AN: Story's Shadow and I are back with another chapter. This is the chapter that officially ignited my writing spark back into a full on fire. I want to thank my entire writing team, and all my lovely and loyal fans. God Bless you all.

-Meanwhile, MK Dimension, Netherrealm-

General Reyes stood before the throne of Netherrealm, silent and waiting. Before him manifested a green swirling portal and Quan Chi walked through.

"My lord, word has reached me that your specter has made quite the impression at the tournament."

The sorcerer stepped out of the green portal, and back into the Netherrealm.

"You have heard correctly general. I severely doubt that many, if not none at all can match Scorpions skill and ferocity."

The two began walking through the barren wastelands of the Netherrealm.

"Putting aside the tournament for a brief moment, what news do you bring from your mission, general?"

"It is going at a decent pace."

"Just decent?"

"Only being allowed to watch from the shadows have had the drawbacks we both feared. That being I'm unable to get as much information and detail as you and Shao Kahn have requested, my lord."

"It seems our fears of that being a likely possibility, have been confirmed."

Quan Chi scratched his chin as he tried to think of a strategy that would overcome this obstacle.

"If you had your way, what would you do to solve our mutual problem?"

"I would humbly request to be allowed to leave the shadows, and be allowed to scout both locations and resistance's more closely. It is hard to truly scout your enemies from a distance, and reports can be very deceptive and misleading."

"As of this moment, your request has been granted general. You are now allowed to roam more freely to scout locations for maximum damage and whatever opposition will oppose the merger."

General Reyes bowed in respect to the sorcerer who owned his loyalty.

"I shall leave at once for a large coastal city that could be a very good staging port for our future operations."

Reyes started to walk away before his lord interjected.

"I have one more offering for you general. I'm allowing you to engage our enemies in this new reality if push comes to shove. Whether or not you kill whoever you face is your choice, but be warned... do not fight too many enemies at once, for as we both know, raw power must bend the knee to intelligence and strategy."

The general nodded his head and agreement. He then proceeded to give a curt bow to his lord and then turned into a dark mist to begin traveling to the coastal city and begin his mission.

-Meanwhile, USM Dimension, Los Angeles-

Squirrel Girl ran across the rooftops, leaping from one to another. She laughed as she landed on one rooftop than raced across it then jump to another. She loved her work and she loved this city. New York City had its charms and she had tons of friends there, it's just LA was home to her.

"Whoo! Yeah!"

Some of the people looked up towards her, pointing and waving. She waved back, grinning from ear to ear. She stopped to look over a rooftop, seeing the hustle and bustle of her city below. She sat at the edge, sighing.

"Another great day in LA."

A crashing sound was heard below. She looked down, seeing a group of men surround a young man who was crawling away. The alley they were in had a trash dumpster on one side and the young man was trying to crawl behind it.

"N-No! Stop!"

The men chuckled as they approached him. Squirrel Girl chuckled, cracking her knuckles, then leapt down into the alley. Landing on her feet and one hand, she smirked at the men.

"Didn't your mothers teach it's not nice to gang up on someone?"

The men flinched when she landed but then rushed her. SG grinned. She ducked under the punch of the first to close the distance. As straightened, she used one foot to trip him. He grunted and panicked as he hit the ground. The other three rushed her, but she leapt back a few feet away. Then she leapt forward, sweeping one foot towards them and knocking them all onto their backs. She landed gracefully, hands on her hips.

"Nice try."

The first let out a pained and angry cry as he got off the ground and rushed her. SG turned grabbing the wrist of the hand he threw his punch with then slammed her right knee into his torso. He groaned as he hit the ground.

"Sneak attacks don't usually work when you shout like that, buddy."

The other three rushed her again after they got up, but she leapt to one side of the alley then lunged back at them. She knock two of them into the dumpster and the third hanging off it. The first one gasped at this and tried to crawl away. SG grabbed the back of his shirt and picked him up, making him face her.

"Time to put you with the rest of the trash."

"No! No! NO!"

She lifted him up with both hands and dumped him into the dumpster. Squirrel Girl chuckled as she dusted off her hands. She saw the young man peak out from behind the dumpster, eyes wide. She winked at him then leapt and crawled out of the alley as a police car pulled up.

The heroine continued her patrol across the rooftops, eventually coming to a stop at the edge of a building which overlooked a good chunk of the city. She sat down and sighed. Stretching as she let out a sigh, she looked over her city with a smile.

"Beautiful day."

She went to the S.H.I.E.L.D. wristband on her arm.

"Computer, search any and all police radios and communications for any disturbances."

There was a buzzing that came from the wrist before the A.I. responded.

"No crimes currently taking place in the immediate vicinity."

The heroine let out a chuckle. While the A.I. wasn't J.A.R.V.I.S., F.R.I.D.A.Y., or J.O.E.Y., it was still an upgrade from what they had before.

"Wow, I hardly get a day like this. Everything seems just right. Guess good as any time to call it an evening. Maybe I can sneak a to go bag from-"

"Alert! There has been a break in a few blocks from here. Uploading location now."

Squirrel Girl sighed.

"Guess I'll have to get that bite to eat later."

She stood up and leapt to another rooftop.

Squirrel Girl raced across the buildings' rooftops as she neared the origin of the alert. She looked around, there seemed to be no civilians in the area or even a stray dog or cat. She smiled lightly at this.

'At least no one will get hurt...except for the idiot behind this alert.'

She leapt onto another building and slowly approached the area she was heading to. The sound of walking was apparent to her, though to a human one might not actually hear it or was unlikely to. As she crept forward, she looked over the edge. Someone in a cloak walked out from an abandoned building, gazing into the city before rounding a corner into an alley.

"Some guy in a cloak? That's strange even this line of work. Why would they be here?"

She looked around and saw a community center in the distance. Her eyes narrowed.

"Scouting out a possible hit, huh? Not on my watch."

She grunted as she leapt over to the building and then into the alley, just a few feet behind the figure.

"Hey! Buddy! There's not gonna be any funny business in my city!"

The cloaked figures stopped walking. Then he turned and faced her. Squirrel Girl could hardly make out his face, the hood of the cloak casted his face in shadows. But her attention immediately went to him chuckling. Squirrel Girl rolled her eyes, arms crossing.

"Yeah buddy, let it out."

"Little rodent. If I would've known this place had such funny looking things I would've visited sooner."

Squirrel Girl's eyes narrowed.

"'Things'? Ok buddy, I usually let the idiots get through their laughs before I kick their butts. But you, I'm gonna go straight to tossing you around."

The figure chuckled, his hands moving out to either side of them.

"Than by all means: 'Kick my butt'."

Squirrel Girl grunted as she lunged at the man, throwing her right fist forward. The mystery man ducked under the strike. Both quickly turned, facing one another. The heroine leapt onto the wall to her left then lunged at the man, her right fist sweetly hitting his jaw. The man grunted as he flew back hitting the wall. SG chuckled as she stood up.

"I suggest you surrender."

The man scoffed as he stood up, fists up. SG's shoulders raised up.

"Ok, you're loss man, literally."

SG rushed forward. The man threw a haymaker with his right fist, but SG grabbed his wrist then backhanded him. As he twirled around from the hit, the heroine threw a right kick forward. Her foot hit his chest and sent him across the ground. The man grumbled as he jumped onto his feet. He lunged at her, throwing his left foot forward. All it hit was air as SG slipped under the kick. Both turned quickly at one another. Squirrel Girl leapt up, hands clenched together behind her back. But she quickly dropped to the ground, right foot sweep kicking the man and knocking him on his back.

"Like that move? Spidey taught it to me."

The man jumped to his feet again. He shouted as he he leapt at her, throwing his right knee at her. But Squirrel Girl fell back. She caught herself with her hands then through her feet forward. The double kick slammed into the mystery man's chest and sent him flying back, smashing into one of the walls.

He groaned as he fell to the ground, one hand rubbing his chest. Squirrel Girl grunted as she jumped to her feet.

"I really suggest you surrender, dude. In case you haven't noticed: I'm kicking your butt."

The man pushed himself onto his feet, panting and hands up. SG sighed and chuckled as she lunged at the man again. He grunted as he rushed forward, striking out with his left foot. But SG leapt over him, arcing sideways just above the man. Her hands grabbed his shoulders and she turned to face the direction as he did then pushed his back with her feet. He slammed into the wall in front of him.

The man quickly turned and rushed her. The shout sounded like a mad cry as he threw a left haymaker at SG. The heroine smirked as she sidestepped the attack then threw her left knee forward, slamming into his lower torso. The man grumbled as he hit the ground. Squirrel Girl stood over him, arms crossed.

"Come on, you can do better than that."

His answer was a scream as he quickly twisted around, throwing a right haymaker. The heroine backflipped out of the way. The mystery man grunted as he rushed forward. But Squirrel Girl ducked under his next punch and slid a few inches away, using her tail to trip him. The man let out a surprised cry as he hit the ground again. He groaned and panted as he crawled around in her direction.

Squirrel Girl backflipped and landed a few feet from him, chuckling.

"Wow, dude. I've hardly ever seen someone losing a fight as badly as you are."

The man then started to chuckle. SG's smile slowly started to fade.

"Something funny?"

The man's chuckling then became full on laughter as his body suddenly morphed into a black mist. SG's eyes widened as the mist twirled around for ten seconds before emerging from the mist in his normal form. He stood there for a couple of seconds shorter than he was in or was the mist. The man cracked his neck and knuckles before sighing in relief.

"Ahhh, that's better."

"What?"

The mystery man turned his gaze to Squirrel Girl, grinning widely.

"Thanks for showing me your fighting style, I'll end this quick."

Before SG could reply, the man grabbed a dagger in each hand from either of his boots. He then threw them at Squirrel Girl, who barely ducked in time before the struck and lodged into the wall behind her. Her eyes went wide then narrowed.

"You were faking the whole time?!"

"Correct, took you a bit to realize it though, huh?"

The heroine shouted as she rushed forward. The man stood where he was, smirking. Squirrel Girl lunged at him, throwing her right foot in a small arc towards his head. But the man ducked under the strike then threw out his right fist, slamming into her leg just above her knee. SG grunted, wincing, as she landed. The man then pulled out something from within his cloak. In each hand was a loaded shotgun aimed right at Squirrel Girl. Her eyes widened.

"Nuts."

The man laughed as he fired. Squirrel Girl grunted as she dodged before he pulled the triggers. She leapt from one wall to the other, back and forth as she dodged just before he fired his guns at her.

"Keep running, rodent!"

Squirrel Girl grumbled as she lunged at him from an angle, but the man slammed the butt of one of the shotguns into her face and knocked her to the ground. He laughed.

"If I knew I'd have this much fun I would've made more noise earlier."

Squirrel Girl grunted as she jumped to her feet and leapt at the man again. He ducked under her left haymaker and slammed the butt of one of his guns into her lower torso. She cried out in pain and panic as she hit the ground again. He aimed both guns again at her, but the heroine lunged back at him. He slammed one elbow against her back as he dodged to the side.

"Too clumsy, vermin."

Squirrel Girl growled as she jumped to her feet and raced at him. The man fired with both guns, but SG jumped up before he pulled the triggers. She jumped from one wall then leapt at him. Her left fist struck him across the jaw. The man grunted as he flew back, but he landed on his feet.

"Still got some fight in ya, huh? Good."

The man chuckled as he continued to fire with both shotguns, SG barely managing to avoid the slugs.

"Do you have unlimited ammo or something?! How are you still firing with reloading?!"

The man smirked as he put the guns away back into his cloak. A dagger was in either hand just moments after pulling them from his boots.

"Let's make this more interesting."

He threw his right dagger at her, but Squirrel Girl jumped out of the way. She grunted as she rushed at him, but he threw his left dagger which she tried to leap away from. The blade, however, sliced across her left leg. She cried out in pain as the metal cut through her uniform. One hand went to the cut, which was bleeding badly. She groaned before turning back to the man as he chuckled. He had a dagger in either hand again, one he was tossing up and catching repeatedly as he approached her.

"Not really in protection with that little costume of yours. Bad move, little mouse."

"Squirrel."

The man scoffed.

"Whatever."

He threw both daggers again. SG tried to jump away, but one dagger cut across her belly and the another cut just a few inches below the cut on her leg. She groaned and grumbled, slamming one fist against the ground.

"Lucky shots, but I'm not done with you yet."

The man chuckled, twirling both daggers in his hands. They rushed at one another. Squirrel Girl threw a jab at the man's face with her right fist, but he ducked under the strike. He pushed his right dagger towards her, the blade cutting the lower part of her right arms as her momentum pushed her forward.

She grunted as she turned to face him, fists up. The heroine rushed forward, the man dodged her left jab then pushed away her right uppercut. His left dagger cut across her right shoulder then he slid behind her, his right dagger cutting under the right armpit. Both turned to one another. Squirrel winced as she lightly limped on her right leg. The man grinned at this, but SG didn't notice as she lunged at him. She shouted as she threw her right fist forward. A half a second after she started to throw her punch, he wasn't there. She tumbled onto the ground. When she looked up, he was standing where she had been before she jumped.

"H-Huh? You can teleport?"

"Useful power, especially when toying with someone."

Squirrel panted and winced as she got onto her feet again. The man simply stood where he was, grinning and twirling the daggers in his hands. No longer than ten seconds did he charge at her again. The heroine rushed forward. Her foe jabbed with his right dagger, but SG managed to step out of the way before kicking out with her left leg. It struck his back and sent him skidding away. But he turned around, chuckling.

Squirrel Girl frowned and rushed him. She threw a left haymaker, but ducked under the attack. As he did, one dagger slashed across her left leg, just under the knee. SG turned to face him, but he jabbed the other dagger into her left knee. Squirrel Girl screamed in pain and horror as she fell onto her back. She grunted as she tried to stand using her other leg, but he quickly jammed the other dagger into her right knee. Again she screamed. She panted as she tried to get up, but the metal went straight through and out the other side of her legs. The man smirked as he stood over her. He snapped his fingers and the daggers he'd used, including the ones in SG's knees, vanished.

"Another useful power."

He chuckled, eyes closed for a moment. When he looked down he watched his foe, on her belly and trying to crawl away. Her sobbing and groaning made him grin wider. Slowly he walked towards her, twirling one of the daggers in his hand.

"You know, I'm not actually for the whole 'any last words' shtick. However, given the circumstances...I can't help myself. Where I'm from, one might say in drains a part of you that was with you before...though given how pathetic you look right now...Sorry darling, but death would be mercy for you now."

He planted one boot on her back, pinning her. Then he used the same boot to flip her onto her back. Squirrel Girl's eyes were wide, her face slick with sweat.

"So what'll it be? Which would you prefer?"

The dagger in his left hand disappeared and he pulled out one of his shotguns, aiming it at her head. "Bullet to the head? Brutal, yes, but it will be over instantly. Or a dagger to the gut? Excruciating, sure, but maybe the slimmest chance you'll make it out alive."

He chuckled.

"Choose."

Squirrel Girl knew that she had been given a devils deal, but in her crippled state she had no choice but to choose an option, and pray for the best.

"One last chance to choose otherwise I'll make the decision for you. So speak now or forever hold your peace."

SG could've thrown up at this, not from pain but from disgust at this man's sadism. But her head dropped, defeated, and made her choice.

"The dagger."

"Your life, your choice."

Her attacker sneered as the shotgun vanished and was instead replaced with the dagger.

"This pain will be the worst, yet the last pain you'll ever feel. If by some miracle you survive this mortal wound, I doubt you'll survive the trauma of this incident, so I win either way."

The man turned the dagger so that she could see her reflection in the dagger, which terrified her even more.

"Go to hell."

Squirrel Girl whimpered as it suddenly felt like ice water was running through her veins, and her heart was beating at an uncontrollably fast rate.

"When you're already from hell, that's not even a threat."

Her attacker grinned as he planted a knee into her chest and then reared back the dagger, and started to plunge it down into her stomach.

A lone sound could be heard, and it was not the dagger cutting through flesh followed by the heroine drowning in her own blood, but rather an energy blast screaming from out of the shadows and striking the dagger which caused it to go flying out of her attackers hand, which was followed by another blast striking him in the chest and sending him tumbling back and off of her chest.

Her attacker let out an enraged yet surprised cry and quickly recovered from both his shock and the attack as he sprung into a combat stance.

"Whoever you are, you had no right to interfere with–"

He was unable to finish due to another blast striking him, this time in his face, which caused him to stagger a few steps backwards. Once he recovered he again began looking for his attacker. A confident smile then formed on his face as he saw something that would've easily gone unnoticed by an ordinary man, but he was not ordinary, not even close.

"Your cloak is impressive, but I'm not so easily fooled. Now that I can see through your disguise, you stand no chance."

His sneer turned into a smirk as his shotgun formed in his hand and he took aim and fired a single shot. Squirrel Girl was surprised when the shell seemingly struck air, drawing sparks, but then shattered and fell to the ground next to her.

"Drop your camouflage and fight me one on one. Make it a challenge for me, what do you say?"

The cloaked man taunted as the air shimmered as the camouflage was dropped. In it's place stood and armored man who was unknown to one, but known to the other.

"Nice armor, looks really expensive and well built...I'm gonna enjoy breaking it."

He sneered as he prepared to fire another round. Suddenly he felt two wires attach to his cloaked back, followed by electricity flowing into his body. He shouted in pain and surprise. Even though he wasn't fully human anymore, he still couldn't help but drop to one knee from the attack.

"Again attacking from the shadows?!"

He rose quickly once again and whipped around to confront his second attacker. However in doing so he had made a grave mistake, and his first attacker moved to quickly capitalize on it. He raised his right armored hand and fired a small tubular looking device from it. The tube covered the distance with blazing speed and then exploded when it arrived at its destination, blinding the cloaked man with nine blinding flashes of light.

"Your souls will suffer and burn for all–"

He was unable to finish due him seemingly getting struck in his chest and then face with thin air as he was sent flying back towards his first attacker. The armored man triggered to very long and lethal looking claws from his right gauntlet covered wrist and then slashed at the cloaked man as he went by him. His aim was true as blood went flying as the cloaked man tumbled into a bloody heap.

The cloaked man very slowly rose to his feet, and was very visibly shaking, and it wasn't clear if it was from injury, or pure rage. The cloaked man aimed his shotgun once again at the visible armored attacker, who proceeded to retract the two claws and raise his own right armored fist. Two small gun barrels could be seen poking out of the armor.

Both men engaged in a silent staring contest as the cloaked man let out an angry hiss and lowered his gun.

"Next time, my soul will devours yours!"

The cloaked man hissed as he began to turn into a mist and returned to his realm. Just before becoming a full on mist he saw the armored man raise his middle finger on his right hand. He then fully turned into mist and left this reality to return to his own.

"Mind giving me a hand?"

The armored man heard a disguised voice ask from behind him.

"Sorry about that, wanted to make sure that thing wasn't coming back."

The armored man turned to look at the injured squirrel tailed heroine, who was being helped by another now de-cloaked armored individual.

"Let's hope he took the hint."

The second armored individual's tone was disguised yet was clear to those present. The man sighed before he spoke up.

"Whatever the hell, or who the hell that was, it's unlikely he took the hint or warning that we're not ones to mess with, he'll return. Only question is when?"

"Agreed entirely. Can't fault me for wishing that though."

The second armored individual's embarrassed tone was not well hidden with the voice changer.

"You're always optimistic, that's one thing I've always loved about you."

"Just one thing?"

The second couldn't help but tease him.

"Let's call a truce on this discussion for now."

The first's tone was known all to well to the second, but in a good way. The first nodded.

"But for now we have a job to do: how's is she?"

He took a knee next to his colleague and began eying the injured heroine, taking note of her visibly severely damaged knees, and her breathing which was raspy, but steady.

"Best case scenario?"

"Best and worst. Don't hold back on details, every one could mean the difference between her living... or dying."

His tone was bitter.

The second nodded their armored head silently and quickly pushed a button on their left armored wrist gauntlet. Their armors eyes began glowing a reddish color as the armors eyes could now see the injured squirrel heroines bones, muscles and veins.

"We both can visibly see that her knees are completely run through. Internal scan doesn't look any better. Her knees look very possibly well beyond repair. If by some miracle this damaged can be repaired, I'm not sure it will all be repaired. Might have to just accept the best results if all cannot be fixed. Combined with multiple laceration and large amount of blood loss, she's lucky to be alive."

"Most likely her healing factor repaired just enough damage to keep her alive so far. But I know hers is small per her past admission to us. It's good at repairing damage, but these wounds likely overtaxed her healing factors ability to keep repairing. Even with our Nano Tech, it wouldn't be enough. We both know there is only one way to save her life, and allow her to have a possible heroine future."

He raised his left gauntlet and began typing commands into the screen.

"Are we sure that we should take her to–"

"It's the only option. I know our personal secrecy is very important, as is our contacts... but she would kill us and be devastated if we didn't try and save Doreen's life. I know your personal opinion and feelings about Doreen, but right now we have to save her life. She would help us both if the situation was revered."

The first began dialing a secure line.

"I hope she would, because we didn't exactly get along. Or leave on the best terms."

The second tone was bitter yet with a hint of regret, which did not go unnoticed by the first. But he focused his attention the secret line which connected.

"Doctor, we need a severe trauma evacuation unit to our location right now."

"I've got your location pinpointed. Sending a medical crew to your location, ETA: 9 minutes. How bad are your wounds?"

Despite the individual's voice being disguised, it was clear it was thick with worry.

"It's neither of us. Doc, it's Doreen. She's very badly injured, crippled... possibly crippled for life, unless you and your team can heal her. I'd prepare for and start scrubbing for surgery. If we want to save her, you'd have to start operating once she arrives."

The doctor gasped.

"I'll assemble my best surgeons on location, and I'll preform this operation as well. I promise you, I'll do everything I can to help her. Please keep her warm and steady until we arrive..."

To Be Continued...

AN: Doreen has been badly crippled, however is it beyond repair... you'll have to wait till next chapter to find out that answer, as well as who the two armored individuals who saved Doreen are? Here's a hint: if You've known me for years, these two played an enormous part in shaping my writing. If you know, please don't provide spoilers for new fans.