Chapter 9: Scorpion Damned(pt 1)

Damn that blonde man. Did he always get captured? Every time?

Scorpion just crouched low in silence, mentally cursing Jay as much as possible. The spectre had no problem infiltrating the Lin Kuei stronghold, there was just the preference of avoiding the place until the right time. And Jay had to go and ruin that.

It was true that the undead warrior didn't -need- a helper, but no other offered their help for free. At least, Jay said he wasn't looking for reward for helping. Scorpion nearly snorted at that memory.

-
Jay swung lightly back and forth over the lava pit before Scorpion grabbed the man's shirt and yanked him close, "You honestly expect me to believe what you just said? That you'll help without asking anything in return?"

The blonde just shrugged before Scorpion let go of the man as he said, "If you betray me in -any- way then I will kill you, find you in hell and kill you again."

Jay just grinned before tilting his head, "You mean after you set me free, right?"

The spectre folded his arms as he watched the male swing back and forth before sighing, "If you're serious then I may be able to help you."
-

Scorpion frowned. Fat lot of good that promise was. Either the blonde had a target on his back(which Scorpion surmised as being very likely) or Lady Luck just happened to really hate Jay(which Scorpion also thought likely).

The Lin Kuei temple was its usual grand self, large and foreboding. But instead of the usual Lin Kuei warriors there were the cybernetics patrolling the halls. That would make things interesting.

Scorpion stuck to the shadows of the ceiling, occasionally slipping into the Nether-realm for assistance when there was no better place to hide. All the floors topside were empty, save for the random cyber warrior.

Eventually he made his way down into the basement, taking note of the winding corridors meant to confuse unaware enemies. The spectre had to admit he was slightly impressed by the architecture. Only slightly.

He came across one room that had a symbol in the middle of the floor and was about to proceed when there was a large flash of light.

A yellow version of one of the cyber warriors appeared, and next to it was Sub-Zero. Scorpions fist found itself tightening into a ball when Sub-Zeros voice could be heard.

"Cyrax, what happened to you? What is going on?"

Cyrax? The yellow machine was Cyrax? That was unexpected.

'Cyrax' responded in a monotone robotic voice, "All questions will be answered by the Grand Master. You are to be escorted to him immediately."

The yellow painted ninja then started walking(more like marching) and Sub-Zero seemed hesitant to follow, though eventually did.

Scorpion couldn't help but follow behind the two warriors, choosing to stay out of sight. And it was a good thing he did, since the topic would eventually come to one of interest.

Sub-Zero trailed behind the robot and started asking a few questions, "Cyrax, what happened to you? What did they do to you?"

Cyrax halted, turning around swiftly to answer, "Your queries are unorthodox. A Lin Kuei is not supposed to question the choices laid out by the Grand Master." A silent moment slipped in before 'Cyrax' explained, "This unit has now become part of the Cyber Initiative. Our Grand Masters goal is to eliminate emotion within his warriors to assure his clans survival. This is why the Lin Kuei were never found and the Shirai Ryu were decimated."

Scorpions rage slowly started to boil, and the spectre was close to dropping down and dismantling that robot piece by piece for that remark when Sub-Zero answered, "The Shirai Ryu were a rival clan. They did not deserve what happened to them, and they do at least deserve the honor to rest in peace."

Cyrax responded in his cool, metallic voice, "Irrelevant."

Sub-Zero shook his head before stating, "Not irrelevant. Without emotion you have lost all sense of honor and are now but a dog waiting to be commanded."

As if to argue Cyrax raised his right robotic hand which configured into a three-prong claw-like appendage with a glowing ball in the center, and small sparks of electricity shooting through it as he responded, "And soon, you as well shall be a dog on a leash, waiting for the command of your master. Now move, we have fallen behind on time and our grand masters time is important."

The raven-haired LinKuei warrior eyed the contraption before reluctantly moving along. The still-hidden spectre continued to follow, though something was odd about what Sub-Zero had said.

' they do at least deserve the honor to rest in peace.'

Why were these words almost haunting him? He was going to have his clan restored! But for some reason, those words continued to haunt the spectre, so much he nearly missed Sub-Zero's next question.

"How long until you try to convert me?"

The words sounded unsure. Almost as if the ice ninja were not truly interested in participating in the upgrade. That caught Scorpions attention cold.

Scoprion needed to resume his searching, and he was about to do just that when Cyrax spoke up, unintentionally providing some useful information, "You will meet with the Grand Master. This unit is to collect our prisoner in the basement and will be bringing the male to meet with the grand master shortly. You will relay this to the grand master."

Sub-Zero nodded, and Scorpion squinted his eyes slightly, molling over what was just said. It couldn't be, but it probably was. Maybe he could trade Jay for Sub-Zero?

Of course Sub-Zeros earlier statement of honor cut through his mind again and... sigh. The Shirai Ryu disappeared into the shadows once more before his search finally picked up in the basement. It seemed to be even more expansive than the floors above the ground. Lucky the temple was on a mountain, apparently.

The prison section was, thankfully, easy to locate, however the area seemed to have more guards here than anywhere else.

Guards patrolled in circles, and the few prisoners that were there seemed indifferent to the guards now being made of steel than flesh. After enough observation Scorpion caught on that they were on a timer, and was able to slip through with relative ease.

Eventually he found what he was looking for, yet sadly Cyrax had showed up and was standing in front of the cell Scorpion was about to search. From his viewpoint he could not see inside, however Cyrax spoke to the prisoner, and confirmed what Scorpion needed to know.

"You have been taken prisoner per the orders of the Grand Master of the Lin Kuei. You are to be taken for questioning by the Grand Master and any attempts at escape will be met with harsh punishment. You will answer only when spoken to, is this understood?"

The voice that responded had a bit of snark to it as the response carried out of the cell, "I compute! Now can I go have a piss break or som-"

Cyrax had cut Jay off from speaking further by shocking the blond with that claw Scorpion had seen earlier. That may prove to be a bit of a problem, even for an undead such as the yellow-clad ninja.

Eventually Jay walked into view, glaring at Cyrax as the robotic ninja urged, "Move. The Grand Master does not like to be kept waiting and has a full enough schedule witho0ut mindless interruptions."

For his part, Jay just flipped Cyrax off while the metal encased ninja walked forward. The blond soon fell into place, following behind Cyrax when another robotic ninja, this one red, fell into step behind Jay.

Keen glances over his shoulder didn't go unnoticed as the red ninja could be heard stating, "Eyes forward. Stop distracting yourself."

Jay huffed before going back to looking forward, and following Cyrax throughout the maze that was the underground.

Scorpion witnessed all this as he trailed the unlikely trio, all the way back to the large hall at the beginning. Eventually Cyrax came before a large door, halting long enough to open the door then turn to face Jay, "You are about to meet the Grand Master. You are to show respect, otherwise you will be punished."

You didn't have to be smart to have caught the way Jay rolled his eyes in defiance before they were taken inside, with Scorpion clinging to the shadows of the ceiling.

Sub-Zero was waiting inside, yet Jay and Sub-Zero couldn't hide the surprise in their voices as they each reacted to the sight of the other.

"You again?!"

"What are you doing in this sacred place?"

"You're the one who had people come kidnap me!"

"I did no such thing! Stop lying and explain yourself!"

Scorpions only thought at this point was that this was probably going to be a long night.

*A/N*: Minor edits, grammar correction.