Shang Tsung's Chamber
"You took my life from me, denied me the honor to die with dignity, denied me to ever see my wife or children again! You widowed my wife, orphaned my children! Now I will pay you back a thousandfold!" If Sub-Zero had any remorse, he didn't show it.
"You call yourself a ninja?!" Sub-Zero shouted, "Ninja are not afraid to die! Ninja do not complain! Your wife was Kunoichi, female Ninja! She knew the risks you were taking, as did your children! You have shamed them and your clan by carrying on this personal vendetta against me and my clan! It is not because I am alive that you are not accepted into you clans victory halls! It is because you are no longer Ninja, just an honorless dog!"
If looks could kill, then Sub-Zero would have ceased to exist. "If I am no longer Ninja, and cannot go to the victory halls, then that means my life......my afterlife has no purpose......other than revenge! If I cannot go to the halls of victory, then I will make sure that you will die without honor, that we will continue to fight for eternity, until we can regain our honor!" Sub-Zero was taken aback. "You...you are mad!" He said. Scorpion narrowed his eyes. "Well, being killed will sometimes do that to a person! Soon you too will know the madness of having one's life extinguished!" Scorpion said, launching himself at Sub-Zero. Sub-Zero was ready and threw a punch at Scorpion's solar plexus. Scorpion's image blurred and disappeared, and Sub-Zero felt an immense pain in his back as Scorpion kicked him full-on with both feet. Sub-Zero crashed to the ground, but used the momentum to vault onto his hands in a hand stand. He shifted his weight and twisted, so that he landed facing Scorpion. Ryu started to run forward to help him, but stopped when Sub-Zero, held out his hand and said, "NO! This battle must be fought one on one......with honor." Ryu backed away. While Sub-Zero was distracted, Scorpion ran towards him and side-kicked him in the stomach. Sub-Zero doubled over in pain, and Scorpion used this to his advantage. He elbowed the back of Sub-Zero's head, and as he fell kneed Sub-Zero in the face. Sub-Zero fell backwards, and Scorpion quickly got behind him. He stood behind him, back to back, and encircled Sub-Zero's head with his arms. He dropped suddenly, and when he landed, so did Sub-Zero, but Sub-Zero's neck crashed against Scorpion's shoulder. Had Sub-Zero resisted, even in the slightest, his neck would have snapped. But he didn't, he went with the technique, and let his body go limp. His neck wasn't broken, just badly bruised. Sub-Zero grabbed Scorpion's arms and used them to flip Scorpion over his body. Scorpion landed on his back. Sub-Zero knew that Scorpion could have teleported out of being hurt, (being dead has some advantages) but apparently, he wanted to keep some honor. So he fought fair. Just after Scorpion landed, Sub-Zero punched him in the face with all his might. The punch hit between the bridge of Scorpion's nose and his eyes. Scorpion showed no sign of pain. He grabbed Sub-Zero's arm and pulled it down against the stone floor. He then bent at the waist and used both knees to smash Sub-Zero's face. Sub-Zero took the hit, and rolled backwards into a low, kneeling stance. He wiped the blood from his face. He wobbled, and nearly fell, but steeled himself and stood up. Scorpion smiled underneath his mask. As if on cue, they both rushed forward and collided in a blur of punches and kicks, blocks and parries. As Scorpion blocked one punch to the face, one slipped through and into his gut. Sub-Zero blocked one punch to his face but a kick got past his guard and crashed into his ribs. This incredibly fast display continued for a while, until Sub-Zero saw an immense opening and exploited it. He ducked down for an instant, as a kick from Scorpion sailed over his head, and then just as Scorpion was pulling his leg back, Sub-Zero thrust his body upward, fist first, into Scorpion's jaw. Scorpion was sent flying backward. He landed hard, and got up slowly and shakily. Sub-Zero knew that his minor victory would hardly last, and he also knew his had to win this fight. "Maybe," he thought, "If I provoke him enough, he will get mad and make a mistake." Sub-Zero stood straight and crossed his arms over his chest. As he looked down on Scorpion, he said, in a mocking voice, "Pathetic. A stray alley cat would've given me more trouble than you. Face it, I am, and always will be, your superior." Scorpion got up and said, in a scathing tone, filled with hatred, "I see. Well then, if you are my superior, then you should be able to withstand my ultimate technique." Sub-Zero knew he had made a big mistake.
Scorpion lowered himself into a solid stance and glared at Sub-Zero. He reached his hand up to pull of his mask, and after he did, Sub-Zero saw that he had pulled off his face along with the mask. All that was left was a light brown skull, the eyes blazing with small fires in each socket. Scorpion reared his head back, crossing his arms over his chest. Sub-Zero would've moved, but he was caught like a deer in headlights, and stayed where he was. Scorpion thrust forward, and opened his mouth. A burst of white-hot flame shot out of his mouth. Sub-Zero would've been burned alive if he hadn't dove out of the way at the last second. He rolled a few meters away and stopped, holding his shoulder. He took his hand away to see how badly burned he was. All of his clothing was burnt away on that spot, and his flesh was charred and black. He ripped a long, thin piece of cloth off of his good arm and tied it around his shoulder to give the wound some protection, then froze it to keep it from getting infected. As soon as that was done, he rose and got into a stance similar to Scorpion's. The temperature dropped a few degrees, then a few more. It continued to drop steadily, until the air itself had a blue tinge. Sub-Zero clenched his fists and drew in a deep breath. The blue particles in the air drew into his body, he was emitting a blue glow. He looked up at Scorpion which revealed that his eyes had also turned pale blue. He put his hands together in front of him, almost as if he was praying. At the same time, Scorpion was rearing back for another attack. The blue glow around Sub-Zero expanded until it was a dome covering him and a space around him for three meters. Another blue glow soon coated his body, and then expanded until it reinforced the first. Sub-Zero repeated this until he could no longer be seen through the intense blue dome. Once again the blue energy contracted and flowed into his body. He crumpled to the floor in a heap. He rose, shakily, and Scorpion saw that Sub-Zero now seemed to be made of ice.
His whole body was pale blue, and his feet made a crunching sound when he walked. He moved steadily towards Scorpion, not even flinching when Scorpion tried to fry him with another fire breathing attack. He walked right up to Scorpion, his icy breath sending a chill down the spirit's body. He reached out with one hand and touched Scorpion lightly on the shoulder. Scorpion jerked away, but it was too late. The patch of ice that was now on Scorpion's shoulder quickly spread through the rest of his body. He didn't have a chance to scream as he was frozen solid, then broken into a thousand tiny shards from Sub-Zero's punch. Sub-Zero quickly kneeled on the floor and raised his hands, palms out, in front of his chest. The ice coating his body seemed to be drawn to the spot directly in front of Sub-Zero's hands. It slid off his body and gathered, hovering in front of his hands. He aimed one of his hands at the spot where the broken shards of Scorpion were laying, and fired it. The floor and everything else near what was left of Scorpion's body was frozen. Sub-Zero stepped on the ice, and it shattered into a thousand more tiny shards. Sub-Zero breathed a sigh of relief. "It's over." he said. Ryu walked over to him and said, "That technique was amazing! But why don't you use it in all your fights, like ours?" Sub-Zero said, breathlessly, "That technique is very dangerous to use. If I use it for a long time, or frequently, then I could accidentally freeze myself. I didn't use it in our fight, because I knew I might need it later against Scorpion." With that, Sub-Zero collapsed on to the floor, unconscious.
Ryu sighed and dragged him into a dark corner. He stood to face the others and said, "Someone's going to have to stay here and watch him." Sakura instantly replied. "I will. I wouldn't stand a chance against any of the guys you're going to be fighting. I couldn't even hold my own against Kano. I couldn't even beat a single guard." Ryu nodded and said, "True, but if you can't defeat a guard, what happens when a whole patrol of guards comes to find out what happened to the others? Someone's going to have to stay with you." Jason took one step forward and said, simply, "I will." then turned, and sat cross-legged next to Sub-Zero's limp form. It was obvious that he wasn't going to change his mind, so Ryu turned and started walking towards the portal. Ken followed, but looked back anxiously, worried. Liu Kang took one step toward Jason and bowed to him. He then turned and walked off.
Ryu, Ken, and Liu Kang walked cautiously forward, expecting nothing, but prepared for everything. They finally reached the portal chamber, and when they got close enough to the stone doors, they rumbled open. A dense, shining blue liquid churned before them. The liquid strangely seemed to be floating and retaining some semblance of shape, even though it was without a container. Through the murky blue, they could faintly make out a dark land, dotted with rubble and crumbling towers. They turned to each other, exchanging knowing
glances. They all knew that once in Outworld, there was no turning back. It was literally do or die. Without hesitation, they turned, and jumped through the portal.
