promise you won't suffer… much."

"Hmm," Kabal mumbled before quickly dashing forward towards Ivy. Ivy quickly reconnected her sword into it's normal form just as Kabal began swinging his hookswords forward, which she blocked immediately. Once again, the two continued their swordplay.

For a while, they seemed even. That was until Ivy was able to get the upper hand, leaving more future scars on Kabal. Afterwards, she uncoiled her sword once again before wrapping it around Kabal's neck. With a kick to the stomach, she forced Kabal to his knees before going behind him and placing her foot behind his back.

Ivy applied pressure on Kabal's neck along with the tube that provided him with air supply. She only let a little air in his lungs, that way she didn't end up killing him. Kabal struggled to get out of the hold, having lost his grip on his hookswords after the kick he received from Ivy.

After a few moments, Kabal limped forward as he passed out from lack of oxygen. Immediately, so that she didn't officially kill him, she released her hold on him, his body falling forward into the ground.

After another moment, the Shadow Priest stood up. "Winner: Ivy Valentine!"

The audience clapped as Ivy coiled her sword and made her way out of the ring. Unknown to her, up in the balcony, Shao Kahn found himself applauding a couple of times.

"Good show," he said to no one in particular despite the guards around him. "I'm glad I recruited her to my army. As for Kabal… he and the other defeated minions of mine should consider themselves lucky… they will all be needed at the end of the tournament…"

A few more matches went underway before Noob Saibot's name was announced for his own match. He entered the ring quietly, not expecting much out of this tournament. Once he reached the middle, he folded his arms, awaiting his opponent.

"Song!" the Shadow Priest called out.

Noob stood there with no emtion as an old but well fit man stepped into the ring. He was bald man with a light gray goatee resting just above his chest, which was covered by a brown shirt accompanied by black pants and black slippers. He nearly had the same look as Noob as he stepped further into the ring.

Pathetic! Noob thought disappointed. They put me up against an old fool.

Keeping an eye on each other, both Noob and Song got into their fighting stance.

"Begin!" the Shadow Priest called out.

Immediately, the two went after each other, quickly going on both offense and defense throwing various punches and kicks. A minute into the fight, Noob realized that he may have underestimated the old man. Song had great strength despite his age and he was a quick fighter as he was able to maneuver away from Noob's attacks just as quick as the wraith can.

In a bit of frustration, Noob quickly pulled back, then threw his right arm out, his hand opened. In the middle of the throw, countless throwing stars came out and heading towards Song. To Noob's surprise, the old man was able to dodge away from all of them, despite them going in different directions. The people behind Song ducked out of the way to avoid the small weapons, though only one viewer was unfortunate enough to have one lodged in his shoulder. He was taken out of the lair immediately by his friends around him.

Noob then decided to try another tactic. He quickly surrounded himself in a black mist before disappearing altogether, making himself invisible. He attempted to run forward and jump kick at his opponent. However, Song was able to sense Noob and knock him out of the air. Noob reappeared in normal sight after the hit and landed on the ground.

As he got up, Noob was suddenly met with a large fireball projectile. The force was so powerful that it literally knocked Noob right out of the ring.

Song stood there silently as the Shadow Priest stood up. "Winner: Song!"

Noob, now pissed, managed to get himself up. "Prepare to die!" he announced. He attempted to get back in the ring, but the guards surrounding the ring blocked him from his way. This only angered Noob more as he grabbed two guards and threw them in different directions, much to the surprise of the audience. Having enough of this afterward, Noob then disappeared in a black mist.

After the incident, Song turned to the Shadow Priest hosting the tournament and bowed to him. The Shadow Priest nodded to Song before the old man began making his way out of the ring. He passed the audience, not acknowledging the fact that they were congratulating him on his victory.

Once Song completely passed everyone… once everyone was behind his back, he smirked to himself as his eyes glowed in a green mist…