Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-30076428-20200108170107/@comment-30076428-20200111010146

TheMasterKat wrote: TheMasterKat wrote: TheMasterKat wrote: (Meanwhile, Kat wakes up in a large cave on the mountainside, the blizzard raging outside. Near her is a crackling fire. She turns her head and groans, wondering where she is.)

Kat: What the...

???: Ah, looks like you are finally awake.

(Hearing the voice startles Kat, and she sits upright, only to feel a sharp pain at her side. She notices her midsection has been covered in bandages under her shirt. She then looks at the person who had spoken, and gasps at the sight of Sub-Zero himself.)

Sub-Zero: Welcome back to the land of the living.

(Kat blinks in surprise.)

Kat: You're...you're Sub-Zero, aren't you?

Sub-Zero: Correct. I am Sub-Zero, Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei and Death Battle combatant. And you are obviously TheMasterKat, the ice witch, one of the users trying to find their way back home.

Kat: Pretty much.

(She looks around.)

Kat: Where am I? What happened?

Sub-Zero: That stab wound Sephiroth gave you happened. You suffered quite a bit of blood loss. Combined with the shock and exhaustion, your body couldn't take it and you passed out. I brought you here so I could heal your injuries. No one knows I can do some degree of healing with my own powers. You've been asleep for roughly five hours. Do those answer all your questions?

Kat: Were you the cloaked guy from earlier?

Sub-Zero: I was. (Later, Kat and Sub-Zero are drinking a type of tea.)

Sub-Zero: That wound of yours is mostly healed, but there is still a bit to do with it. Drinking this will help with bring you back to full strength.)

(Kat looks at the cup he handed her, and she drinks. She nearly coughs from how surprisingly spicy it is.)

Kat: Yikes! I didn't think tea could get like this.

Sub-Zero: You get used to it.

Kat: So why wear the cloak back there?

Sub-Zero: The mastermind has been hunting me ever since I defected from his cause. This cave is among the few safe places in this zone. I must keep a low profile to avoid detection.

Kat: Weird. My friends and I are clearly hunted, and we still show our faces.

Sub-Zero: To each their own. Speaking of which, it was an interesting choice trying to shield yourself with that ice barrier back there. Not that it didn't work completely. In fact, it might have been the only reason Sephiroth didn't hit any vital organs. Then again, it wouldn't have mattered if I hadn't been there.

(Knowing he is right, Kat nods.)

Kat: I still haven't said thank you for that. You saved my life.

Sub-Zero: One warrior helps another. Sub-Zero: I have actually been meaning to ask: just what were you doing out there?

Kat: I heard your calls. You wanted me to find you, so I was looking.

Sub-Zero. Let me rephrase. Just what were you doing out there ALONE?

(Kat looks at him, confused.)

Sub-Zero: I get that you heard my calls. But searching for me alone, in a frozen wasteland, with some of the most dangerous DB combatants out there looking to spill your blood? That was foolish and reckless, and you know it. And then trying to take on Sephiroth? Again, alone? I believed you were more rational than that.

Kat: I thought I would be fine. And when someone is after you, wouldn't YOU fight back?

Sub-Zero: Sometimes it is better to recognize when you're after someone who greatly outclasses you, and then avoid direct confrontation. That's how a ninja thinks, anyway. In the time the mastermind has been watching you and your friends, he has taken time to discover your greatest flaws. Yours, Kat, is your desire to do things on your own, just to show you can. It is the reason the mastermind sent Sephiroth after you in the first place.

Kat: Oh? Prove it.

Sub-Zero: When you were first taken into this world and learned of the weapon, you immediately sought to take the mastermind down alone by blowing up his fortress, not knowing he will not go down so easily. When you met the others for the first time, your first action was to fight them for the weapon, not even thinking of the help they could, and HAVE, provided. Now you go off on your own in a frozen wasteland, where one of the first things you do is duel against Sephiroth. This fierce desire to do things on your own has nearly resulted in your demise many times already. You are a formidable fighter, Kat. But you still lack conviction. Kat: My friends had other things to take care of. Ethan went to do something on his own not long before I did. Besides, if you felt that way, why did you call for me in the first place? Heck, why didn't you just let Sephiroth kill me?

Sub-Zero: Because you have the will to keep going. Rather than grovel before him, you refused to back down. And listening to what I said and choosing to fall down the cliff? That shows your will to live. Those prove that my faith in you was00 not ENTIRELY misplaced. Besides, I didn't call for you just so you could recruit me to join your group.

Kat: Then what do you want? Why did you call for me?

Sub-Zero: You once admitted that you don't believe you have mastered your powers. Now I am certain you haven't reached your full potential. I was hoping that I would provide a way for you to unlock that power, the type of power that can defeat Sephiroth.

(Kat lowers her head.)

Kat: So what do you suggest?

Sephiroth: Here is my proposal. You and I go out and regroup with your friends, and I will pledge myself to your cause of defeating the mastermind. In exchange, I will begin putting you through training. It will be tough, you may want to give in. I am not a particularly pleasant teacher. But only through my teachings will you be able to reach the true potential of an ice warrior, let alone be of any use to your team, whether you fight alone or not. Are we clear?

(After five seconds, Kat nods and smiles.)

Kat: Sub-Zero, you got a deal.

(They shake hands.)