III . Me w ithout Mercy

Shang Tsung's throne room was massive. It was one giant room decorated in lush and lavish oriental styling. The dragon symbol for the tournament found itself on the walls, windows, and other adornments around the room. Massive columns supported the ceiling and littered the space we were in. Tsung's throne was directly in front of us up against the back wall, dead center. I stood there poised and ready for anything that came next. Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage stood on opposite side of me. We had passed all of the host's tests throughout the tournament. The three of us knew this moment was going to come.

The old man smiled a devilish grin.

``Your final test awaits!'' he declared. ``Face your worst enemy.'' He clapped his hands once with a thunderous boom.

Three figures emerged from behind his throne. Each took their place before one of us. The half-man, half-lizard creature made its way in front of Johnny. The monster was dressed in green Lin Kuei attire. I had never recognized him however. The second figure was recognizable through the shadows. His bright red bionic eye gave him away. It was the criminal mastermind Kano. He made his way right to Sonya. He laughed as soon as he had gained sight of her. Revenge was a common theme for the participants.

The third figure emerged from the shadows and it was who I expected. Scorpion. His appearance was striking. He was much different since the last time I did battle. His physique had grown. He was much more muscular. The uniform he wore made him look more fearsome. He was still clad in yellow, but now had spikes adorned on his shoulders and wrist guards. A skull decorated his belt. His eyes were a solid white. They seemed to glow. They were locked on me. I immediately took a fighting stance.

I came here with one mission, and wound up with another. That was one of survival. This experience was about to change me completely. Before today, I did not question my purpose for being here. There were objectives. Kill the old man, claim the prize. Simple. Then why is this ghost here? How did he know where to find me?

No time to pine over this. From the background, a gong sounded and a voice cried out.

``MORTAL KOMBAT!''

With that, the normal chaos that I was used to by now ensued. The others carried on with their respective battles while Scorpion made a lunge for me. I outstretched my hands and shot out an ice blast with everything I had in me. It stopped him dead in his tracks. I stared into those eyes that were still set on me. The frozen figure began to smoke and droplets of water let me know that he was about to thaw himself out. Such power, this ninja wielded now. Anyone else would be paralyzed with the arctic temperature I dealt. I delivered a sharp jump kick to the head that shattered through the ice. He still remained in one piece.

He leapt back up quickly to his feet. I had a spilt second to notice a sliver kunai being launched in my direction. I did a sideways flip over it and just missed it. The harpoon launched itself into a column directly behind me.

``GET OVER HERE!'' the specter shouted.

He gave a sharp tug on the tense wire that was stuck in the column. The force from his pull broke the massive structure from its place and began to fall on top of my direction. I easily avoided this with another back flip. Reptile wasn't so lucky. The column landed on him giving Johnny the time to help Sonya.

I used my slide to quickly maneuver myself back to Scorpion and land a couple of punches to his chest. The hits moved him back a couple of steps. Within seconds we were trading blows with each other. We blocked most of each others hits. I was growing weary. My skills were definitely being put to the test. He made this look easy and was relentless. I finally put an end to this nonsense. I crouched down low and connected a sweeping kick to the back of his legs. It sent him flying down on his back to where I connected another backfist to his face.

Thinking quickly to use my surroundings I conjured an ice blast to form an ice stalagmite on the ceiling. I quickly ran up the nearby column to jump off and give a quick kick to separate it from the ceiling. The ice fell with such force that it impaled the ninja, still on the ground through his midsection.

``May that be the end of your vendetta.'' I replied to the impaled specter.

As I walked away, I heard him get up. I stopped quickly and turned around sharply to see him standing. This was fear personified. He glanced at the giant ice spear that ran through his chest. The ninja let out a huge, maniacal laugh. He reached for the icicle and glanced at his impaled torso. His body seemed to push out the object itself. It fell to the floor and shattered instantly upon impact. His eyes changed from a solid white to a blaring red. They were fixed on me. He launched the kunai without hesitation.

``C'mere!'' He shouted.

I wasn't so lucky this time. The object dug into my right hip. I let out a yell. This was sharp and its edges were jagged making both exit and entry equally painful. This was real pain.

``Vengeance, young ninja, shall be mine!'' he bellowed as he pulled on his end of the tight rope.

The tension was pure agony. I was being pulled and I could offer no resistance. Suddenly, a plan presented itself.

``NEVER!'' I screamed back. With that I grabbed hold of the tense wire in front of me. It froze over and shattered as I smashed it with a straight hand. I was free for a moment and dug the harpoon head out of my hip. Some ice conjured up would stop any more blood loss. I could continue this fight.

The demon's solid white eyes got larger with surprise in reaction. He stood solid as the remainder of the wire coiled itself back up to him. This was my chance, I ran full sprint at him with the intent of landing a side kick to the neck. He disappeared from plain sight in a burst of flame before I landed it.

A rush came from behind and landed a punch straight to my back. The ghost had the weapon of shadow on his side. I fell forward at the feet of one of Tsung's temple guards. Springing back up to action I tussled with the guard, I would use him to my advantage. After a sharp blow to the guard's abdomen, he hunched over. I punched through his back and grabbed onto his spine. I yanked it up from his flesh and held the skull and spine high over my head. The room fell silent. Everyone focused on me at that moment. The distraction technique had worked.

I let out a huge yell and launched the severed skeleton at Scorpion. His eyes showed his terror at the sight. The bones hit with such force they knocked him over on his back upon landing on his chest. That would piss him off.

At some point in this battle, Liu Kang has entered and engaged Tsung in combat. All eyes seemed to focus on them at this point along with both Scorpion's and mine. Kang fought with calm and collected manner, while the sorcerer pulled every trick he had. Eventually, Liu connected a jump kick to his head that ended the battle. The chaos immediately stopped.

From the ground, Tsung moaned and reach out an open hand. The palace began to shake vigorously. He had conjured an earthquake to destroy the island instead of admitting defeat.

Raiden appeared to warn us.

``Shang Tsung is destroying the island! We must leave quickly!''

Both sects of warriors headed in opposite directions. The Earthrealm warriors ran for the entrance, while the otherworldly foes headed deeper into the palace. I began to follow Raiden and the others, but my legs stopped me. A rope had been wrapped around them, forcing me to the ground.

Scorpion appeared above me before I knew it. I attempted to fight back but he landed several punches to my head before I could flinch. My wounds from the fight were beginning to take hold. I fell limp just as he did a few years before. He pulled out a sword and placed the tip the wound from his harpoon from earlier. I let out a scream out of instinct.

``Will you not beg for mercy as I did, ninja?'' goaded the hell-spawn.

I spat out bile from lungs before I could answer.

``I, who was without mercy for you, dare not beg for it now!'' I yelled at him.

Scorpion laughed at this and commanded a flame to thrust at me with his free hand. The burst was short but intense in heat. I felt my skin singe at this.

``The tides have changed, Bi-Han.'' Scolded the yellow ninja. ``Now you must beg.''

``My name is Sub-Zero!'' I screamed back in between gasps for air.

``So it is!'' he shouted back.

The ninja pulled off his mask. A bleached white skull was underneath it. The mouth opened and the skull became ablaze. Fire shot at me and engulfed my whole body. I could not scream. I could only writhe and hope for a quick death. The burning started at my skin and then to my insides. I imagine that if my soul could have felt pain, it would have.

Author : SHU

Creation date: 2011-2-5-21-3

Modification date: 2011-2-5-21-3