Part Three
Rising up from his throne, Shang Tsung declared,
“Scorpion wins! Flawless victory!” He was a decrepit old man with pale skin,
long balding white hair, and a beard and mustache to match. Donned in robes
with shades of blue and yellow, he oversaw each match of the Mortal Kombat
tournament. Following Scorpion’s bout, he challenged to the crowd of spectating
fighters, “Who wishes to step forward and test their might against him next?”
Not a single fighter in the audience came forward.
They were all frightened, and rightfully so.
Of course, Toby seemed more so than the rest of them,
turning to Margie and panicking: “We can’t do this! This was a mistake!”
“Calm down,” Margie beckoned her companion.
“What do you mean ‘calm down’? Don’t you get it?! We’ve
accepted to be part of a real-life blood sport from Hell! Look at me! I am not Jean-Claude Van Damme!”
Toby’s loud, expressive ramblings did not go unnoticed.
They attracted attention from most of everyone in the
courtyard, including Shang Tsung himself. “You,” he bellowed, putting an end to
Toby’s worrisome blathering as he pointed one of his dangling thin fingers, its
long fingernail aimed specifically at Toby. “You shall be Scorpion’s next challenger!”
Toby’s body went rigid; Margie could hear a loud gulp go down her throat.
She saw the fear in her eyes – a young woman who knew she
was going to die.
“No,” Margie defied. “I’ll
be his next challenger!”
The Time Lady made her stance on the matter clear,
approaching the fighting stage and standing directly across from the demonic
ninja.
Needless to say, Shang Tsung was not pleased.
“Only I make
the choice of who fights in the Mortal Kombat tournament,” he asserted. “And I
chose the girl to fight, not you!”
“Why a girl when you can have a woman?” Margie retorted. “What’s wrong, old man? Scared that your flaming bonehead will be beat by one?”
Her words were laced with much disobedience towards Shang
Tsung.
There were murmurings of it among the spectators; some
talked of how Shang Tsung might retaliate, with the removal of Margie’s tongue
serving as punishment, while others were fascinated by her bravery.
Shang Tsung, on the other hand, hid his fury with
pleasure.
The foolish mortal
doesn’t stand a chance!
“We have our new challenger,” he said. “FIGHT!”
Without a moment to prepare, Margie was forced to defend
herself from the immediate onslaught of Scorpion.
Displaying an unearthly set of martial art skills, he did
not hold back.
Margie was bloodied and bruised only a minute in.
She lacked her own fighting skills to square against the
demon ninja, believing those she inherited in the Time War would have sufficed.
Clearly, she miscalculated the odds of her survival. And it got worse as soon
as Scorpion unleashed a spear that was concealed somewhere in his gauntlet.
Attached to a metal chain, it penetrated Margie’s chest and punctured one of
her hearts.
“GET OVER HERE!” he exclaimed in a haunting voice,
painfully dragging Margie towards him and delivering a brutal uppercut to her
face.
Margie’s body was tossed high across the air, landing
several feet away.
“NO!” Toby shrieked. “Somebody stop this! Please!”
Raiden and the Earthrealm defenders were hesitant to
interfere.
“We cannot,” the Thunder God told her. “To do so would
mean that she forfeits her spot in the tournament.”
“And that is punishable by death,” Liu Kang added.
“Looks like it doesn’t matter any now,” Sonya indicated
Margie’s unmoving, battered body on the floor.
The match was over, with Margie’s death signifying a
default win for Scorpion.
“Scorpion wins,” Shang Tsung made it official. “Flawless
victory.”
Though Raiden hated to admit it, it was indeed a flawless
victory; Margie never stood a chance.
At the corner of his eye, he could see Toby dropping to
her knees, crying.
“This can’t be happenin’,” she whimpered.
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