Chapter Text
Dungeons
Xion tried to keep her excitement to a minimum as she walked through the underground hallways with Sonya Blade, looking around the darkened area to try to find the cells where Jackson Briggs was being held. The excitement wasn't directed towards the guy locked in the cell, but towards the fact that she was walking with Sonya Blade, a favorite character of hers from the games.
She liked Sonya because she was one of the characters that managed to be in the games a good amount of times and always kicked a good amount of ass when fighting her opponents, even though, according to V, she was a last minute addition to the first game. And the fact that she managed so cool without having superpowers was something that further impressed Xion.
It reminded her of Natasha, and she had become good friends with the former Russian spy, so anybody who reminded Xion of her usually always impressed the former Replica.
Although, she could admit to being slightly off put by the fact that Sonya didn't trust her thanks to her skepticism. Which, Xion could also admit that she understood because of the situation they were currently in.
"Okay, I'm making a guess right now," Xion admitted. "But I think the cells are this way."
"I hope you're right," Sonya said as they crept along the hallway. She glanced at Xion. "Just so you know, if there's anything wrong with Jax..."
"I'll be able to help him easily," Xion assured her. "I know a few things, myself."
"Well, I would hope so," Sonya said. She looked at Xion with a small expression of respect. "You and that idiot managed to hold your own pretty well against the dude with the blades and the lady obsessed with blood."
"Thanks," Xion said, flushing in embarrassment a bit. "You, uh, have no idea how it feels to get praise from you."
Sonya frowned in confusion before the hallway opened up into a larger area.
Both ladies were kind of intimidated by the room they now found themselves in.
This part of the dungeon was larger and much more intimidating than the part they had just walked through. There were many shut gates for the cells throughout the room to hold prisoners. There were gigantic stalactites on the ceiling serving as threatening spikes, skeleton bones just laying on different parts of the ground to show people who had died here, and chains that hung from the ceiling and went in multiple directions. Dead bodies hung from some of those chains, showcasing some of the more recent deaths.
On one side of the dungeon was a large throne made of bones and broken parts of the walls, looking nice and imposing.
However, their attention was quickly drawn to the one cell on the far side of the room where Jackson Briggs was being held, which was actually larger than they expected.
Both ladies saw that Jax was pretty much as bad as to be expected. He wore green army pants with pads on the knees and around the bottom of his legs. For a shirt, he had on a grey vest with patterned designs going up the sides. He wore no shirt, so his chest and arms were revealed through the vest. He did have on arm guards, and there were many cigars in one of the pockets of his vest.
Of course, he was pretty bruised and battered after who knows what Shang Tsung's guards had done to him. There were cuts and purple marks on his body, while his clothes were rumpled badly from whatever the guards had done to rough him up.
"Jax!" Sonya exclaimed, quickly running to the gate that was holding her partner. "What did they do to you?"
Battered and bruised, Jax looked up at their arrival.
"Run, girl, run," Jax said in warning.
"Not happening," Xion said, determination in her voice.
Quickly summoning her Keyblade, Xion pointed it at the gate and shot a beam into the Keyhole of the lock, opening up the gate quickly. She then cast Curaga, causing green light to surround Jax.
Sonya watched in surprise as the wounds all disappeared from Jax's exposed skin. Jax himself sighed out in relief as he felt his wounds slowly heal.
"Come on, let's get the hell out of here," Xion said.
"Uh, ladies..." Jax said, pointing to another side of the dungeon.
Sonya and Xion followed his gaze, and their eyes widened.
Across the room, Shang Tsung had walked into the dungeon, flanked by two guards carrying spears. Tsung smirked at the group, his suspicions confirmed at the situation.
"Miss Blade!" Shang Tsung greeted them. "You do not disappoint! I have been expecting you. And the arrival of Miss Eclipse is a welcome surprise."
"We're not part of your tournament!" Sonya snapped at the sorcerer.
"Technically, I'm not, either," Xion pointed out. "My friends and I stumbled on this by accident while on vacation."
"Must be a hell of a vacation, then," Jax commented with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, accident vacation or not, you are both very much kombatants," Shang Tsung remarked, gesturing to the small group.
Xion quickly looked around the dungeons, trying to find Sora, Vanitas, and Kung Lao since she remembered they were down here looking for Jax. But she couldn't see them anywhere.
"Where the hell are you guys?" Xion muttered to herself.
Kung Lao and Vanitas were currently leaning both sides of a hallway entrance, one that led into a small, secluded area that Sora was currently inside to relieve himself.
"Is this really necessary?" Kung Lao asked, looking at Vanitas with his arms crossed.
"Dude, neither of us have gone since we left Twilight Town, and neither ship had access to worthwhile plumbing," Vanitas told the Shaolin. "It's either go now, or cause a really big problem down the line."
Sora then appeared through the doorway with a wince.
"I don't know how old those toilets are," Sora said, gesturing back to the room behind him. "But they're rusted and they don't flush."
Vanitas sighed out in resignation and plugged his nose with one hand. He then raised his other hand and caused a ball of fire to appear within his palm.
"Give me ten minutes," Vanitas requested before going down the hallway.
Kung Lao and Sora both winced in disgust as Vanitas went down the hallway.
"I hope the bathrooms up above are much better," Kung Lao admitted.
"I wish we had tried checking out the bathrooms up there before we even came down here," Sora commented.
They heard the sound of fire burning from down the hallway, but decided to ignore the implications of what it meant.
They had been grossed out enough by the last three minutes. *1*
Inside Shang Tsung's fortress
Nightwolf had led the remaining way through the hallways of the fortress, helping Riku and Ventus find a large room where people were just moving around at random. The trio of men could see guards carrying spears on one side, while Baraka and Skarlet were recovering from their fight against Cage and Xion on the other, and Kitana and Jade were standing in preparation on either side of a large throne in the back of the room.
"Do you see the Sub-Zero or Scorpion anywhere?" Nightwolf asked, looking around the room.
"No such luck," Riku admitted, looking around. "I guess Subby's got something going on, and Scorpion might not be that interested in conversing with others."
"I think I might know where we can find out where Sub-Zero went," Ventus said, gesturing to one side of the room.
Nightwolf and Riku followed his pointed gaze to see Cyrax and Sektor talking with each other in a different part of the room. The three nodded their heads in agreement and started walking towards the two Lin Kuei.
"Let Ven do the talking," Riku informed Nightwolf. "He's a very nice guy, and people tend to trust that. He's proven himself good at getting information."
"Yeah, that's not putting any pressure on me," Ventus sarcastically commented.
Ventus and Riku stepped up next to the two Lin Kuei, and Ventus cleared his throat. The blonde hero got a little scared and intimidated when the two assassins turned to look at them.
"Um, hi," Ventus said, waving a hand at the two. "I'm Ventus, but everybody calls me Ven. And this is my friend, Riku."
"And why should we care?" Sektor asked, crossing his arms and glaring at the two.
He quickly proved himself as the obvious asshole of the group.
"Well..." Ventus said, trying to think of something to say. "We're big fans of what you've done as part of the Lin Kuei. I mean, all of you are pretty awesome, but Cyrax, Sektor, and Sub-Zero are probably the most amazing we've heard of."
"Uh, yeah," Riku said, understanding Ven's choice of doing the flattery angle. "And we just wanted to say what an honor it is to be fighting in this tournament with you guys."
"But, uh... where is Sub-Zero?" Ventus asked. "I mean, earlier, it seemed like the three of you were working together pretty well for this tournament. Where is he?"
Cyrax and Sektor shared a look before looking at the two teens.
Riku and Ventus felt fear in their guts when they saw the two assassins frowning at them.
"Who is the leak in our clan that informed you of who the Lin Kuei are?" Cyrax sternly asked. "Or have our warriors gotten so sloppy that they just decided to forget about keeping themselves secret in front of witnesses?"
"Whatever the case," Sektor said. "We must eliminate a potential leak that risks the exposure of our clan."
Sektor pointed one of his hands at the boys, revealing the flame thrower attached to his wrist. Riku and Ventus yelled out in surprise and scattered out of the way as the assassin blasted the flames out.
Ventus rolled on the ground to dodge, then summoned his Keyblade. Using his blade, he slashed through the light green net that Cyrax had tried launching at him, destroying the net before it could restrain him. Sektor started shooting fire at the blonde again, but Ventus cast Aero, causing a tiny tornado to appear around himself that extinguished the flames.
Riku summoned Braveheart and struck at Sektor's arm, knocking it down and turning off the flame thrower. He then swung the blade upwards, hitting Sektor in the face and knocking him back. Riku then yelled out in surprise and raised his Keyblade in defense as Cyrax pulled a buzz saw out from his belt and jabbed it at him. While Riku continued to defend against the buzz saw, Ventus yelled out and lunged at Cyrax, swinging his Keyblade and striking the assassin, knocking him back.
Ventus landed next to Riku, and the both of them dismissed their Keyblades, looking at Cyrax and Sektor in a pleading way.
"We don't want to fight you," Ventus said. "We're just looking for Sub-Zero."
"Well, that won't be happening anytime soon," Sektor sternly announced, stepping forwards and frowning in preparation with Cyrax. "Instead, I will be taking your spine as a souvenir to give to the Grandmaster."
"My friends," Nightwolf said, looking at the two Keyblade wielders. "I don't think they're giving you much of a choice."
"All right," Riku said, tilting his head to the side, not caring about the attention they had garnered from the crowds around them. "Let's roll, you pricks."
"You fools," Sektor said, arrogance in his voice. "We have been training for years to become the greatest warriors the Lin Kuei have ever seen."
"And we've been trained by a couple of spies, two one hundred year old Super Soldiers, and about a dozen different people with strange and unique abilities," Ventus said, raising his fists in preparation. "We're even."
Sektor struck first, firing missiles from the back of his suit up into the air that arced down towards the two Keyblade wielders. Riku blasted fire out of his Keyblade to draw the missiles away, dismissing it again. The silver haired teen threw a kick at Sektor, which the pyromaniac dodged, before he tried throwing his own punch. Riku dodged the punch with a sidestep, then delivered a quick thrust punch to the man's kidney, stepping back to stay out of the line of (literal) fire.
Ventus wasn't as lucky with dodging the first attack from his opponent, since Cyrax had taken out one of the metal balls that served as his explosives. He hit Ventus in the head with the ball, before the stomach, then smacked him in the face, knocking the blonde aside. He then tossed the bomb to the ground, causing a blast that had the blonde stepping back to dodge. Ventus retaliated by rolling forwards, then jumped up with a scissor kick, hitting Cyrax in the chest. Since Ventus's shoes were made of armor, and Cyrax was wearing a tunic instead of any armor of his own, the assassin stepped back to try to press through the pain of the metal hitting his chest.
Ventus then remembered a lesson that Natasha had taught him: use the fact that he's shorter than his opponent to his advantage.
So, the blonde charged at Cyrax just as the man had taken out his buzz saw again. He ducked to dodge the saw, rolling behind the assassin. He then jumped up and wrapped his legs around Cyrax's waist, catching onto the man like he was riding a piggyback. Keeping himself sustained in the air despite Cyrax's confusion, Ventus yelled out and rammed his elbow to the part where the assassin's neck met his shoulder, causing Cyrax to yell out in pain.
While Ventus had been fighting Cyrax, Riku had still been going against Sektor, dodging the man's punches and kicks, before jumping up to dodge a sweep. Riku then finally retaliated, kicking Sektor's ankle before jumping up and throwing a right hook at Sektor's head. Sektor dodged the punch before grabbing Riku by the shoulders. He pulled Riku in, then rammed a knee into Riku's stomach. Riku fell to his knees, then Sektor placed his hands on each side of Riku's head, sending out tiny blasts from his wrist gauntlets that knocked Riku back with a wince.
Riku rolled backwards on the ground to keep the momentum from hurting himself too badly, then he moved forwards, punching Sektor in the face twice before kicking the man in the stomach, knocking him backwards. Sektor then used his technology, having a green portal appear underneath him that he went through, then came out of a different one across the room.
Sektor ended up right next to Cyrax, who was struggling to get Ventus off of his back. Ventus had punched Cyrax in both sides of the head before Sektor grabbed the blonde and threw him aside the room. Riku charged to help his friend, but Cyrax blasted a net out of his gauntlet, which flew at Riku and surrounded him, keeping him restrained for a bit. Cyrax then grabbed a bomb from his belt and tossed it at the ground where Riku was standing.
Luckily, Riku was able to evade the bomb by surging forwards with his slide move, leaving behind the dissipating net and dodging the explosive as he charged at Cyrax. Cyrax took his buzzsaw out and slashed it at Riku, who defended against it by summoning Braveheart and slashing his Keyblade, intercepting the attack with one of his own. The two of them swung their weapons at each other, the blades hitting and intercepting each others' attacks. Of course, Since Riku's blade wasn't sharp, he was able to move around Cyrax and strike the assassin without any negative connotations.
Meanwhile, Ventus had pushed himself to his feet and summoned his Keyblade to face Sektor while Riku distracted Cyrax. Ventus jumped back to dodge fire being blasted out of Sektor's gauntlets, then lunged forwards to strike. Of course, he ended up striking at nothing because Sektor had used another technology portal to teleport where Ventus had been standing moments prior, trying and failing to uppercut Ventus.
Ventus then blasted Fission Firaga at Sektor, which the assassin dodged before moving towards Ventus and doing the sweep attack, sending the blonde tumbling to the ground. Sektor raised his foot to stomp on Ventus, but the blonde rolled backwards to dodge before casting Vanish on himself, disappearing in a flash of light. Sektor growled in irritation before throwing punches and kicks rapidly, not sure where the blonde was, but attacking just in case.
So he wasn't able to see when Ventus had thrown his Keyblade in Blizzard Raid, causing the blade to hit the man in the chest and knock him back.
Meanwhile, Cyrax had finally stopped attacking with his buzz saw and resorted to his bombs again, hitting Riku in the hand and making him drop Braveheart. Riku exclaimed as he stepped back to dodge the swinging metallic spheres. Cyrax threw one of his bombs, but Riku caught it in the air and chucked it back at the assassin. The bomb ended up exploding in Cyrax's face, knocking the man back instead of what he was trying to do and knock Riku back.
At the same time, Ventus had jumped up, kicking Sektor in the stomach with both feet and sending the assassin spiraling back. Sektor then blasted both of the flame throwers on his wrist, causing Ventus to step back in defense as Vanish wore off. The assassin blasted a missile out of the back of his suit. Ventus exclaimed in surprise as he jumped back to dodge the missile, before he lunged forwards with his Keyblade again to strike Sektor.
Sektor jumped back to dodge the Keyblade and ended up next to Cyrax again. The two shared a nod of the head before looking at both Riku and Ventus.
Cyrax threw bombs at both Ventus and Riku, while Sektor also fired missiles out towards them. Charging at the two assassins, Riku dodged Cyrax's bomb before slashing through Sektor's missile with his Keyblade. Ventus jumped over the exploding bomb before rolling on the ground to dodge the missile. Riku lunged at Cyrax with Braveheart, which the man dodged with an easy sidestep. Sektor threw a punch at Ventus, but Ventus blocked with his Keyblade in defense, so Sektor punched it instead. Sektor yelled out in pain as he pulled his arm back.
Cyrax tried ramming one of his bombs towards Riku, but Riku blocked with a barrier and retaliated with a blast of his Keyblade. He then swung the Keyblade at Sektor's ankle, causing the pyromaniac to lose his footing a bit. Ventus swung his Keyblade at Sektor's face, knocking him back, before throwing his Keyblade at Cyrax in Strike Raid, knocking aside the dreadlocked assassin. Cyrax grabbed one of his bombs again, but Riku kicked the man in the stomach and sent him stumbling into the ground. Riku and Ventus grabbed Sektor and threw him to the ground, on top of the similarly downed Cyrax.
The bomb went off and damaged both of them, causing the assassins to stumble onto their backs.
The two Lin Kuei winced as they pushed themselves to their feet, frowning as they faced the two.
"Consider yourselves enemies of the Lin Kuei," Sektor growled out. "You will rue the day you ever met us."
"I'm already rueing it just because of how arrogant your ass appears to be," Riku commented.
Sektor continued to growl at the two of them, but Cyrax placed a hand on his pyromaniac friend.
"Come, Sektor," Cyrax said. "We should prepare for the next fights of the tournament tomorrow instead of fighting battles that have no consequences."
The two assassins turned and walked across the room, leaving the panting Ventus and Riku behind. *2*
"Well done, my friends," Nightwolf complimented the two. "I would still advise caution, though. Angering two warriors from the Lin Kuei usually leads to negative consequences, no matter what realm you are from."
"Eh, I'll live with it," Riku said.
"We're pretty off track, though," Ventus pointed out. "I mean, we came here looking for Scorpion and Sub-Zero, but it looks like Sub-Zero's nowhere around here."
"He's right," Riku agreed. "If Sub-Zero isn't here, then where is he?"
Dungeon
"You both will face Sub-Zero, of the Lin Kuei clan of assassins," Shang Tsung announced to Sonya and Xion.
Ice then suddenly started growing in the center of the room, rising up until it formed into the shape of a man. The ice then shattered as Sub-Zero burst through, standing and facing the two ladies in front of the prison cell.
"Don't worry," Shang Tsung told them. "My royal guard will keep Mr Briggs occupied."
Two men with spears skirted around the dungeon and moved towards Jax, pointing their spears at him.
"I'll take care of these jokers," Jax informed the ladies. "You girls get Frosty over there."
"We got this prick," Xion assured Jax.
"Be careful," Sonya warned Jax.
"You, too," Jax said before raising his fists to face the guards.
Sonya and Xion stepped forwards to face Bi-Han, the current owner of the Sub-Zero name.
"Now you will feel death's cold embrace," Sub-Zero sternly announced.
"Now that was a shitty joke if I've ever heard one," Xion commented.
Sub-Zero immediately used his Slide attack, surging forwards with ice around his feet. The cryomancer moved towards them to attack, but Xion managed to intercept him. She waved her hand and made golden energy appear in front of her. With another wave of her hand, Xion solidified the energy and blasted it towards Sub-Zero. The blue and black dressed assassin was hit right in the chest with the energy, knocking him back and making him fall to the ground with a grunt, while the ice vanished from his feet. *3*
Sonya raised her eyebrows, certifiably impressed.
"You got some skill, kid," she complimented Xion.
"Thanks," Xion said, keeping her eyes on Sub-Zero.
The Lin Kuei easily managed to push himself to his feet, frowning right at Sonya and Xion.
"Maybe save the praise until after this is over," Xion suggested.
Sub-Zero grunted as he sent a ball of ice towards them, which Sonya and Xion both moved out of the way to dodge. Sonya then hurried forwards and dodged the assassin's attempt at a punch. She then started a series of attacks where she punched him twice in the stomach, then in the chest, then uppercutted him. She followed it up by kicking Sub-Zero in the stomach, knocking him back. Sonya grunted as she raised her leg to kick, but then the assassin moved backwards, leaving an ice clone standing where he had been. Sonya's foot hit the clone, which immediately froze her.
Sub-Zero then slid forwards once again, hitting Sonya and breaking her out of the ice before knocking her back. The Lin Kuei made an ice sword appear in his hand, but Zion summoned her Keyblade in time. Sub-Zero swung his sword, but Xion intercepted it with her Kingdom Key. The two of them then swung their blades at each other, intercepting each others' attacks and preventing them from hurting each other. Sonya then jumped to her feet and grunted as she pointed her fists at Sub-Zero. Pink energy was shot out of her wrist gauntlets, which hit the assassin in the stomach and knocked him back.
With Sub-Zero slightly disoriented from the strike, Xion moved in and performed a combo attack with her Keyblade, before she decided to be a little mean and blasted him with Firaga, knocking him back again. Ice then surrounded Sub-Zero completely, making him look like a statue. The statue shattered, making him disappear. Sonya and Xion cautiously looked around for a sign of their opponent appearing next to them. There was then a flash of ice that appeared behind Xion that then cracked, making Sub-Zero reappear. The assassin made an ice hammer appear in his hands that he swung at Xion's back, knocking her aside with a grunt.
Sub-Zero dismissed his ice hammer before turning towards Sonya. The assassin swung his fist, but Sonya caught it with one hand. She then swung her own fist up, hitting Sub-Zero in the elbow and making bone crack. The assassin pulled his arm out before turning around, delivering a back kick to Sonya's stomach and knocking her back. Xion winced and stood up straight before pointing her hand at Sub-Zero's feet. Golden energy appeared around it like a lasso, and with a wave of Xion's hand, the energy yanked backwards. Sub-Zero yelled out as his feet were pulled out from under him, dropping him to the ground.
The energy disappeared, and Sub-Zero started to push himself back up. Sonya stopped him by kicking him in the head, knocking him back onto the floor and ending Round One.
Sub-Zero was then suddenly replaced by an ice clone. The assassin appeared on his feet in front of them and stomped on his ice clone, shattering it and signifying the start of Round Two.
Sub-Zero used his slide attack once more to move towards them in an attack. Sonya and Xion evaded the attack once more before the assassin turned towards Sonya. He swung a fist at her, but Sonya blocked it with her forearm. She then grunted as she kneed Sub-Zero in the stomach before following it up with a roundhouse to the side. Xion helped by throwing an orb of golden energy, which hit the assassin in the back of his head, making him grunt.
The cryomancer once again left behind an ice clone and disappeared. He reappeared behind Sonya and summoned an ice blade that he immediately swung into her shoulder, which caused some blood to come out. Sonya yelled out as the blade went right through her, but she raised her arm up and swung her elbow into Sub-Zero's face, hitting him and knocking him back. Sonya turned around and grunted as she kicked him in the stomach, knocking him back even further. Xion helped the blonde soldier a bit by casting Curaga on her, easing the pain from the stab wound.
While Sonya breathed out in relief from the wound healing (though she was surprised by what was happening), Sub-Zero pushed himself to his feet and waved his hand, sending another ice ball out of his hand. Xion stepped forward and swung her Keyblade right through the ice, dissipating it quickly. She then grunted as she waved her Keyblade, sending pillars of light flying out that zeroed in on Sub-Zero. The assassin was surprised, but he managed to evade one pillar before being hit by another two.
Sonya then moved in and swung her knee, hitting Sub-Zero in the stomach with some force. She placed her foot back on the floor, then dodged as the assassin made a sword of ice and swung it at her. Sub-Zero raised his sword over his head and swung it at Sonya, but Xion hurried forward and blocked it with her Keyblade. Sonya then grabbed Sub-Zero's arm and yanked on it, unbalancing the assassin. She then grunted as she pulled down hard, flipping him before knocking him to the ground, all while keeping a hand on his arm. She then swung her foot, kicking him in the chest, then once more in the face.
The assassin was knocked to the ground, falling into a haze of semi-consciousness from the attacks, emphasizing that he had lost Round Two.
"This dude takes the expression 'take a chill pill' way too seriously," Xion quipped, looking down at the semi-conscious assassin.
Sonya smirked, but she got a serious expression on her face.
"We're leaving, right now," she announced, gesturing over to Jax.
Jax grunted as he slammed his fist into the last guard's head, knocking him unconscious and dropping him to the ground.
"You all have formidable skill," Shang Tsung told them with a smirk.
He looked between Jax, Sonya, and Xion, a smirk on his face.
"It would be a shame to let you go so soon," Shang Tsung continued. "Kobra!"
A man around his height then walked out from the hallway behind him. This man had long, blonde hair that hung down to his shoulders, and was dressed like he was doing karate. He wore a white Gi top with black designs of dragons across the chest, black fighting gloves, and flowy black sweatpants that hung down and covered his legs. He was also barefoot, which didn't seem like a good idea to anybody due to the dirtiness of this floor.
Xion raised an eyebrow at the sight of him. This guy existed in this universe? *4*
"You will now face one of these kombatants in battle," Shang Tsung instructed.
"Gladly," Kobra said, walking forwards with a smug smile on his face. "So, whose getting their ass kicked today?"
Xion immediately disliked this guy.
"Sonya, Jax, get out of here," she told the two Special Forces, frowning right at Kobra. "I think I'll teach this guy a lesson in humility."
Jax raised an eyebrow at the idea of being bossed around by a kid.
Sonya decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and grabbed Jax's arm. She nodded at Xion before she started moving forwards in one direction, dragging Jax away, though he still looked a little surprised and confused.
Xion then clicked her neck in preparation as she frowned right at Kobra.
"Now, you're a pretty face," Kobra said with a smirk. "I'd hate to ruin that."
Xion internally shuddered, wondering if this guy knew she was 18 or not. She hoped he did.
"You might rethink that after a few seconds," Xion informed him.
She then held up her arms in preparation of a fighting stance, and Kobra laughed cockily as he did the same.
Kobra stepped forwards and immediately swung his fist, but Xion remembered one of Natasha's lessons and used her height to her advantage. She ducked underneath the swings before quickly moving to the side. Kobra continued his attack by spinning on the ball of one foot, trying to hit her with a roundhouse kick. Xion dodged that one, as well, before the Black Dragon swung his fist again. Xion caught him by his wrist, then grabbed it with both hands. She spun on the balls of her feet, dragging the arm up and moving it in a direction it shouldn't be moved.
Kobra yelled out as Xion kept a grip on his arm, then she grunted as she kicked him in the side, making him grunt once more as he stumbled back after the kick.
Effectively wounded, Kobra frowned and raised his head to look at Xion.
"All right, little girl," Kobra said, venom in his voice.
That nickname once again made Xion uncomfortable.
"The gloves are comin' off," Kobra finished announcing.
The Black Dragon pulled a machete out of... somewhere, then yelled out as he charged at Xion. Xion summoned her Keyblade once again and raised it in defense, blocking the strike. Kobra then yelled out as he started swinging his machete at Xion in an attempt to hit her, but she managed to deflect each of the strikes with her Keyblade, preventing them from even touching her. Kobra then pulled back with his other hand and grunted as he tried blasting fire at her, but Xion jumped back to dodge, successfully evading the flames.
Xion then waved her hand and made an orb of light appear in front of her. She then grunted as she jabbed forward with her hand, sending the light towards Kobra, hitting him in the head and making him take a step back. The Black Dragon growled and did a spinning kick with his foot covered in fire, which Xion quickly stepped back to dodge. Xion then waved her Keyblade, making pillars of light fly out and hit the Black Dragon, knocking him back again. Kobra landed on his feet, then grunted as he blasted another orb of fire at Xion, which took her by surprise and successfully hit her, knocking her back with a grunt.
Kobra yelled out as he lunged at Xion once more and started to swing his machete, but Xion once again deflected the strike. Xion pushed up with her Keyblade, moving aside the machete, before grunting as she smacked him in the face with the handle, making him grunt as he took a step back, grabbing his face with his free hand. She then yelled out as she swung her Keyblade, performing a combo attack and knocking Kobra aside once again, doing a bit of damage. He tried raising his machete to attack again, but Xion just swung her weapon up between his legs, making him quickly lose some breath.
Kobra promptly fell to the ground with a wince, signifying the end of Round One.
The Black Dragon then pushed himself to his feet with a frown, glaring at Xion as this started Round Two.
Kobra discarded his machete and stepped forward. Xion started to swing her Keyblade, but Kobra grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her in. He then raised a leg and kneed her in the chest hard, making her grunt. The Black Dragon then grabbed her by her shoulders and pulled up, yelling out as he threw Xion up into the air. Xion yelled out as she was thrown up into the air, with enough energy that she started flipping. She flipped a bit more before quickly falling back down, landing roughly on the floor with a grunt.
Kobra laughed in a narcissistic and cocky manner once more, which got Xion to raise her head and frown right at him.
"You... are an asshole," Xion growled at him.
"Hey, I've been called worse by women," Kobra laughed.
Xion pushed herself to her feet and used a trick she learned from Wanda, tilting her head to the side while glaring right at Kobra.
It worked, because the Black Dragon widened his eyes in surprise.
Xion hurried forwards, already preparing herself with the tricks and skills she had learned from her friends.
Kobra grunted as he swung a fist, but Xion ducked under it as she continued charging forward. She hurried next to Kobra and swung a fist into his side pretty hard, making him grunt, before moving behind him. She turned towards him, then grunted as she jumped up, wrapping her legs around Kobra's stomach to hold onto him from behind. The Black Dragon yelled out in surprise, while Xion grunted as she rammed both of her elbows into the top of his head at once. This was effective, making him yell out in quite a bit of pain. She then grabbed at his face, making him grunt in surprise, before slamming her fist into the back of his head.
All of this head trauma was enough to make Kobra effectively woozy, which got him to shift from foot to foot. Xion dropped from his back, then watched as he woozily turned to face her. Though he looked disoriented, he still frowned in determination. Xion just tilted her head to the side again before jumping up and kicking him in the stomach, knocking him back. This was enough to make him drop to the floor, ending Round Two.
Xion breathed in and out as she tried to get some air back. She then raised her head to look up at Shang Tsung across the dungeon.
"Why did you have me fight this guy?" Xion asked, gesturing to the downed Kobra. "You've seen me help fight off against Skarlet and Baraka, then I helped Sonya take out Sub-Zero. He's a lesser level fighter, he clearly wouldn't have lasted long."
"Oh, I am aware," Shang Tsung informed her. "But his arrogance annoyed me, so I wanted someone to teach him a lesson."
Xion shrugged her shoulders, understanding that a bit.
"Besides," Shang Tsung said with a smirk. "All this did was help give my 'assistants' time to stop Miss Blade and Mister Briggs from escaping."
Xion's eyes widened as she remembered Sonya and Jax.
"Thank you for the free entertainment, Miss Eclipse," Shang Tsung told her as he continued to smirk. "I am most grateful for it."
The ancient sorcerer laughed to himself as he turned and started walking away, followed by his guards in the masks carrying the spears.
Xion groaned in self-annoyance, hating that she let herself get distracted like that and aiding the sorcerer's plans.
"Hey!" a familiar voice called out.
Xion raised her head in surprise, then looked to the right.
Kung Lao, Sora, and Vanitas were walking out of a specific hallway together, moving across the space and towards her with surprised expressions on their faces. They looked at Xion, seeing her breathing in and out a bit more raggedly, then glanced down at the unconscious blonde man on the ground. Quickly putting the pieces together, they stepped up next to her and frowned in confusion.
"What did we miss?" Sora asked.
"Is that Kobra?" Vanitas asked, frowning down at the unconscious Black Dragon. "That Karate Kid knock off exists here?"
Xion sighed out as she tried to get back some air. She internally started preparing what she was going to say, still a little annoyed at herself for making such a big slip-up. *5*