11 Lin Kuei Temple Mission Pt. 1

The scene cuts to just outside of the Lin Kuei temple, panning down from the giant statue of the first Lin Kuei Grandmaster to the temple's entrance. Amid the light snow falling, Team S-F have all reached the rendezvous point and wait at the side of the entrance staircase. Cassie speaks

"All right, I've got point."

She then says to Takeda

"You, Alex, and Jin, that side."

All three boys exchange a glance. Takeda's face is unreadable. Alex used to authority, nods, but Kung Jin clearly doesn't agree with the command. Cassie then barks

"Move!"

They obey and slip over to the other side of the staircase. Cassie turns to Jacqui and asks

"Ready?"

Jacqui nods her consent, but just as Cassie turns to the entrance, the temple doors open. She hastily backs up as Grandmaster Kuai Liang, codenamed Sub-Zero, and four Lin Kuei students exit the temple, walking down to the grounds just before them. They stop before the statue of the First Grandmaster and kneel in meditation. Jin motions with his head to move in. Cassie mouths "Not yet" to him in response. After a moment, Jin chooses to ignore the command and stomps out of his hiding place. Alex cringes at Kung Jin's move as he hears Cassie say

"Dammit, Jin!"

All four of them quickly follow as Jin points to Sub-Zero, saying rather rudely

"You. I need to s—"

Cassie lightly hits him on the back, grabbing his attention, Alex grits his teeth saying

"Idiot!"

Kuai Liang speaks to them without ever lifting his head from his meditation.

"You are not welcome here. State your intentions."

Jin decides to let Cassie do the talking, and she steps forward, and attempts

"Grandmaster. We need you to come with us. My name is Sergeant—"

The Lin Kuei with Sub-Zero bark out a command in Chinese. Reinforcements flood in from seemingly nowhere, surrounding Team S-F and outnumbering them about 5 to 1. Kuai Liang stands up from his meditation. Alex looks about his suspicions from before being confirmed. He relaxes his stance, which Sub- Zero notes, before continuing

"You demand my cooperation. Yet you are cut off. Surrounded. What will you do?"

"My father always spoke highly of you, Sub-Zero. He wants to talk."

"Talking. Always his first choice."

Kung Jin rolled his eyes and having enough says

"Okay, let's try pummeling."

He then commands Team S-F

"Now!"

"Wait!"

Cassie cries but It's far too late for waiting. Jin charges into a line of Lin Kuei as Sub-Zero rushes in and takes a swing at Cassie. As Takeda and Jacqui begin fighting as well, Cassie barely ducks out of the way in time and only just gets an arm up to block a left swing. Alex steps back, as he does not attack any of the surrounding students; for that, they do not engage him. However, familiar with Alex's combat history and background, the Lin Kuei do know that Alex is one to observe the fight before joining in. Despite the chaos going on around them, the few Lin Kuei students keep watch on Alex, wary of any sudden actions coming from his way. Sub-Zero knees Cassie in the side and blocks two kicks from her in response, and he hears a growl from Alex but is not engaged by him. He steps back from a wild right swing and headbutts Cassie, before throwing her to the ground. She comes up in a roll and pulls out her sidearm, but Sub-Zero freezes it with a quick ice ball, rendering it useless. Cassie goes into a fighting stance. He says

"Cassandra Cage. You lead this group, but they do not follow at all. What would your mother do in this situation?"

Cassie frustratingly retorts

"Stop wasting time and take you down."

They fight. As youthful and determined a fighter as Cassie is, Sub-Zero is leagues ahead of her with his strength, experience and powers. After a fierce battle, he leaves her defeated on the ground. Sub-Zero nods, and in his grandmaster's, tone says

"You are more like your mother than you think."

Takeda charges at Kuai Liang from behind and launches into a spin kick with multiple spins, much to his surprise, as he expects Alex to attack. Sub-Zero blocks the attack and throws several punches that Takeda blocks, but he eventually lands one. Takeda fights back with several more kicks, all blocked. On the final kick, Sub-Zero covers himself with ice as Takeda lands on him with a spinning downwards kick, seemingly shattering him into ice shards. After Takeda spends a moment looking around, Sub-Zero resurfaces behind him and dropkicks him in the back. The Lin Kuei Grandmaster kicks up to his feet as Takeda struggles. He chides

"Your powers should have revealed my intention, Takahashi Takeda. No doubt Kenshi taught you how to use them."

Takeda growls, but still has respect, and says referring to Hanzo and not Kenshi

"My father taught me a lot, Grandmaster."

"Let us see."

They fight. Even with his agility and lasher whips, the Shirai Ryu ninja proves to be little match for the Lin Kuei Grandmaster. It's not long before Takeda is face down on the ground, defeated. Sub-Zero takes a similar tone to Scorpion with Takeda stating

"You are not your father. Not yet."

Alex remained outside of the fight, analyzing the situation, and was very aware this was a test they were failing, all because Kung Jin could not follow orders. Alex noted Sub-Zero's fighting style and saw some flaws but kept his tongue. He restrained himself as his fiancée lay beaten on the ground. He wanted so badly to beat the shit out of Grandmaster Sub-Zero for that and if it had been five years ago, he would have. He cleared his thoughts, deciding to kneel and meditate for a moment, his ears picking up on the fighting and feeling the numerous movements on the ground. Tremor had taught him this, as to better his chances in combat. He opened his eyes and continued to observe the excurse unfold. His mind worked as he saw the battlefield like a chessboard and his allies were losing badly and it was up to him to find the way to win. He knew what should have happened, and what had happened, now he watched what was to happen.