Tournament of the Wastes

Damn, Wraith! Awesome addition as always :)
I really liked both of stories, I didn't get a chance to read Johnny vs Blizzard until now.
Great work! :congrats:
 
The Tournament pt.4

Outside the steel walls of the Vault night began to fall. The desert wind howled as sand blew over the corpse of Kain, a couple of feet away a group of radscorpions fought over the remains of Komodo. On the other side of the walls Blizzard glared at the Spectre and approached him. He paused for a moment looking into the eyes of the legionnaire, the same eyes he saw on that day. The Spectre was the first one to speak,
"I remember you, the boy from the village."
"The village you slaughtered. Tell me, why? Why spare me? To torture me with the visions, the memories?"
"I saw something in your eyes. Some men I've met had fire in them. You were different, it wasn't a fire it was more a void. It was a cold emptiness created by seeing your village slaughtered."
"I will make you pay, or die trying."
"There it is again, as your hatred for me grows the air around you grows colder, I can feel it. I saw what you did to that boy, you have become the warrior I wanted you to become, one that could match me. But there will be a time for that, and now is not that time." Rage swirled through Blizzard. The Spectre turned around from him and Blizzard just watched as he walked away. The Sorcerer began to talk,
"The final match of the first round will be, Liu Kang V.S. Jupiter." They stepped into the ring examining each other. Liu spoke first, "You are a husk of the man you used to be."
"I had no choice in the matter. If you find it necessary to kill me then so be it." The Sorcerer broke in,
"Fight!" Liu sprung forward land three swift kicks to Jupiter's side. Jupiter threw a punch striking Liu's chest, a powerful discharge of energy sent Liu flying into a wall. This strike surely would have been lethal but Liu's stealth armor was composed of rubber and carbon fiber armor plating. Liu recovered quickly swapping strikes with Jupiter. Liu landed more strikes on Jupiter due to being the superior fighter, but the X factor of Jupiter's abilities kept the match even. Liu drew blood with a palm strike to Jupiter's mouth. Jupiter spit out a tooth and began to barrage Liu with bolts of directed energy. Liu dodged most strikes but a single strike grazed his arm singing the flesh on his exposed arm. Liu retaliated with a cartwheel strike that hit Jupiter several times as he was dazed Liu connected with a powerful uppercut. Jupiter recovered and began to charge an extremely powerful bolt of energy, one that would surely tear through any armor. As he was about to release the energy Liu in desperation twisted Jupiter's arm to point toward himself. The energy gathered around Jupiter's arm burned Liu's hands and the overcharged blast struck Jupiter. He barreled backwards into one of the walls, he tried to raise his arm as a last ditch effort to win but the blast had drained him. He sat slumped against the wall with a large dent above him. Liu walked towards him.
"You have won. Finish it then." The Sorcerer grinned
"Yes, yes finish him!" Liu looked to the Sorcerer and then towards Jupiter.
"You died a long time ago." Expecting to be executed Liu instead extended his hand to a battered Jupiter. He helped him to his feet and Jupiter limped to the medical bay section of the Vault. The Sorcerer's grin quickly changed to a scowl.
"I'm disappointed in you Liu."
"I am no murderer. I am not like you."
"Hmph you're a liar Liu I remember you coming back from your missions blood soaked. You are as much of a killer as I am. Well I hope the rest of you get a good night's sleep the second round of fighting will begin tomorrow." Jupiter collapsed onto a cot in the med bay. Next to Johnny who was nearly recovered. The rest of the fighters found their ways to beds or another place to rest. Liu wrapped his burned arm and hands, remembering the monster he once was slaughtering under the orders of the Sorcerer. He vowed to earn his redemption, he would stop the Sorcerer and his vile experiments.
 
Nice, Liu wins and were left to wonder what hapoens to the other fighters in your next installment. A cool story indeed :)
 
Interlude

The burning Nevada sun peeked out from the desert horizon and the corpses of the fallen fighters were now buried under piles of sand. Just outside the steel walls crows flew by the morning sky and a group of juvenile deathclaws feasted on the recently killed remains of a group of mole rats. Johnny had mostly recovered from his wounds inflicted by Blizzard save for his shattered arm and was enjoying his first meal since his fight, a MRE found in the storage of the vault. Blizzard glared into the mirror of his mirror as memories crashed into his head like a hail storm. He felt a draft in his room as he splashed water against his face and felt a bead of water roll down his scar. He reflected on the dream he had last night although perhaps it was more of a nightmare. He saw a young boy, snow piled around him and he could barely see his own hand in front of his face, all he could see was a figure beckoning to him in the distance. He followed the figure as his flesh slowly froze and turned a pale blue, he weakly limped towards the shadow and the mysterious figure slowly became discernible. He looked upon the jet black figure and recognized the face of this revenant.
"Help my big brother!" The young boy cried out. The shadow laughed,
"Did you try to help me? Did you stop me from being murdered?"
"No, no I tried.... I tried......" the little boy collapsed and became buried by the falling snow. Blizzard shattered the mirror in front of him and breathed heavily. The cold water rolled down his chin and blood seeped from the glass embedded into his knuckles. On the other side of the Vault, Sonya sat next to Johnny who was now reading a copy of 'Pugilism Illustrated'. Johnny lowered his magazine and was the first to talk,
"So, how was your fight?" He asked curiously.
"It went better than your's did." Sonya replied with a giggle.
"Haha, very funny," Johnny said sarcastically. "I noticed you haven't tired to hurt me yet, maybe we could have a meal together later." Johnny said with a grin. Sonya looked back at him and said with a smirk,
"You better cook something good."
"Funny, I was hoping you could cook."
"Don't push your luck." Sonya said as she left the room and Johnny picked his magazine back up from the table with a smile. In his room, Liu sat on his bed meditating breathing deeply and after a half hour rose and began practicing his strikes on a dummy he found that seemed to be used for target practice. Liu punched the dummy with all his strength several times and with a powerful kick sent the dummy's head flying off it's shoulders spraying sand from it's head which was now reduced to a piece of cloth. Jupiter remained in the med bay laying on a medical cot manipulating a ball of electricity. In a way he wished that Liu had killed him, he slowly rotated the orb of energy staring intently into the center of this sphere of lightning. He had seen many horrors during his life time, but Kang's words bounced around in his head. Liu called him 'a husk of the man he used to be' and Jupiter realized it was true. He closed his hand and the orb dissipated and held a tight fist. Small sparks leaped from his fingertips as he reached for a metal pole to pull himself to his feet, he stood barely and his legs wobbled as his knees gave out causing him to collapse. He slowly stumbled to the wall, leaning against it for support. He felt weak with barely enough energy to power a light bulb, he felt worthless. He hacked and coughed as he stared at the reflection of his electric blue fingers in the shiny metal floor. In the laboratory section of the Vault the Sorcerer dressed in his lab coat and spoke into his tape recorder,
"Project Legion is nearly complete. Test one will begin momentarily." He inserted the syringe on his wrist into a slot on the large machine in front of him. The machine hummed for a moment and the Sorcerer retracted the syringe from the slot, he spoke into the microphone again and spoke,
"Test one initiated." His finger hovered over a button on the machine attached to his wrist. He hesitated for a moment but quickly pressed down on the switch. He stood still at first but quickly became coated in sweat and fell to his knees, he let out many groans and grumbles and then started to feel the real effects of the device. He screamed loudly, but the scream shifted to a roar of blood lust. His form shifted to a grotesque figure that was oddly familiar. In a raspy bestial voice the Sorcerer switched on the microphone and rasped, "Test one ..... was a success." The young deathclaws ran away from their mole rat kills as the Spectre stepped back in through the great vault doors dragging the corpses of the geckos he had killed the past night and early morning. He returned to his room and cut the gecko meat into slices with his spear head, he was unfamiliar with the stoves in the vault and ended up roasting the cuts on a small campfire he created just outside the doors. He drew down his cloth mask and chewed on the seared cuts viciously. After he finished the meal his eyes were drawn to his prey's skeleton and he crushed it's skull to dust with a quick stomp. As the Spectre reentered the Vault he wiped his hands against each other but that had served to only smear the blood of his kill against his hands. He stepped into the Vault slowly, his footsteps echoing throughout the lonely corridor.
 
The Tournament pt. 5

Night covered the Mojave as the fighters were making use of the final hours of their day off. In the kitchen Johnny and Sonya enjoyed a brahmin steak that Johnny had 'borrowed' from the Sorcerer's private reserves. They made small talk and Johnny tried flirting with her but had all his advances shot down. Jupiter had drained the energy from a malfunctioning auto-doc giving him enough energy to find a bed so he could rest. The fighters retired to their own rooms to prepare for the day ahead of them. After the new day had begun the fighters gathered in their usual circle around the fighting ring.
"It seems you are all rested and ready, we will not have to delay the fights any longer." The Sorcerer announced to the room.
"The ones among you fighting this round will be, Liu Kang and Sonya Blade." Liu stepped into the ring first and Sonya followed, they both scowled facing each other.
"I don't like to fight women, but my hand will be forced if you do not stand down."
"I've came this far, no point in going down without a fight."
"Very well." The Sorcerer looked down on the fighters from his throne and shouted out,
"Fight!" Sonya made the first moves unleashing many swift kicks and strikes, On the other side Liu kept a defensive pose blocking Sonya's headstrong attacks and parrying with pinpoint strikes. Sonya landed punches on Liu's face enough to draw blood from his lip but Liu approached the fight differently and from the surface it appeared he might lose this fight. Appearances can be deceiving as Liu intended to end this fight as quickly as he could. Sonya kept striking at Liu but it was clear she was slowing down, becoming more sluggish. Kang aimed his strikes in seemingly odd spots. Sonya delivered a couple more heavy hits on Liu but with one final blow to her neck from his fingertips Sonya collapsed. She lied motionless at Liu's feet and he slowly walked out of the fighting ring. Walking past the other contestants, Johnny shouted at him, "Hey man, what did you do to her?! I mean is she..... you know...."
"Relax, she is merely unconscious, murder is not my way. I used an ancient technique taught to me by a man that was once honorable." Liu responded calmly as Johnny looked towards him relieved. The Sorcerer stroked his facial hair and thought to himself,
"Interesting he seems to have mastered the 12 points. I had only taught him up to point 5, his amount of progress in such a short time is quite impressive. His spirit is quite strong, his life force will be sure to boost my strength quite a bit." As the other fighters left the room, the Sorcerer remained on his throne chuckling to himself until he burst out to a full on cackling laugh.

This one was, short, but the interlude was long so I think that makes up for it lol.
 
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The Tournament pt.6

The desert sands swirled and the winds howled, the lights from the Strip shone in the distance. The moon was full and colored bright red, under it the Spectre and Blizzard stood across from each other. The Spectre dropped the heavy deathclaw armor off of his robes and set his spear down next to them. Blizzard did the same taking the armor plating off of his suit and dropping his freezing gauntlet into the soft sand.
"Such a fitting night, the moon itself is painted with blood." The Spectre spoke calmly.
"As I'm beating you to death, pummeling your body until it is lifeless. Tell me how it feels, the grip of death." In response to this The Spectre chuckled.
"Your ferocity is clear in your voice. That's good, if you hold back I'd have to kill you. But enough of this, let us see which one of us truly is superior, shall we?" They both entered their respective fighting stances, Blizzard was the first to strike kicking up a pile of sand. He used this diversion to get behind the Spectre, swinging for the side of his head the Spectre blocked the strike swiftly. As a counter strike the Spectre quickly delivered a knee to Blizzard's chest, he was knocked down but only for a moment quickly springing to his feet. The Spectre now was on the offensive he delivered several jabs all blocked by Blizzard, trying for a front kick Blizzard caught his foot flipping The Spectre into the air and swatting him to the ground with a drop kick. In a moment they were both back on their feet, Blizzard attempted a sweep but the Spectre quickly hopped over his leg. They both went for a hook on opposite sides connecting with one another, each of them stumbled back but were quickly back at each other's throats. The Spectre swung his leg with a roundhouse kick, Blizzard dodged the strike narrowly bending himself backwards. Blizzard swung at the Spectre as the Spectre simultaneously swung at him, they each caught each other's fists and met eyes. A thundering roar interrupted them and they looked at one another, then the source of the noise, a pack of deathclaws. They eached looked back at the other and dashed for their weapons, and were upon the creatures. There were four of them, Blizzard froze the first one solid kicking the ice statue into another one of the beasts and it shattered on impact. The Spectre threw his towards the one that was closing in on him and punctured the creature's head killing it instantly and swinging it's corpse into the second one stunning it. The second Deathclaw was now upon Blizzard and raised a claw in attack, Blizzard responded quickly with another blast of ice directed at the creature's claw, with the frozen claw already in full swing it shattered against Blizzard's side. Blizzard swiftly grabbed the deathclaw's second claw and broke the bone inside it and tore it from the monster's body, he swung the claw like a blade dicing the deathclaw into chunks with it's own arm. The last deathclaw swung at The Spectre with both claws dodging with a backflip, the Spectre jumped over the creature's head and snapped it's neck in middair. They didn't let the creature's distract them for long, Blizzard flung the severed arm of the deathclaw at the Spectre, his response was to use a corpse from the ground as a shield. He threw the corpse to the side and blocked the punch Blizzard was in the process of throwing, The Spectre kicked at Blizzard's side which was in turn blocked. They each swung several more strikes the other blocking or dodging each strike, until Blizzard delivered a forward kick knocking the Spectre to a distance. The Spectre threw his spear towards Blizzard, but it was frozen by a blast of ice before it was able to connect. Blizzard grabbed the line frozen spearhead and rope and tugged to bring the Spectre towards him. Realizing his spear was now rendered useless, he quickly ditched the rope and dashed towards Blizzard. Blizzard released the other end of the spear and approached the Spectre, they came in contact punching their fists together. A blast of ice came from Blizzard's knuckles, freezing the Spectre's forearm solid, the force of the impact shattered the frozen section of the Spectre's arm. Blizzard's gauntlet beeped indicating it needed a new liquid nitrogen cartridge, he flung it off his arm. Blizzard unleashed a flurry of strikes against the Spectre most of them connected due to the Spectre's new disability. Even missing an arm the Spectre fought ferociously showing his amazing pain threshold. Blizzard continually struck the Spectre with devastating strikes, a kick to the teeth, a knee to the gut, several punches to the face and side of the head. He was thrown into a rage like he had been with Johnny, but this time there would be no mercy. His azure outfit was stained maroon by the blood gushing from the many cuts and wounds of the Spectre. Blizzard picked up his battered by his throat and lifted the Spectre into the air, dropping him and roundhousing him several feet across the sand. The Spectre was on his knees now, and Blizzard grabbed his throat again.
"Any last words?" Blizzard shouted at the battered Spectre. The Spectre looked up at him, coughed staining another section of his mask with his blood and weakly spoke,
"Well.... done...." Blizzard pulled with all his strength tearing the head of the Spectre from his body, with his spinal column dangling beneath his severed head. Holding the head high he shouted towards the crimson moon in victory. From the shadow created by the great vault door a slow clapping emerged. The Sorcerer stepped from the shadow grinning,
"Well done indeed."

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