Part 20

Sonya and Johnny burst through Kitana's door, alarming her quite a bit.

"Sorry, but this is real important." Sonya said sitting and catching her breath.

"Something's up." Johnny started. "We were just attacked by two mutants. We tried to get as much information out of them as we could, but they're dead."

"We did get some info. It seems that Shinnok's sorcerer is working against him. The mutants we fought worked for Quan Chi alone." Sonya added.

"Which begs the question how come?" Johnny said as he also sat.

Kitana sat and stared at them for a while.

"Wow, that’s a lot of information to get in such a short period of time. Where were these mutants?"

"Outside our window." Sonya replied.

"If Shinnok really has himself a traitor, he’s not going to be too happy about it. I say we tell him." Johnny suggested.

"And he’d believe us of course." Sonya turned to him.

"Sonya’s right." Kitana said standing. "This could either work to our benefit, or could be disastrous. Either way, we cannot simply tell him. I think we should wait it out. We need to be very careful with this information. Now the Tournament starts tomorrow, you should both get some rest." Kitana said opening the door for them.

"Your probably right. "Sonya said walking out. "But listen. They’re after you too. So be careful okay?" She hugged her friend and Kitana shut the door behind them. Johnny looked over at her smiling.

"You think Liu was in there?" He grinned.

"Oh yeah." Sonya replied as the two walked back to their room.
************
The next day was the first of the tournament. The Earth Realm warriors found their names on the draw and competed in their respective fights. The whole while watching for some sign of the mutant rebels. But there was nothing. The tournament was back to it’s usual rules, a breath of fresh air after the last two. It reminded Sonya of the first tournament. As she, Johnny, Liu and Kitana walked on to the next fight, she saw Jarek fighting an Outworld warrior. He was a very skilled fighter, and very much resembled Kano’s fighting style. Sonya wasn’t surprised at all when Jarek finished his opponent rather brutally with his knife. He looked over at her and smiled. Sonya simply ignored him and kept walking. They soon arrived at their destination. A rather lush outdoor arena, surrounded by exotic trees and bushes. Sonya was the next to fight. She walked into the arena, after getting some wishes of luck from her friends. Shinnok was waiting for her, as was Quan-Chi. He was shorter than Shinnok, but equally as strange looking. His bald head was white, except for two black marks over either eye, that ran over the top of his head and ended at the rear. He had large blades on his shoulders, arms and shins, and wore a dark outfit. He was a very menacing sight, Sonya decided.

"Sonya Blade!" Shinnok called to her. "Are you ready for your next battle?"

"You better believe it." She said confidently.

"Good. I believe that no introduction is necessary." Shinnok smiled and looked behind her as her opponent entered the arena.

'Oh god, not Jarek.' Sonya thought, slowly turning around and coming face to face with Reptile.

"Oh." She said with a hint of disappointment in her voice. "It's just you. Isn't it? Reptile?" She asked the reptilian creature in front of her. He had changed his appearance some since she had last seen him. He no longer wore his ninja outfit, but displayed his snake like features for the world to see and fear.

"Yesss woman. It is I." He hissed back at her.

"Cool." Sonya replied uninterested. Without even waiting for Shinnok to start the match, Sonya let loose a high side kick to Reptile's face, sending the ninja flying to his back.

"Now now miss Blade, that wasn't very good sportsmanship. However I do think I will enjoy this fight."

"I hope I can put on a good show for you." Sonya said sarcastically.

"I am sure you will. Fight!" Shinnok shouted beginning the match officially.

By this time Reptile was back on his feet and rushing towards Sonya. Acting rather arrogantly, Sonya stepped to the side and stuck out her arm to clothes line him. But Reptile was ready for her and as his neck touched her arm, he grabbed it and spun her around before letting her fly to the ground. Sonya landed face first, and was a little shocked. She looked back over her shoulder to see Reptile rushing toward her again. She quickly lept onto her feet and donkey kicked him in the chest. She then used the momentum from the impact to somersault forwards and onto her feet, before turning and landing a spinning crescent kick to his head. Shinnok applauded from the side lines as Quan-Chi just watched silently. Johnny too was screaming encouragement. Sonya ducked an acid spit from Reptile and as she did, let out a blast from her arm bands. Reptile quickly jumped her attack and flew towards her. Sonya rolled backwards out of the way. As she got to her feet she tried a sweep kick at him but again he jumped it and was ready when she regained her footing. He quickly let loose a side kick to her stomach, sending her flying backwards and to the ground. Sonya looked up at Reptile, panting from the fight. He charged at her but before Sonya could react, He vanished into thin air.

"Huh?" Sonya said aloud before being thrown by some invisible force across to the other side of the arena. She quickly got to her feet and began looking for Reptile.

"Reptile?" She asked looking around.

"Yesss." Came his reply before he slammed an invisible fist into her face. Sonya was knocked to her hands and knees. She looked back over her shoulder, but was then grabbed by her pant waist and thrown forwards onto her front. Sonya slowly got to her feet. She looked around the arena and tried to block out everyone's cheers. She focused on listening for the ninja. Suddenly she heard a noise from behind her. Sonya spun around and grabbed an invisible fist, spinning Reptile around and kicking him in the side before letting go of his arm. She then grabbed his shoulder, lent down a little and slammed her fist into his face in a powerful uppercut, sending him flying in the air before landing on his back, unconscious and once again visible. She turned panting to Shinnok.

"Hot enough for ya?" She breathed heavily before spitting some blood on the ground.

Sonya walked back to her friends as the congratulated her and helped her down the steps.

"Does anyone mind if I just sleep for the next couple weeks?" She panted.

"I'll take her back to the room. I think she's earned a break." Johnny told Kitana and Liu before walking off.

When they got back to their room, Johnny laid her on the bed and undid her boots.

"God, you were amazing."

"Thanks." She replied rubbing her shoulder.

"No, I mean, my god. Your fighting skills have just tripled my own since I was alive. The first time I mean." He grinned at her.

"After you died, my training was the only thing that kept me going. If I didn't have that.... I don't know what I would have done." Johnny looked up at her as she sat on the bed.

"Well I'm back now. You can relax. I'll take care of you." He smiled at her before crawling up the side of the bed and kissing her. She wrapped her arms around him and they fell back on the bed.
**********
The next couple of days seemed to fly by. The Earth Realm warriors all had a chance to fight and show off their skills. Liu was up next. He was fighting the Lin Kuei warrior Sektor. They were fighting in a huge industrial area. All the walls were old and brown, chains hung from the ceiling and the air seemed very stale. The fight didn't last very long, Liu taking out Sektor within minutes. Again, Shinnok and Quan-Chi were present. The fighters began to walk back from the arena, they found themselves on the side of a large valley. The walkway they were on wasn't very wide, maybe two people, Sonya guessed. And large chains were attached from the ceiling to the walls just above their heads. The walls of the valley were all rusted and decayed, Sonya guessed that some sort of acidic liquid once flowed along it, but now it was bare.

All of a sudden a group of mutants appeared in front of them.

"Oh great." Sonya sighed. She turned around to talk to Jax and saw another group appear behind them. "Uh oh. This doesn't look good."

Mutants began appearing from everywhere. There were some in the valley, some across the valley, standing near the entrance to a series of hallways. There was a gap in between Sonya, Johnny and the rest of the Earth Warriors, but it too soon was filled with mutants that had appeared from above.

"Jax!" Sonya called out to her partner.

"Go! Meet us outside!" He yelled back, taking Liu and Kitana with him as they ran back fighting through the mutants that appeared.

"Oh, this should be fun." Sonya frowned.

"Grab a chain!" Johnny yelled pulling one of the chains from the wall above him. He swung down into the valley and across to the other side, just barely missing the attacks from the mutants below. Sonya reached up and grabbed another chain and dove off the walkway inches away from a mutant's blade. Sparks showered behind her as she swung through the gorge. At the bottom, some mutants were waiting for her. Sonya quickly pulled herself up grabbing the chain above her head with her feet and staying in a handstand position as she neared the bottom. The mutant's blades narrowly missed her head as she reached the apex of the swing and stayed in that position as she swung up to the other side of the valley. As she got above the walkway, she released her grip on the chain and gracefully flipped back to an standing position and gently placed her feet on the ground, all the while seeming to float in mid-air. Sonya and Johnny quickly cleared some mutants, before another hoard came after them.

"Split up. You go left, I'll go right." Johnny said to Sonya pointing to two hallways in front of them. Sonya nodded and they both took off, the mutants splitting up and following them. Sonya found herself running down a tight hallway, it's walls looked like the walls of the valley she had just swung across. A couple of mutants followed her down, she could hear their heavy footsteps behind her. Soon the hallway opened up into a huge dome shaped room. The walls still looked rusted and old, and their was a stained glass window on one side. Sonya kept running towards the other side of the room, a mutant close behind. As Sonya got to the wall on the other side, she lept at it, taking two steps up it before flipping backwards off of it. She grabbed the shoulders of the approaching mutant and swung over his head, placing her foot in his back, and dragging him to the ground, rolling and tossing him behind her. She rolled onto her feet and turned to face the next mutant. She quickly lept up into a handstand on his head, before twisting her whole body around, snapping his neck. She landed on the other side of the mutant and let go. His lifeless body remained standing, swaying before her. Sonya let go a huge side kick to his head, sending him finally to the ground. Her first attacker had gotten to his feet now so Sonya turned her attention back to him. Behind him another mutant ran towards them. Sonya quickly threw a sweep kick at the first mutant, forcing him to dive to her right. She then lept into the air and threw a spinning kick to the oncoming mutant, the force snapping his neck and forcing his body to land on the first mutant, the blades from the former impaling the downed opponent. Sonya stood standing between the three dead mutants in silence. But then two bodies came crashing through the stained glass window and fell to the ground. It was Johnny and a mutant. Another mutant followed them in from behind. Sonya lept into a sprint towards the second mutant. She lept at him, took two steps up the front of his body and slammed her foot into his face, causing the cartilage from his nose to impale his brain. Sonya landed on her feet, her back to Johnny and the other mutant. She turned her head over her shoulder in time to see Johnny throw a shadow kick at his opponent, sending him crashing towards Sonya. Without turning she quickly lept straight up into the air, placing her hands on his shoulders. She stayed in a handstand on top of the mutant before dropping her right leg into an axe kick, smashing the mutants face, and causing him to tumble to the floor. She landed on top of him and before he could get any sort of advantage on her, she took his head between her hands and snapped his neck. Sonya got to her feet and brushed herself off. She walked over to Johnny and was about to ask him what to do next when she saw another mutant behind him.

"Duck!" She cried in warning. Johnny did so and Sonya threw a round kick, hitting the mutant in the face and knocking him unconscious. As she spun around from the kick, her back to Johnny, she saw yet another mutant coming for her. She quickly put her hands between her legs for Johnny to grab. He did so and pulled her arms through her legs, causing her to flip over and kick the approaching mutant in the top of the head. He too was knocked unconscious, leaving the two warriors in the middle of a pile of bodies.

"I was right." She said panting.

"Huh?" Johnny asked also panting from the extreme exertion.

"It was fun." She grinned wickedly at him.

"Come on. We've gotta find the others." He said grabbing her arm as the two of them ran through the shattered window towards the exit.