"The Tournament" - Part Four

Part Four

            With the exception of Toby, Raiden, and the Earthrealm defenders, everyone dispersed from the courtyard, following the death match between Scorpion and Margie that resulted in the latter’s death. Shang Tsung declared it the end of the first round of the Mortal Kombat tournament.

            Toby was in stunned disbelief, mourning in the passing of her Time Lady friend.

            “This is all my fault,” she lamented beside Margie’s dead body. “I forced her into this nightmare only because I wasn’t sure if I could trust this new woman she regenerated as.”

            “Regenerated?” Raiden reacted to the term curiously.

            Staring at Margie’s ravaged inert form since the end of her match, they suddenly detected a shift in movement. Grief changed to astonishment as Margie’s wounds began to heal rapidly. Shortly thereafter, she awoke with a loud, raspy gasp.

            “You’re alive!” Toby cried.

            “But how?!” Sonya questioned. “Scorpion killed you!”

            Margie put her hand over the spot on her chest where Scorpion’s spear perforated, feeling her second heart beating again. “Good thing I’m still within the first fifteen hours of my regeneration…that’s how I survived,” she enlightened her companions. “But, next time, I won’t be so lucky.”

            “Next time?!” Toby couldn’t believe she even said those words. “We should get outta here while our heads are still intact!”

            “And give that arrogant old fool the satisfaction of believing he bested me?!” Margie countered, evidently triggered by her earlier encounter with Shang Tsung. “I’m going to win this tournament and rub it right in his face!”

            Toby struggled figuring whether Margie was joking or not; if that old trickster she once was as Cara showed itself in this sick, twisted joke of a declaration she made. Unfortunately, the determined look in her dark brown eyes told Toby that the Time Lady was dead serious.

            “Shang Tsung still thinks you’re dead,” Sonya pointed out to Margie.

            “And that gives me an advantage,” Margie said. “The whole time he’ll be relieving in my ‘death’, I’ll be getting some much-needed training before I step back into the spotlight and show ‘em what I’m really capable of.”

            “I will train you.”

            All eyes centered on Raiden, who volunteered for the task.

            The Elder God was still unable to ascertain how Margie returned to life, yet he saw some great potential in her. “I must caution you…your training will be extremely difficult,” he stated. “It may even change you.”

            “I’ve been through a few changes already,” Margie coyly noted. “Hit me with your best shot.”

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            Over the next days, Margie underwent rigorous martial arts training under Raiden’s tutelage. In the span of this time, Toby could see exactly what Raiden meant by the experience changing Margie – or, more or less, establishing the personality of this incarnation of Neas.

            Margie acceded to a more hard-edged demeanor that was miles away from the goofy persona of her previous life. Even her attire reflected this established personality, wearing revealing red ninja garb. Her weapon of choice became a pair of sais that Raiden helped her grow accustomed to fighting with.

            Once she stepped back into the tournament, she surprised everyone, particularly Shang Tsung (just as she hoped). No mortal could have survived Scorpion’s fatality, the old man contemplated. As soon as he was over the shock of her resurrection, he pitted her in a rematch against her first (and only) opponent so far in the tournament: Scorpion.

            This time, it was an evened match between the two.

            Margie put up a much better defense, managing at one point to deflect Scorpion’s spear maneuver with her one of her sais – one of the tactics Raiden taught her. In fact, her sais were the deciding factor in this rematch, catching Scorpion off guard entirely. She sliced at his arms, legs, and abdomen. She ultimately brought the demonic ninja to his knees, having drained him of both energy and blood.

            For Margie, the match was over. She had more than proven herself worthy of proceeding on with the Mortal Kombat tournament.

            Shang Tsung, however, had not declared the match over.

            “Finish him,” he commanded Margie.

            She stood firm, glaring at Shang Tsung from her victorious place on the courtyard fighting stage. “No,” she boldly refused. “Once I win this tournament, I will end it and you permanently!”

            This was none too pleasing for Shang Tsung.

            Margie made herself into a formidable threat in the old man’s eyes.

            As such, after the match, he retreated to the lair of his grand champion – the four-armed Shokan warrior known as “Goro.” Between the stone walls and dark passageways, he consulted with the Shokan:

            “This mortal, who has the ability to rise from death, is a nuisance. We must do whatever we can to destroy her…starting with her young companion.”