Article: 13586 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 (06/??) Date: 7 Sep 1994 17:02:13 GMT Organization: UNC-CH School of Medicine Lines: 256 Distribution: world Message-ID: <34krml$tep@bigblue.oit.unc.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: cahaba.med.unc.edu Originator: jpickett@cahaba * * * Insert standard disclaimer here. When I finally finish this story, all parts will be reposted. Sub-Zero, Part 6 I walked over to Kitana's unmoving form. Kneeling beside her, I rolled her over on to her back. Her face was bruised and her nose was bloodied, but other than that, she seemed to be fine. "Kitana, wake up." I gently shook her, trying to bring her back to consciousness. Slowly, she opened her eyes. "Master, I..." Suddenly, her eyes widened and she made a startled jump, realizing who it was that was kneeling over her. "What do you want with me?" She had an almost panicked sound to her voice. "I don't want to hurt you. I want to know where I can find Shang Tsung." "Burn in the Hell of the Unholy Dragon!" She tried to get up, but I knocked her arm out from under her and held her in place. After the beating she took in our battle, it did not prove to be a difficult task. "Look! I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to. Now where can I find Shang Tsung?!?!?" She squinted her eyes and glared at me. "If you live long enough, he will find you! Shang Tsung will feast upon your soul, mortal." She broke into an evil laugh. Suddenly, I felt a little dizzy. Everything started to spin, then go black. * * * * * I found myself staring into the face of a man wearing brown robes. "Welcome to the tower, Sub-Zero!" he said. "Your next battle begins shortly, so rest while you can." I sat up and looked around. It was cold, much to my liking. The room was bare, except for one notable exception. There was a large window in the center of the left wall. Outside, I could see clouds flying past. I waited. The robed man hovered a few feet above the ground, staring out into space. "What's taking so long?" I asked. "We are waiting for your opponent to....... reconstitute." "Reconstitute? What the hell does that mean?" I received no response. I continued to wait patiently, enjoying the cold breeze blowing through the room. It could be used to my advantage. The room was gradually lit with a dull yellow light, which formed into floating yellow luminescent particles, like sparks. They started flying towards a point on the floor on the other side of the room. As they hit the floor, there was a blinding flash. I looked up and Scorpion stood before me. He looked identical to me, except for his yellow uniform. I felt my heart pounding in my chest and my stomach tie itself in knots. If I lost this fight, it would mean my death. Scorpion had a vendetta against me, and only my demise would satisfy it. I was waiting for him to say something, but instead, he just stood there, looking me over. I felt sick. "Round One, FIGHT!" Scorpion reached behind him and pulled out his spear, hurling it in my direction. I tried to duck, but it lodged itself in my chest. Searing pain traveled the length of my body, as I felt myself go numb. "GET OVER HERE!" he yelled. I was pulled across the floor like a fly caught by a frog's tongue. I felt a sharp pain on my chin, and the room spun. I landed with a heavy thud on the ground. I stood up, only to be kicked in the face. Quickly, I shook the dizziness from my head before the Hell spawned demon attacked again. I saw him standing in front of me, then he started to flicker. I knew he was going to teleport, just like he did when he killed my brother. I turned around and put up my hands in an X-block. I felt a fist connect with my forearms. I reached forward, grabbed the front of his uniform, and flipped him. I was back on my feet before he hit the ground. My chest was pounding with pain and I was bleeding profusely. Scorpion got to his feet and threw his spear again. This time I was ready for it. I caught it by the hilt and threw it to the ground. Taking a step forward, I launched myself into the air in order to do my flying kick. Before my attack found it's mark, foot connected with my leg and sent me sprawling to the ground. I stood up and started throwing blind punches. I felt four of them hit, then the spear hit me again in the shoulder. "COME HERE!" The next thing I remember was the man in the robe hovering above me, glowing rod in hand. My chest was healed, as was the rest of my body. Scorpion just stood there, staring at me with the white glowing orbs that were supposed to be his eyes. He said nothing, unlike most of my previous opponents. I stood up. "Time for me to send you back to Hell!" I said under my breath. "Round two. FIGHT!" I saw Scorpion's form start to flicker, so spun around and blocked his teleport punch. I punched him four times in the chest and froze the ground beneath him. I walked steadily across the ice as he flailed about, trying to keep his balance. I landed an uppercut on his jaw, knocking him backwards. Strangely, when I hit him, it didn't feel like I was hitting skin, it felt harder. I tried to slide into his shins, but he somehow blocked me. That was a first. He grabbed my uniform and threw me. As I stood up, I noticed him reaching for his spear. I ducked as he threw it, throwing a blast of cold his way as the spear sailed overhead. A roundhouse kick to his head ended the round. "Sub-Zero wins." The robed priest floated over to Scorpion and touched him with the glowing rod. "Round three. FIGHT!" I was expecting Scorpion to throw his spear, so I started to duck. Just then, I felt a fist impact on the back of my neck. I fell forward, not having time to get up before I felt a knee hit me in the back. I spun around, only to be pummeled with punch after punch, kick after kick. I started feeling dizzy, and the room started to spin. "FINISH HIM!" I knew it was over. I braced myself for my death. Darkness, spinning, a sensation of falling, an impact against the back of my head. A voice broke the silence. "Scorpion wins. Flawless victory!" I was still alive. I opened my eyes to find myself lying on the ground with Scorpion kneeling over me. His gruff voice echoed like death through the empty room. "I saw you spare the life of Jax, Cage, and even Kitana. Sub-Zero never showed compassion to his fallen prey. You are not the assassin who took my life. Who are you and why are you here?" "You killed my only brother, you Hell-spawned devil. Now thanks to you, Shang Tsung possesses his soul! I have come free him, and to do so, I must kill Shang Tsung." Scorpion reached down and offered me his hand. I looked at him for a moment, but chose not to accept it. I rose to my feet gingerly. I was still in a lot of pain from the beating. My nose was broke, my left eye was swollen shut, and several of my ribs were moving with a life of their own. Scorpion tried to help me regain my balance. "Your brother murdered me. I wanted revenge so I took his life. I am sorry that I have deprived you of family, but what I did had to be done. "I do have one question for you, though. Why did you not kill your former opponents when you defeated them?" "I'm no assassin. I left the Lin Kuei six years ago. And although I know there is no way I can help you regain your loss, I feel I must apologize for my brothers actions. I understand why you took revenge. I would have probably done the same. But I hope you understand why I am here and what I must do." "I do indeed. I feel somewhat responsible for what happened." I rolled my eyes at his understatement. "What I meant was, I had an opportunity to enact my revenge prior to the tournament. Had I done so, your brother's soul would not be held by Tsung. There would have been no need for you to come here and put yourself and your own soul at risk. I want you to know, though, I am not sorry for what I did. But a life for a life is a fair trade. Shang Tsung had no right to claim your brother's soul." The robed priest started floating towards us. "Gentlemen, the fight is over. You must continue the tournament." Scorpion turned to me with a concerned look on his face. "Sub-Zero, I will help you in your quest as much as I can. Like you, I am a man of honor. I feel I must atone for what has happened. "You will undoubtedly fight Mileena soon. Beware of her, she is not what she appears to be. No matter what, do not let her win, or she will most certainly kill you." "Is that why you had to 'reconstitute?'" "Yes. Good luck, Sub-Zero. We shall meet again." The robed man pointed at Scorpion. A beam of light shot from his finger, and Scorpion began to shimmer from sight. He soon vanished. The priest turned his attention towards me. "You are doing better than most of the competitors. This was your first loss, and you are still alive. I will warn you, two more losses and you will be out of the competition." "What happens then?" "Well, let's just hope you are killed in one of your other losses." I couldn't see his face, but I could imagine an evil grin under that brown hood. "Go down stairs and take the bridge over to the courtyard." "Aren't you going to heal me first?" I asked. "But you lost. Only the winners get healed." He took the glowing rod out of his vest and held it in front of my face. I reached for it, only to have him take it away. He then pushed me backwards. The pain in my ribs reminded me of my condition. "How can I fight like this? My next opponent will win without any trouble at all." "Yes, I can see your predicament, Sub-Zero. And with your next opponent, I would not suggest losing." That was all I could take. I launched a blast of cold at him, freezing him where he...floated. Walking over, I took the rod from him and touched myself with it. I could feel my ribs reattach themselves in their rightful place. The pain was gone. Suddenly, the sky grew dark. There was a flash and a seven foot tall man stood in front of me. He was wearing a mask and armor. His voice boomed like thunder. It was the voice that announced the rounds and victories. "DO NOT HARM MY PRIESTS, MORTAL, OR YOU SHALL FEEL THE WRATH OF SHAO KAHN!" He launched some sort of energy blast at me. I dropped the healing rod as I ducked, making a sprint for the door. I heard laughter behind me as I ran down the steps. I continued to run down flight after flight of steps. Soon, I stopped to catch my breath, looking back. There was no sign of Kahn. I continued to walk down for about a half an hour. Soon, I came to a door that opened out to a bridge. The stairs continued down for a while, and I considered following them, but for some reason, felt compelled to cross the bridge. I stepped out of the tower, closing the door behind me. This 'bridge' was no more than a three foot wide path that spanned the length of a huge pit. It must have been two hundred feet down. Another ninja stepped onto the bridge from the other side. I recognized him right away.....Reptile! His uniform looked identical to mine, except that his was green where mine was blue. "Yessssss, Sssssub-Zero. I have been waiting for thisssssss." "You know me?" "I knew your brother. He wasssss..... deliciousssssssssss." Rage filled my heart. "Round one. FIGHT!" Reptile pulled up his mask, and revealed his true form. He spat some sort of venom at me. It found it's mark in my eyes, causing me to go temporarily blind. I felt pain in my ankles as my feet flew out from under me. There was an explosion next to me, and it sent me flying through the air. Reptile kicked me out of the air, and I landed on the ground, next to the edge of the bridge. I wiped the venom from my eyes, which were still burning. Reptile grabbed me by the back of my neck and lifted me to my feet. That was a terrible mistake on his part. I let four punches fly in his direction, connecting with his chest. I then knocked his feet out from under him and I jumped back out of his range. He stood up, and tried to do my own slide attack against me. I launched a blast of cold at him and froze him in mid slide. Walking over, I uppercutted him, sending him sprawling to the ground. "Sub-Zero wins." A light appeared over Reptile and entered his body. He stood up, completely healed. "Round two. FIGHT!" I immediately jumped at him, kicking him in the face. I punched him repeatedly in the face, froze the ground beneath him, and uppercutted, finishing off with a slide. I then jumped back out of range. Reptile stood up and said "You cannot fight what you cannot ssssee." With that, he threw a flash pellet on the ground and vanished. I laughed out loud. "Reptile, I don't need to see you. I CAN SMELL YOU!" I let a roundhouse kick fly right in front of me and in connected with his ugly head. "FINISH HIM!" 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."