AN: It's been a month now since I uploaded the last chapter. Sorry guys. To be honest, I was stuck as to how I'll write this chapter. Add that with schoolwork, my goodness. Again, I apologize for the time. And I decided to keep the relationship of Sonya and Johnny to a sibling-like level.

Disclaimers are known already, so, here's Chapter 3.

Chapter 3 - Outmatched

"You seriously don't think that you can take on the both of us, right?" Johnny asked as the three of them took fighting stances.

Kano only smirked. "Despite that show you put on earlier, that wouldn't even change a thing at all, pretty boy." He then sent a punch to Johnny's shoulder. "Both of you will be as good as dead when I'm done fightin' the both of you." He then laughed as they exchanged blows.

With each punch and kick the two sent towards Kano, he deflected them all, and sent back with hits twice as strong as theirs.

The three then retreated to the opposite sides of the bridge. Johnny wiped the dirt from his face.

"We'll sure as hell try then." Johnny said, as Sonya charged up to Johnny, jumped on his hands, and he pushed her with all his strength towards the Australian thug.

While on the air, Sonya then changed her stance, putting one of her feet out front, towards Kano.

It was successful.

The initial kick took Kano by surprise, which allowed Sonya to use her other foot to kick Kano again, causing him to fall to the ground, while Sonya back-filpped to the ground safely.

"Nice tricks you two have." Kano said as he spit on the ground. "But," He smirked as he took a charging stance. "I've got better."

With the force from his arms, Kano charged himself towards them above the ground like a bullet, and formed into a ball, intending to hit them.

With no way to dodge the hit left or right without the possibility of falling towards the spikes of The Pit, they had no choice but to take the hit.

Sonya, having once gotten hit with the move before, successfully blocked the hit. Johnny however, wasn't so lucky.

With a thud, Johnny hit the wall after Kano had kicked him. Johnny laid on the ground, grunting.

Kano then drew out his butterfly knives.

"Look out, sheila."

Tired and somewhat sluggish from the fighting, Sonya barely had time to dodge the slash from his butterfly knives.

"Dammit!" Sonya said.

"So tell me, how are things at Command?" Kano asked her while keeping up.

"Bastard!"

Kano just laughs as he keeps slashing at her, while Sonya keeps dodging, with each movement getting slower, and with each cut getting deeper.

"You really were gullible. Just had to point 'ya in the wrong direction, and boom! Couldn'ta done it without ya really!"

By this point, Sonya couldn't truly dodge the next one.

"S.F.'s on the way. You won't get that far."

At the next slash, Sonya had dodged it just enough for her to not get seriously injured, but not enough for her to not get a deep cut at her left forearm.

"You think? I've got a knack for survival. And you will die here along with pretty boy."

Kano smirked as he slashed again, successfully stabbing Sonya's right arm. Sonya cried out in extreme pain.

"Goodbye, Sonya. Pleasure meeting ya, and betraying ya."

He charged up his eye laser, primed and ready to strike.

"Not yet!"

Johnny quickly recovered and swept Kano's feet. As a result, the laser had only struck the ground, and luckily, not any part of Sonya.

"It's just you and me now."

Kano scowled and growled. He then sheathed his butterfly knives.

"Grrr... fine. At least she'll see you die when I'm done with ya."

Unnoticed, Sonya falls unconscious due to the wounds she received.

They both took fighting stances, and charged towards each other. They both sent a right jab, hitting each other's fists. They had the same results with their left jab.

They both sent out punches, kicks and knee strikes towards each other. With each hit they received and deflected, they both got noticeably tired. Both retreated to opposite sides of the bridge, Johnny being careful not to hit Sonya.

Kano then cannonballs toward Johnny.

Despite the speed, Johnny anticipated the attack, and grabbed his body, surprising Kano. He then leg throws him back.

"Damn you... pretty boy. You anticipated that one."

"Fans think that my moves are all wire work and special effects."

Johnny throws two forceballs at Kano. Each one successfully hits, stunning Kano.

"Thing is... I AM the special effects."

Kano quickly recovers, and angrily takes out his knives, exclaiming, "That's IT!" He throws both of them one at a time.

Johnny was able to dodge the first one.

The second one though, he wasn't so lucky.

Johnny gets hit by the second one on his left shoulder.

"Ahhhh!" Johnny grunts in pain. He takes out the knife, and throws it back at Kano, who catches it with ease.

Kano smirks and slowly walks.

"Like I said, pretty boy: not a thing at all." Kano charges his laser eye beam and releases the energy, striking the already wounded left shoulder.

Johnny screams in extreme pain as he clutches his left shoulder. He slowly falls to the ground.

Kano then frowns. "It's over. I won, and you two have lost."

He then collects his other thrown knife and returns to the wounded duo. He breathed heavily. He was very exhausted from the fight, but still resolved to get the job done.

"And now, both of you will die."

Sonya had then awakened, only to see Kano standing above them, ready to kill the two.

"Dammit... is this... where I die?" She wondered.

But before he could do the deed, a black mist appears in front of the Australian mercenary.

"On the contrary Kano, you will not."

From the mist, a dark-clothed Talion appears as the said mist dissipates.

"You."

A dark smile forms on his face.

"Yup, me."

But just as quickly as that smile formed, it disappeared, replaced with an even darker frown.

"Now leave. You will not kill them."

Kano angrily scowled.

"Why not? I could kill you here as well, ya know."

Talion chuckled.

"Except that you're extremely exhausted from your fight. Whereas I'm not. I could pretty much beat you here and now."

Kano snarled, but knew that Talion was right. He'd be a fool to take him on when he's extremely tired right now.

"Fine. You may have saved them now, but you won't be able to soon enough."

Kano then ran in the opposite direction, leaving Talion with the two.

With that, Talion turned to the two, who had woken up.

"What took you so long, man?" Johnny said, groaning from the pain on his left shoulder. Talion stopped the bleeding sustained from their wounds and injuries.

"Sorry I was late. I got a little sidetracked on the way here." Talion explained, and helped Johnny up.

"Help Sonya up. I'll let her rest on my back." Talion instructed. They both helped Sonya stood up, and Johnny helped Talion place her on Talion's back.

"C'mon. Let's get going. I'll get both of you fixed up in no time."

They both walked away from The Pit, heading off to the medical station in the island.

"Hey, wanna know what happened while you two were fighting Kano?"

Johnny shrugged, and said, "Sure man."

Talion nodded and looked towards north.

"Right. It started after I fought off Jade..."

(At the same time of the battle... - With Talion)

While walking off his temporary home, Talion stopped.

What is it, my apprentice? Alduin asked from inside his mind.

'I don't know, mentor, but I definitely feel a presence near me... a spectral presence. Talion thought.

Hmmm... keep a close watch around you, my apprentice. I myself feel the same presence. Alduin lastly said, and then disappeared from Talion's mind.

With that, Talion continued walking.

Suddenly, he heard two voices in his head.

"You seriously don't think that you can take on the both of us, right?"

"...that wouldn't even change a thing at all, pretty boy."

He widened his eyes.

This isn't good. I hear Johnny and Kano's voices. I better hurry. Talion thought, and quickened his pace.

Suddenly, as if time slowed down, a chained spear went through Talion's peripheral vision, and he dodged the hit in time.

He grabbed the chain, and yanked it back.

"Very observant... Earthrealmer." The voice of Scorpion came, and he himself made his presence known.

"Scorpion: The Netherrealm spectre." Talion stated.

"Indeed."

"Tell me why you had to do that."

"Simply a test. Nothing more."

"Seeing whether or not someone dodges that spear is NOT a test."

"To you at least-" Scorpion then gets interrupted by a sickle slash on his chest. He then looks at Talion, who smiles and shrugs.

"Cheap shot, my friend." He disappears in a black mist, confusing the spectre.

In anger, Scorpion blazes in fire. "SHOW YOURSELF!"

A dark mist appears above Scorpion, and from the mist, Talion laughs.

"Gladly!"

Suddenly, Talion drops from the mist above Scorpion, and punches him down, dropping the spectre to the floor.

Scorpion then disappears under the ground with hellfire blazing underneath him.

Knowing that hellfire will leave a permanent mark on him, he quickly jumped away from the fire, and back to his spot.

Scorpion appears behind him, a sword clutched between his hands. He then brings his sword down on Talion, only for it to be stopped by his sickles.

With a grunt, Talion sent back the attack.

Due to the force Talion gave back to him, Scorpion had released his grip on the sword and it landed far from the two.

Talion smirked.

Luckily, Scorpion always kept an extra one for cases like these.

Scorpion drew out his other sword, and the two went slashing at each other, blade meeting blade, kick meeting kick.

Underneath his mask, Scorpion had a smirk of his own. Suddenly, he then backflip kicks Talion, striking him square in the chin, soaring him in the air. He then teleports, and kicks him back down.

Talion lands with a thud and a groan, while Scorpion teleports back down.

"Did I simply overestimate you then?" Scorpion asked.

Secretly, Talion drove his arms towards the earth.

"Nope." Talion shook his head. "I think you'll find more of a reason to take me seriously."

Scorpion confusedly raised his eyebrows.

"What? How? What do you-" He is then interrupted again. Only this time, two arms grab at both his legs, and drag him on the ground, eventually throwing him back towards Talion.

In blinding fashion, Talion quickly raised back his arms, stood up, and kicked the approaching spectre to the face. The resounding force sent Scorpion back.

As the dust settles, along with Talion's coughing, a dazed Scorpion sat still, still feeling the effects of the kick and crash.

He then approached him.

"So, that good enough for ya?"

Talion only received a sword slash, which he dodged. Scorpion finally dropped his extra sword, a little fatigued.

"I'm guessing that answer is yes, then."

Scorpion recovered, and Talion helped him up.

"You... you are certainly a warrior not to be underestimated. I look forward to fighting you again, if ever."

"Hey, I don't mind that as well. If you need a spar, just let me know. You sure know how to pack a fire punch." They both chuckled at that.

"Farewell, Talion. May we meet again in the tournament."

And with that, Scorpion disappeared in a blaze of fire.

Talion then received a slight headache.

He heard two voices. The same two he got earlier.

"It's just you and me now."

"Grrr... fine. At least she'll see you die when I'm done with ya."

Talion gasped.

Dammit, hold on Johnny! Talion then transformed into black mist and quickly searched off for the three.

"And then, you know what happens next." Talion finished his story, as the three neared the medical station.

"So it seems that what Raiden's been saying is true." Johnny realized. Sonya looked at the two in confusion.

"Netherrealm? Raiden? What are you two talking about?" Sonya asked.

"Let Johnny explain that for you." Talion said.

They then arrived at the station and went inside.

Inside the station, he had two people help out Johnny and Sonya.

He then explained the injuries the two sustained to the doctor he was talking to.

"The guy's got a stab wound on the shoulder with a burn on the same wound."

"The woman's got a stab wound on her right forearm and cuts on both arms. They both sustained bruises as well."

The doctor nodded and left to get the stuff needed.

"I'll get you two lunch."

Talion left the medical station.

When he arrived at the lunch hall, he noticed most of them already eating.

He also noticed one rule written on the bulletin board.

THERE WILL BE NO FIGHTING INSIDE THIS HALL AT ALL TIMES.

I guess something extreme must've happened to have this rule written in bold, capital letters. Talion thought.

He then took his food and went to where Raiden and Liu Kang were.

"Where are Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade?" Raiden asked.

"Both are in the medic station. They both sustained injuries when they both fought Kano."

Both Raiden and Liu Kang's eyes widened.

"I... did not anticipate this." Raiden said to himself. He secretly checked his amulet, and found no cracks since then... yet.

"He will pay for hurting them." Liu said.

"Soon enough, but I think we should leave that to Sonya."

"Why?"

"I'll explain it soon enough."

Talion quickly finished eating, and went back to get food.

"I'll be off now. Gotta get these to the two."

"We'll see you later in the tournament then." Raiden said.

Talion nodded and left the hall, heading towards the medical station.

Arriving there, he asked where their room is to the receptionist. Getting their location, he thanked the receptionist and quickly went towards their room.

He opened the door and saw the two on separate beds watching TV.

"Told you guys I'll be getting lunch for the both of you." Talion said and smiled.

The two smiled at him as he gave them food.

"Now eat up. You both need your strength back up for the rest of the tournament."

(2 Hours Later)

The two were now fully healed. They both are now wearing their clothes they had earlier, except Johnny decided to go shirtless.

"Ready?" Talion asked the two.

They both nodded. "Ready!"

"Then let's go!"

They left the medical station.

They stopped at the lunch hall.

"I'm going to look for Jax." Sonya said.

"I'm off to go explore the island." Johnny said.

"I'll be meditating then." Talion said.

"'Till we meet again." Johnny said, and the other two nodded.

After that, the three went off in different directions opposite of each other.

Talion arrived in a temple, and went inside.

He deeply breathed. He sat down, crossed his legs, and meditated.

So, did you find out what that presence was? Alduin reappeared.

Heh, it was the Netherrealm spectre. Scorpion.

Ah, I see. The former leader of the Shirai Ryu, whose real name is Hanzo Hasashi.

I feel pity for him. He doesn't deserve the suffering he took.

The past is past, Talion. Such is life.

I know, mentor.

AN: That's it for this chapter. Talion meets and fights Scorpion, and Kano handily beats Sonya and Johnny. No twists whatsoever, but they'll come soon enough as the story goes on.

Remember to review. They help me out a ton.