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Chapter Thirteen

"I welcome you all to my island for the Mortal Kombat tournament," Shang-Tsung said to the crowd of warriors gathered before him. "I wish you all luck in the tournament, and would like to inform you that the winning competitor will have the honor of facing our reigning champion." He paused a moment, taking the time to scan the back wall of the room until his eyes settled on the three girls and their guardians, or rather, the three girls and two of their guardians. Scorpion had once again disappeared. The sorcerer figured it had something to do with the argument he'd had with the girl. A small smile spread across Shang-Tsung's face. It was such a pity that the ninja specter wasn't protecting her. That made it so much easier to get rid of her first, and then he could take care of the other two.

"But for now I wish for you all to enjoy your feast."

Several minutes later

"So what are we gonna do about Shang-Tsung," Emma asked. They sat at the end of one of the long tables, eating with the rest of the competitors.

"You don't need to worry about that," Sub-Zero told her. "We'll keep an eye on Shang-Tsung. You just concentrate on winning against your opponents."

"I wonder who our opponents will be," Ella said.

"We will not know until it is time to face them, which puts us at a disadvantage," Ermac replied.

"Mm… hey, Tori. Where did Scorpion go," Emma asked.

"How should I know? I'm not his keeper," came the annoyed reply.

"I take it you're still mad at him then," Emma asked. The look she received clearly said 'yes'.

"Well, fight or no fight, he needs to be here," Sub-Zero said in a disapproving tone.

"I am here," a voice growled from behind Tori. Sub-Zero looked behind her to see the irritated ninja specter standing there.

"Well could you make it apparent to everyone else instead of just disappearing at random," Sub-Zero growled. He was answered with a snort.

Scorpion stood there glaring at Sub-Zero for a while before he felt a chill run through him. Looking down, he saw Tori sitting there glaring at him.

"What the hell's your problem," he asked coldly. She didn't answer, but instead turned back around with a 'humph'. Scorpion felt his eye twitch. Little brat. Just as he was about to give her a piece of his mind Sub-Zero stood up.

"I think it best that we go on to bed. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow." The girls looked around and noticed that everyone else was leaving as well.

"Guess we'd better get going then," Emma said as she started to follow Sub-Zero. Scorpion watched as Tori followed the others through the doorway before he started after them. What was her problem? He couldn't remember doing anything to her to make her mad, unless she was still angry at him over the fight they had on the boat. Why did he even care in the first place? She would be out of his life soon anyway, so there was no need to get worked up over some stupid argument he'd had with her.

'None at all.'

The next day the girls were led with the rest of the warriors to an outdoor arena. Shang-Tsung sat in a chair at one end of the arena, and he stood once everyone had gathered there.

"This is where you will participate in the first round of the competition."

"I wonder who's gonna go first," Emma whispered. Before the others could answer, Shang-Tsung's voice rang out.

"Emma, you are our first contestant."

"Oh crap," she muttered.

"Come on Emma, you'll do fine," Ella said to her.

"Yeah, I'm sure you can beat any of these guys," Tori added.

"Thanks," Emma said before she walked up onto the arena.

"And now for your opponent," Shang-Tsung said as he pointed to a building a few feet away. In response, the doors opened and a figure came out into the sunlight. Emma stood speechless as the person walked up to stand across from her in the arena. Tori and Ella gasped as they saw who it was, and behind them they heard the same from Sub-Zero.

"No, it can't be!"

Authors note: Enjoy!