"We're the first ones here?" Asked Sonya Blade as she arrived at the mess hall. Her match ended with a victory of course. The only allies standing before her were Stryker, Liu Kang, and Kenshi.
"Sub Zero was in here for a while, but that guy isn't interested in socializing." Explained Stryker.
"I wouldn't doubt it if we're all that's left. " Stated Kenshi.
"That's impossible.. How could so many of us lose?" Questioned Sonya.
"Do not listen to him, Sonya. Earthrealm fighters are more resilient than Kenshi gives credit." Said Liu, calming her nerves.
Night had fallen over the island and all the fights were surely over already. Each fight took place at random locations, so it's not unlikely to say it would be quite a long walk back to the main area. However, others should've already arrived. The four fighters knew this. The idea that the four of them, and Sub Zero, would be left to win this tournament was far too scary to think about. The silence shared between them finally broke when the doors creaked open. Nightwolf had arrived.
"Thank the elder gods." Sighed Liu Kang as Nightwolf approached the group. "I am happy you made it, Nightwolf."
"Indeed, I faced a strange opponent. Recruited from another realm claiming to be the God of war. He was most troublesome, but out of his element. I simply offered him aid in returning home." Explained Nightwolf.
"Did you catch any of the others on your way back here?" Asked Stryker.
"Unfortunately, I only found corpses. I gave up the search and decided to return." Replied Nightwolf.
"This can't be good, Liu." Stated Sonya. "We can't win this thing with just the six of us. And without my team…." She trailed off.
"They will make it." Stated Liu. "If you cannot believe it yourself then believe me when I say it. I have faith." Liu said as he recalled the very similar advice he'd received from Raiden before the tournament.
On the other side of the island Edward Lance waited patiently for his opponent. The special forces elite, and Sonya's teammate, Lance had begun writing notes down in his sketchbook. Whatever Lance could think of he wrote down, so there would be a record of the all he had plenty of time to kill waiting into the night for his opponent to arrive. However, this only kept him busy for so long, and as night fell he grew impatient. Lance didn't know the identity of his opponent or he'd consider searching for them himself. Eventually he put away the notebook and went through his gear. Several grenades, a combat knife, pistol, and of course a M4 rifle. Pretty standard weaponry, but Lance had one other trick up his sleeve, quite literally, with his mechanical arm. In a previous battle the special forces soldier lost his left arm to the black dragon, Jerek. It would've been the end of his military career if not for the extreme advances in cyber technology over the years. His single arm could stop bullets, and had the strength to knock anyone on their ass. In a one on one match with a monster he would need to rely on that. Whoever or whatever his opponent would be, would be in for a fight.
As Lance recollected his gear he noticed a faint crackling in the nearby trees. The Lieutenant swiftly leaped to the side and narrowly dodged a large burst of fire. His opponent had gone for the cheap shot, and Lance was lucky to avoid the attack. His enemy emerged from the flames revealing himself. Instead of a monster from another realm Lance was greeted by an enemy he knew all too well. No Face approached cackling as he did so. This black dragon enforcer was well known to be a pyromaniac. Honestly he didn't fit the group of mercenaries very well, as he had a limited skill set which mostly just focused around his flamethrower.
"Kano's gonna give me a bonus when I drag your charred corpse to his feet." Began No Face, still laughing.
"That asshole will be dead and buried within a week, and you won't see tomorrow." Said Lance.
"Yeah, because you SF guys have done so well against us in the past." No Face Replied sarcastically. "A matter of fact, I still remember Jerek taking that arm of yours."
"Yeah, I heard he was here too." Stated Lance. "Tell me where exactly, and maybe I will take you in alive."
Without a response No Face unleashed his flamethrower burning everything between himself and Lance. The soldier quickly took cover behind a Boulder so as to not be incinerated. He fired his rifle blindly over his cover into the inferno hoping to kill his enemy fast. None of the shots came close, and No Face began circling the rock to get an angle on Lance. Lance tossed a few smoke grenades to buy time for him to move again. Rather than using his flamethrower, No Face used an automatic pistol to fire into the cloud. Lance narrowly avoided the gunfire with one bullet ricocheting from his metal arm. He barely made it to another boulder when No Face pulled out a few grenades of his own. High explosive and incendiary bombs went off burning away at the terrain.
The flamethrower paired with the bombs had caused a wildfire. The smoke had started to become a problem for Lance as well as the fire which would force him to move from cover soon. He shot from his protection and began shooting at No Face, but the merc wore full body armor that made gunfire ineffective. Lance shifted focus to the pack on his back and fired. It took several shots, but he managed to put a hole in the gas tank. No Face took note of this and flung the tank as far as he could before it blew.
The explosion was still too strong and sent both warriors to the ground. No Face returned to his feet with a flare gun ready. The flare went straight at Lance who caught it in his metal hand before throwing it back at No Face. It struck his chest burning into his armor before popping and sending him stumbling back. He went for his auto pistol, but Lance was already on top of him. He quickly snatched the weapon, crushing it with his metal hand. The merc went for his combat knife, but it was too late. The attack came fast and No Face had no time to react. The metal fist collided with his face essentially destroying his entire facial structure. Mucus and blood poured from holes that shouldn't exist before a second strike connected. No Face hit the ground, but Lance continued the assault with a third equally devastating attack before a fourth and final strike split his skull open, spilling brain across the forest floor. Lance had won.