Story of Kuai Liang (Sub-Zero)

Chapter 6: The Tournament (Part 1)

Shang Tsung was quick to call Johnny back to the arena, presenting Baraka as his next opponent. The Tarkatan growled viciously at Johnny, extending the arm blades as he held them in preparation to strike.

Johnny smirked, making another joke about Baraka's teeth before they started to fight. The actor stayed far away from the blades, only moving in when Baraka overextended. Kuai approved of this method - especially since Johnny didn't have a weapon of his own to wield. Suddenly, the actor fell to the ground in a split to avoid the blades, winding up his right arm before driving his fist into Baraka's groin, hard.

Kuai could hear groans of sympathy from Stryker and Kabal next to him, and even Nightwolf averted his eyes uncomfortably as Baraka howled in pain. That was a cheap shot, Kuai thought in disapproval. Still, whatever it takes to survive and win, I guess.

Shortly after the severe blow, Johnny was able to beat Baraka as well. He crowed triumphantly in his victory over the fallen kombatant, examining the arm blades in curiosity. Shang Tsung, with a displeased look on his face, called out for Johnny to finish Baraka - to kill him.

Johnny looked back to his friends on the sideline before looking back at Shang Tsung. "What, like... killing him? No way, man. I'm not a killer!"

Out of the corner of Kuai's eye, he could see Bi-Han and Sektor. They were muttering under their breath to each other with displeased expressions on their faces - they were probably unhappy that Johnny had spared Baraka's life. Disgusted by their views on the matter, Kuai started to turn away when something else caught his eyes.

As Shang Tsung called for the end of the tournament and the people started to disperse, Kuai saw the undead specter - Scorpion, Liu Kang said his name was. The warrior was staring directly at Kuai, fixing those blank, milky white eyes on the cryomancer. Kuai had to shrug off the uncomfortable feeling that he was feeling as a result of the eye-contact. Looking to side, Kuai froze.

Standing right next to the hellspawn was a familiar figure. Staring closely, Kuai recognized the pale-faced man as the sorcerer that had killed the Shirai Ryu. Kuai felt his blood boil as he forced himself to take deep, measured breaths. It would do him no good to lash out in anger - perhaps, he would get his chance to kill the sorcerer in the tournament.

Kuai turned away to follow after Liu Kang to the large stone temple behind the arena. They climbed up a path of winding stairs to reach the entrance, walking inside through the large double doors. Inside was a large room with many rectangular tables. This was the dining area, with yet another stone throne at the very back of the room. To the right and left of the throne were the entrances to corridors.

Liu Kang led the Earthrealmers to the left corridor, walking down the hallway with torches hanging on the stone walls. Finally, they came to a section of the corridor where there were doors on both walls of the hallways.

"These are the bedrooms," Liu Kang explained, gesturing to the doors. "They are all single-rooms, one for each of you. I will take my leave - Sonya and Johnny are in search of her friend, Jackson Briggs, and I must aid them."

He disappeared in a flash and the cracking sound of thunder, leaving the other kombatants there. Kabal turned to the others, nodding satisfyingly. "Well, Johnny did a good job out there. He showed those Outworlders that we're a force to be reckoned with."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Kenshi cautioned. "There's still more to come - we still face many more formidable warriors. There is Scorpion, the wraith, and the Lin Kuei."

Stryker frowned in confusion. "What the fuck is a Lin Kuei?"

"An organization in Earthrealm that is - essentially - an assassins' guild," Kuai spoke before Kenshi could, making the blind swordsman look at Kuai in surprise. "They abduct children and raise them in the clan, training them to be warriors and killers for the clan. About a decade ago, they took the people in the clan and converted them to cyborgs. Those two people you saw there are the senior warriors who kept their humanity."