Article: 13767 of alt.games.mk Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!news-feed-1.peachnet.edu!concert!bigblue.oit.unc.edu!jpickett From: jpickett@med.unc.edu (James E. Pickett) Newsgroups: alt.games.mk Subject: STORY: Sub-Zero (07/??) Date: 8 Sep 1994 21:17:16 GMT Organization: UNC-CH School of Medicine Lines: 271 Distribution: world Message-ID: <34nv0s$gnn@bigblue.oit.unc.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: cahaba.med.unc.edu Originator: jpickett@cahaba * * * * * Insert standard disclaimer here. Fan fiction, not from Midway or my employer, blah blah blah. Sub-Zero, Part 7 > I walked over to where he stood, reeling in pain. The image >of him devouring my brother filled my mind. The sky grew dark. >I reached back, and angled my uppercut that I let fly into his >jaw. I knocked him backwards...off of the bridge. I looked over >the side, watching him scream and thrash as he plummeted to the >ground below. Splat. That was the end of Reptile. > "Sub-Zero wins. Fatality!" > "Shang Tsung," I thought, "You're next." I crouched down to my knees and carefully crawled to the edge of the bridge, looking over. Blood and gore oozed out of Reptile's broken body. "I knew you could kill if you had to!" a voice said from behind me. I stood up, startled, backing away from the edge of the bridge. It was Raiden. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "I am also a contestant in Shao Kahn's tournament. But, thanks to you, the opponent in my next fight had to ...... forfeit. Come, let's continue to the courtyard." I walked across the bridge to the other side, keeping an eye on Raiden. For some reason, I didn't trust him. I got the impression that I was being used.....like a pawn. "Raiden, I assume you sent Kang, Lao, and Cage here too." "Yes, along with Scorpion and Jax." For some reason, I was starting to get angry. "How the hell did you get Scorpion to come?" "I told him you would be here." "WHAT?!? You almost got me killed!!!" "Do be silent, mortal. The last thing I want to hear is your complaints!" Raiden said pompously. I was a bit taken aback, and decided not to continue the conversation. We continued on in silence, into another room. The ceiling was lined with rows and rows of sharp spikes. They made me a bit uneasy, as did the lingering smell of death in the air. I decided to turn my attention elsewhere. I looked through the window and saw some sort of reptilian birds flying around outside. My thought soon returned to what Raiden had said. "Why didn't you tell the others who I really was? Why did you let them believe I was my brother?" Raiden turned and looked at me with his white glowing eyes, showing anger in his expression. "I am Raiden, god of Thunder. You have no right to question me, mortal. What's done is done. Be silent or I shall smite you!" "You could use a little lesson in humility!" I was starting to see red. Who did this man think he was? I didn't care if he was some sort of immortal, this was my life and soul we were talking about. I had already been beaten, kicked, stabbed, thrown, sliced, and electrocuted, and the night was still young. Raiden turned and pushed me. That was it. I was going to kill this pompous, stuck-up manipulator. "Round one, FIGHT!" I didn't care if Shao Kahn was watching. I started off by throwing a blast of cold at Raiden. Before it was half way there, he disappeared. "Coward!" I thought. That's when I felt him grab me from behind and lift me off of the ground. Electricity traveled the length of my body. I started twitching in pain. After a few seconds, he dropped me to the ground. I stood up and side kicked him in the chest, causing him to stagger back a bit. He screamed something in Japanese and launched himself at me. I dropped to one knee, bracing myself, and blocked. Raiden bounced off of me, doing a back flip through the air. I froze him before he hit the ground. I walked over and kicked him out of the air. I jumped towards him, carefully avoiding the spikes above me. Extending my foot, I planted it on his chest, knocking the wind out of him. As soon as I landed, I froze the ground beneath him. His arms started flailing as he tried to regain his balance. I walked across the ice and started punching. I didn't stop until he fell to the ground. "Sub-Zero wins." A light appeared over his unmoving form, and Raiden rose to his feet, completely healed. I don't remember much from the second round. I was in a blind fury, continually punching and kicking." "FINISH HIM!" Suddenly my head cleared. Raiden was in front of me, swaying back and forth. What had I done?!? He had brought me here to help him with a noble cause, and I had fought him....and won! Raiden fell to the ground. "Sub-Zero wins. Flawless victory!" I bent over to help him up. He accepted my extended hand and rose to his feet. "Shao Kahn's magic is strong, Sub-Zero. My powers are severely diminished here, to the point where I cannot resist his will." I felt drained. My head was starting to throb. "What is the extent of Shao Kahn's powers?" I asked. "Here in the outworld, I don't know what his limits are. All I know is we must defeat him." Raiden put his hand on my shoulder. "It would appear that you have a better chance of doing this than I do. I have just suffered my second loss. One more, and I am out of the tournament. My powers are growing weaker. Please, give me your word that you will continue if I am defeated." "Not like I have much of a choice! I am here to kill Shang Tsung and free my brother's soul. I will accomplish this or die trying. When and if I am successful, I will make a stand against Shao Kahn." "Good enough. Let's go." Raiden and I walked through a door into a courtyard. It looked like the center of a gladiator arena. People filled the stands, and cheered as Raiden and I walked into the open. In the center of the courtyard, Shao Kahn sat on a thrown. On either side of him, there was a person, bound by chains. On his left was a woman, to his right was a man with a half of his face replaced by a cybernetic implant. "That is Kano and Sonya," explained Raiden. "Shao Kahn brought them back to life after they were killed in the first tournament." Kano looked at me and growled. I remembered Johnny cage telling me of how my brother took his life. Three men in robes floated over to us and escorted us to a waiting area across from Shao Kahn. I noticed that Shao Kahn just sat there, staring at Raiden, with rage in his eyes. Raiden was returning the stare. From the looks of it, these two had met before. "So, Raiden. This was the best you could do? I expected much better contenders for this tournament. All of their minds are weak and easy to bend towards anger." Raiden just stood there, staring at Shao Kahn. The crowd roared again. Kung Lao and Lui Kang entered the arena from the opposite end. They were brought over to the holding area with us. Kung Lao eyed me with anger, and looked as though he was going to strike at any moment. Lui Kang kept a watchful eye on Shao Kahn and one of his guards, an evil looking man wearing a yellow and black outfit. Two more people entered the arena. The crowd cheered even louder than before. One was Mileena, the other was a seven foot tall monster with razor sharp teeth. It must be Baraka, I thought. They walked over and took their places next to Shao Kahn. I looked around for Shang Tsung, but he was nowhere to be seen. I started scanning the crowd, but there were far too many people for me to spot him. "Gentlemen, take your seats!" said one of the floating priests. Shao Kahn spoke. "Sub-Zero and Kung Lao, come forward!" Kung Lao stood up and walked towards Shao Kahn, onto the designated combat area. I followed him. "Entertain me. Round one. FIGHT!" Kung Lao gave off an evil smile. I didn't want to fight him, but he obviously didn't share the sentiment. He started walking steadily towards me. When he was within range, I threw a roundhouse kick at him, but he ducked. Placing his hands on my shoulders, he proceeded to jump over me, using me as a springboard. What a strange move, I thought. It didn't appear so strange, however, when he held on to my neck and used his momentum to throw me. I stood up, just as he was taking off his dreaded hat. As he threw it, I ducked. It didn't do any good, being that he somehow controlled it's height and made it sail down and nick my arm. I started to bleed. The hat reappeared on his head. He flipped into the air towards me, but half way through, his body changed direction, suddenly coming straight down at me with a kick. I blocked and froze the ground beneath him before he landed. I uppercutted him and slid into his shins. As he stood up, I performed my roundhouse, jump kick, ground freeze, uppercut, slide combo on him, and that ended the round. "Sub-Zero wins." The priests healed us both. "Round two. FIGHT!" Kung Lao immediately threw his hat at me. Instead of ducking, I blocked. The had cut through the skin on my forearm and impacted with bone. At least it hadn't hit me in the face. As I lowered my arms, I noticed the hat was once again back on his head. I jumped into the air in order to kick him, but I was knocked back by some sort of wall of force. I looked up, and saw Kung Lao spinning, giving off energy waves. I waited for him to stop. He then appeared to sink into the ground and disappear. I felt a fist hit me on the back of the neck, sending me into the air. "Excellent!" said Kahn. I stood up and Kung Lao tried to uppercut me again, but I blocked and countered with four punches to his face and a side kick to the stomach. He tried to roundhouse kick me, but I knocked his other foot out from under him. As he stood up, I hit him with an uppercut. We were both close to exhaustion. I threw a cold blast at him at the same time he threw his hat. Pain ripped through my chest as the serrated blade found it's mark. I staggered backwards and fell. Gingerly, I stood up, looking towards Kung Lao. My cold blast hat hit. I walked over to Kung Lao's frozen form and ended the fight with an uppercut. "FINISH HIM!" Although my chest and arms were bleeding, I had no desire to do further harm to Kung Lao. I let him fall to the ground. "Sub-Zero wins." The crowd was not pleased. The priests healed us and led Kung Lao back to the waiting area. "Lui Kang, step forward!" commanded Shao Kahn. Kang walked over to where Kung Lao stood before our fight. "Round one. FIGHT!" One thing about Lui Kang, he is fast. He hit me with a flying side kick before I knew what happened. He then made a high pitched scream and flew towards me with both of his feet in front of him. He must have kicked me six or seven times. He hit me with another flying kick as soon as I was back on my feet, then a fire ball hit my chest. A third flying kick sent me sprawling to the ground. "Lui Kang wins. Flawless victory." During the second round, I managed to get some punches in, but in the end, I was no match for Lui Kang. "FINISH HIM!" Fortunately for me, Kang had spoken to Raiden during my fight with Kung Lao, and chose to spare my life. I fell to the ground in a daze. Two losses. One more and I was out of the tournament. One of the priests healed me and led me back over to the waiting area. "Raiden, come forward!" The thunder god stood and walked confidently towards the combat area. His opponent was to be Mileena. "Round one, FIGHT!" I took the time to have a talk with Lui Kang. "Lui, thanks for sparing my life." "I was no sense in killing you. Raiden told me who you really are. I wish you well on your mission." I looked back at Kung Lao, who was watching the match intently. "What about him? He seems to want to see me dead." "Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung have murdered members of his family for generations. They often employed Lin Kuei assassins to do it. He had good reason to hate you, but now that he realizes you are not a member of the ninja clan, I'm sure he has changed his attitude. Also, he was impressed by your show of strength. You were the first competitor to defeat him." Kang stopped talking for a moment to watch Raiden strike Mileena in the chest with a blast of lightning. He turned his attention back to our conversation. "Kung Lao even defeated me. I was fortunate to win against you, otherwise I would have been out of the tournament." "Mileena Wins." We both looked up in shock as Mileena held her Sai up high, standing next to Raiden's prone body. "Looks like Raiden may be out of the tournament after this one," I said. "At least he is immortal. Even if he is killed, Shang Tsung will not be able to take his soul." "Do you know where Tsung is?" Lui Kang pointed to the man in yellow and black standing next to Shoa Kahn. "That's him. Kahn gave him back his youth." I seethed, etching his form into my mind. "FINISH HIM!" My attention turned to Mileena. Raiden was swaying back and forth a few steps away from her. She removed her face mask, and for the first time, I saw her true form. It was hideous. Her teeth were like Baraka's and she had an evil grin. Leaning over, she grabbed Raiden by the neck. I turned my head, not wanting to see him killed. I figured she was going to stab him with her Sai or rip his head off or something. Much to my horror, I was wrong. I looked back towards her, only to see her spit a pile of bones on the ground. She replace her face mask and held her sai above her. Shao Kahn laughed. "Mileena wins. Fatality!" Kung Lao stood up, but two priests set upon him, forcing him back to the ground. "Lui Kang, come forward!" "Good luck, Lui!" I said. Kang looked back at me, smiled, and walked towards the combat area. More to come........