Locking Up The Sun

The problem was that he didn’t seem to be easily distracted.

“You will not get away with this,” Kuai hissed, yanking on the chain, staring Quan Chi down as he paced back and forth. “The military will be on their way and-”

“Come now, Kuai Liang. You are far too intelligent to actually believe the military could defeat me.” He paused while tilting his head at Kuai, a smirk slowly emerging on his face. “I will destroy them within seconds of them arriving.”

Kuai grit his teeth. If Quan Chi was truly as powerful as he proclaimed, why did he need the military's weapons to accomplish his goals? He bit back the urge to point that out however, mostly because it kept Quan Chi’s focus on him longer.

“Now.” Quan Chi stepped forward, grabbing Kuai’s chin in his hand, squeezing hard. Kuai sucked in a breath, it didn’t hurt, but was very uncomfortable. “Be a dear and tell me the launch codes.”

“Go to hell,” Kuai barked, trying to pull away. Quan Chi held his face harder.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Quan Chi’s eyes narrowed. “It makes no difference to me, but I don’t guarantee you’ll come out of the hard way in one piece.”

“Screw you.” Kuai spat in Quan Chi’s face, the other man flinched backwards, wiping it off with his free hand. Fuck it, if Kuai was going down, he was going down swinging. He managed to dislodge his face from Quan Chi’s other hand. Before Quan Chi could react, Kuai jerked forward, jaw wide as he bit down hard, revelling in the absolute yowl of agony that came from Quan Chi’s lips.

Quan Chi pulled his hand back, and as he did Kuai saw blood from where his teeth had pierced the flesh. Quan Chi stared at his bleeding hand, lips curling in rage. Then, those fire filled eyes were on Kuai Liang once more.

“You fucking brat.” Quan Chi practically threw his arm at Kuai, backhanding him so hard he actually fell to one side. As he stumbled he felt a hand wrap around his throat, Quan Chi’s face directly in front of his own. “Fine then. Remember, I gave you the chance to co-operate. Don’t blame me when I send your dismembered body to your dear brother.”

Kuai held his head high despite everything. He wouldn’t break easily, he in fact refused to. Maybe if he could last long enough with whatever torment Quan Chi intended to inflict on him, then rescue would come.

He saw a glint of silver in Quan Chi’s free hand, and he brought it up to reveal a knife. Fingers dug into his jugular, and the knife brought up to graze along his side. Kuai bared his teeth, the sensation of the knife rubbing against him causing him to shake with anticipation. Of course, Quan Chi was going to take his time and draw this out. Fucking sadist.

However, Quan Chi suddenly gave a grunt of pain. He pulled back slightly, glancing over his shoulder. Kuai couldn’t make out too much, but it looked like some kind of dart attached to a chain was embedded in his shoulder.

“Get over here!”

As that gruff voice called out, Quan Chi was yanked back suddenly, falling off the platform. Kuai tried to take in what was happening. Down below, he could make out a figure wearing some sort of armour, yellow cape, and flames all around him.

“Scorpion?” Kuai whispered in awe, watching as the man in question began to launch punches at Quan Chi. Last time Kuai encountered them, Scorpion worked for Quan Chi. But given the fury with which he attacked, Kuai had a feeling that particular arrangement had come to an end. He wondered if Scorpion had seen the anonymous leaker on the internet who had revealed Quan Chi’s internal files… The ones that detailed the murders of Scorpion’s wife and son. The ones that proved Quan Chi as the culprit.

It was clear Quan Chi didn’t know who the anonymous party was.

Otherwise Kuai Liang would probably be dead by now, launch codes be damned.

Kuai’s thoughts returned to the situation at hand. With Quan Chi currently in a battle against Scorpion, Kuai had the chance he needed to pick the lock. He ducked his head low, reaching into his hairline and grabbing the pin. As he untangled it, the stray hairs flopped down onto his face, but he ignored them. He bent the thin metal into a line, before jamming it into the handcuffs. He felt around, waiting to feel each mechanism to click.

After some work, the cuffs clicked open and he was able to free himself. Task successful, he glanced at his surroundings. The platform he was on wasn’t exactly big, but it was high off the ground and there wasn’t exactly anywhere he could go. He had to find a way down. Maybe if he was careful, he could get under the platform and then slide down the pole.

As he was considering this, he happened to catch sight of the battle below. Unfortunately, it seemed Quan Chi had managed to somewhat gain the upper hand, throwing Scorpion across the room.

It took Kuai far too long to realise it was in the direction of the tower he was standing on.

As Scorpion slammed into the pole, Kuai felt the platform jerk and heard an almighty crack. He couldn’t even marvel at how hard the hit must have been to cause metal to snap like that, as he felt the tower begin to tilt. Grabbing onto the pole he was previously stuck to, he felt his feet slip off the platform. The structure fell for a brief second, until suddenly it stopped. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing that the tower had caught on the ledge, and he was now dangling from the pole god knew how many feet up in the air.

He swallowed. He was not a superhuman. He would not survive a fall from this sort of height.

If he could make it to the ledge the tower was stuck on, he might at least be safer than he was now. He began to swing himself, until his lower half was able to get up to the pole. After a few attempts, he hooked his legs around it, making sure they were crossed and it would be hard to slip off again.

He used his hands to start pulling himself along the pole. The sound of Scorpion and Quan Chi clashing echoed around him but he didn’t dare to look. His only thoughts were on how he needed to get to some kind of safety. Just a little further. He kept going, feeling his heart beating against his ribcage. Just a little further, I can do this.

He heard a whoosh go past his head, and he turned it just in time to see something green hit the ledge. With no time to react, it began to crumble and the pole began to fall again. He released his grip on the pole, it being heavier meant it fell faster than him, so it crashed to the ground as he tumbled after it. He closed his eyes, waiting to meet his fate.

Then he felt himself fall into something a lot softer than the ground should have been. Two arms wrapped around him, and then the world went hot.

His eyes shot open, and he tried to make sense of what happened. He realised he wasn’t standing, and the soft thing he had hit was actually Scorpion. Who was now holding him like a groom held a bride on their wedding day.

He felt his face go red hot, as he stared up at the masked man.

“Are you alright?” Scorpion questioned, looking Kuai over. While Kuai knew it was to look for injuries, something about it made his brain short circuit further.

“I’m fine,” he breathed out.

Scorpion’s head snapped up and he suddenly dodged to one side as yet another flash of green flew past them. Kuai looked to see Quan Chi running at them full pelt.

Scorpion placed Kuai down on his feet, placing a hand on his shoulder and saying “take cover.”

Kuai did not get to reply, as Scorpion ran towards Quan Chi, meeting him half way as the pair began to exchange punches yet again. He swallowed watching them go at it. As much as he understood why Scorpion told him to hide, he knew there had to be something he could do to assist.

He scanned the bunker. It was an old military base that had been abandoned some time ago on Bi-Han’s orders. For some reason, a lot of it was still online however. Something Quan Chi clearly knew if he wanted the launch codes for the missiles hidden within. His eyes landed onto what to uneducated eyes would look like the cabin of an excavator, but Kuai knew what it was.

The LK-520.

A weapon to fight against super humans that Sektor had been working on before his treason was revealed. Kuai had never seen it in person, Bi-Han had refused to let him get involved with anything military related. That never actually stopped Kuai however, as he’d read through all the documentation without big brother’s knowledge. Either way, If he could get it started up, he could maybe use it to turn the tides.

He broke out into a sprint, trying to stick to the edges of the room and avoid the fray as much as possible. He kept moving refusing to stop for even a second, keeping an eye on the fight from the corner of his eye, lest Quan Chi attempt to attack him again.

He quickly made it to The LK-520, jumping up into its cockpit. Its internal workings didn’t look like they’d had any changes from the blueprints he’d seen while snooping. Hopefully its commands and security codes would be the same as well.

“19042011,” Kuai muttered to himself as he put the number into the keypad, delighted when the machine sprang to life before him.

Several screens turned on, and he quickly scanned them. This was exactly like what he’d seen previously. So with any luck, if he hit a certain button, he’d be able to lock the weapon onto Quan Chi. He tapped the screen, and a request to choose a target came up, with a live feed camera. He waited for Scorpion to separate slightly from the target, before clicking the image of Quan Chi.

“Target locked,” he read aloud from the screen. Good. Now he would just have to time his attacks so he didn’t hit Scorpion by accident.

His first opportunity came when Quan Chi had Scorpion pinned to the floor. Kuai clicked a few buttons, before hitting the one he knew would fire a blast of energy. The LK-520 made a strange whirring sound, before a white glow shot out from one of its canons.

As it hit his target, he couldn’t help but let out a “yes!”

Quan Chi was thrown backwards, landing on the floor a few feet away. He looked up with wide eyes, clearly trying to work out what had hit him. When his eyes locked with Kuai Liang’s, he seemed to put together the culprit of the attack. They stared at each other until Quan Chi’s lips curled into a snarl, and he began running at Kuai Liang.

Bring it, you bastard.

Kuai began to fire indiscriminately, Quan Chi trying to dodge at the last minute, but sometimes his timing was just off and he got hit anyway. It didn’t really stop him or slow him down, but Kuai kept going anyway. Except he saw a flash of yellow heading towards Quan Chi, and he stopped firing.

Scorpion tackled Quan Chi to the floor, sitting on top of him and punching his face over and over again. Kuai watched with bated breath, biting his lip. Quan Chi summoned a green energy, causing Scorpion to be thrown off him.

However, instead of continuing to attack, Quan Chi stood up looking dazed. He brought his hand up to his face, wiping off the blood now pouring down from his nose. It was no doubt broken, and all Kuai could think was how he deserved far worse. Quan Chi’s lips curled in disgust, before taking a couple of steps back.

“This is not over,” he growled towards Scorpion, before turning to Kuai Liang and pointing at him. “I’ll make you regret this.”

Kuai just held up his hand and extended his middle finger.

A swirling green portal opened behind Quan Chi, and he let himself fall backwards into it. Scorpion made a dash towards it, but when he was mere inches from reaching, it suddenly closed. He heard Scorpion swearing loudly, but Kuai couldn’t find it in him to be angry Quan Chi got away right now.

Honestly, he was just relieved he’d made it out of all this alive.

He clicked a few buttons, turning the LK-520 off. Slumping back in his seat he took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes. Holy fucking shit, how did I survive that?

Footsteps began to approach him, and he jumped out of the machine to meet Scorpion. Kuai swallowed, he may have been happy this was over, but it was clear from the way Scorpion’s eyebrows were drawn together that he was frustrated by the way things ended.

“I’m sorry he got away,” Kuai gently stated, noticing how Scorpion’s expression softened at it.

“It’s alright,” Scorpion replied, clearing his throat as he offered an awkward, “you did good.” He shook himself like he was trying to shake off his embarrassment. “Are you hurt at all?”

“I’m surprisingly unscathed,” Kuai claimed, offering a bright smile. He was certain when the adrenaline wore off and he got home, he was going to ache all over. But for now, he was alright.

Scorpion nodded thoughtfully, before his eyes wandered towards The LK-520 and he raised an eyebrow. “How did you even know what that thing was? And how to work it?”

“Oh, I’ve read the blueprints before.” Kuai waved his hand like it was no big deal, but if the way Scorpion’s head tilted was anything to go by, it just created more questions.

“I was under the impression Bi-Han had forbidden you from joining the military,” Scorpion said in a puzzled tone. Kuai bit his lip. “I’d have thought something like this was top secret.”

“Yes, well. There isn’t a single top secret file in the world I’ve not managed to find my way into.” Maybe a little bit of an exaggeration, but he was good at breaking into places he shouldn’t be, especially in the digital landscape.

Scorpion stared at him, his eyes slowly widening as if he was coming to some grand realisation.

“It was you,” he whispered in disbelief, and now it was Kuai’s turn to be confused. “You were the one who hacked Quan Chi’s system and leaked his files.”

Kuai held his breath, unsure if he should actually take credit for that one. For all he knew, Quan Chi still had some kind of view of this conversation. If he was mad about Kuai defying him here, he’d be in for a million times the pain if Quan Chi knew about that. But something about the way Scorpion was looking at him caught him off guard. Like he needed to know if Kuai was really the one to show him the truth. The one to help him see Quan Chi for the murderer he was.

“Well I…” He paused, and gave an unsure smile. “I might have poked around a bit and shared my findings with the internet.” He sighed, rubbing his bicep and looking at his feet. “I had hoped it would get to you somehow though. I thought you deserved the truth, but it coming from me wouldn’t have been taken well. Considering…”

Considering the war you and my brother are raging against each other.

He felt a warm hand taking hold of his own, Scorpion bringing it up to his chest. Kuai could feel Scorpion’s heart beating through his clothes. He stared into the man's eyes, as his free hand reached to pull away the mask. Well, if the goal was to make Kuai flustered all over again, it worked. His face felt so hot he almost thought Scorpion had set him on fire.

“You will never know how much you have done for me with your actions,” Scorpion told him, voice a hoarse whisper. “You not only opened my eyes to the real villain of my story, but you gave me strength to relinquish my shackles and freed me from his servitude.” Scorpion brought Kuai’s hand up to his mouth, gently kissing the knuckles. Kuai only just stopped himself from audibly swooning. “I am forever in your debt.”

“I mean… Saving my life was a pretty good way to pay me back,” Kuai offered. As glad as he was that he had helped, having someone in his debt was very uncomfortable for him.

“Quan Chi will probably return to take revenge on you, both for today and if he figures out it was you who leaked the documents.” Scorpion suddenly got on one knee, still clasping Kuai’s hand. Is… Is he about to propose to me? Is that what’s happening here? “He will never lay another finger upon you. I will protect you for as long as you live.”

“Oh.” He wasn’t sure what to say to that, trying to ignore the weird disappointment he felt. Of course he didn’t propose to you, you barely know each other, you moron. Still, regarding Scorpion’s actual declaration, he felt awkward accepting, but also rude refusing. Eventually he just settled on saying “thank you.”

Scorpion returned to stand, letting go of Kuai’s hand as a loud bang rang out throughout the base. No doubt the military, headed by Bi-Han, finally making it to the location. Little bit too late, but Kuai didn’t question it. Scorpion backed away a little.

“I should leave before your brother gets here,” he announced, and Kuai couldn’t blame him. They didn’t exactly have the best history. And knowing Bi-Han he’d jump to conclusions this was all Scorpion’s doing.

“What are you going to do now?” Kuai asked, genuinely curious where Scorpion’s path would lead to.

“Mostly try to track down Quan Chi and end him once and for all.” He let out a sigh, staring around the base. “After that, I’m not so sure.”

“I mean.” Kuai bit his lip, wondering how Scorpion would take what he was about to suggest. “You were pretty heroic today, coming to my rescue.”

Scorpion turned to look at him with an amused smile. “You think I could become a hero?” He chuckled softly, like he didn’t believe in that for himself. “Even if that were true, aren’t there enough already?”

“I don’t think there will ever be enough,” Kuai confidently replied, holding his head high. “A hero is simply someone who appears and saves the day.” He reached up to his head, finally trying to push the hairs that had slipped loose earlier back. “Like, you just did. So I’d say you already are one.”

Scorpion’s eyes widened, his face screwing up as if he was thinking about it, before he settled on a fond smile. “I will think about it.” He placed his mask back on his face, giving Kuai a bow. “Until we meet again, Kuai Liang.”

There was a whirlwind of fire engulfing Scorpion, before he vanished. Seconds later, many heavily armed military personnel stormed the room, pointing their guns at him. He immediately held up his hands to show he was unarmed and not a threat.

“Stand down,” a voice barked, as Bi-Han made his way through the crowd. The men did as they were told as Bi-Han ran over to Kuai Liang. He took hold his shoulders looking him over for injuries. “Are you alright? Were you hurt?”

“No. I’m fine, Bi-Han.” He gave a tired smile. Now that things were settled, god damn was he tired. “Can we go home now?”

Bi-Han studied him for a few seconds, letting out a breath and saying “sure.” He took Kuai’s arm and began to guide him back towards the entrance. “But once you’ve rested up, you’d better tell me exactly what happened here.”

Kuai nodded, not entirely sure what he was going to tell him. It was sort of an unspoken secret between them that Bi-Han knew of Kuai’s cyber activities. Kuai wasn’t sure he wanted Bi-Han to know just how deep into all that he actually was. Bi-Han was, as far as Kuai knew, blissfully unaware he knew things like military launch codes and security details. He wasn’t sure how he’d react to how much knowledge Kuai had of those things, except that it would probably come with some sort of lecture that would make him feel like a child again.

And that wasn’t even touching how he’d handle telling him about Scorpion.

The warmth of Scorpion’s hands lingered on his own, and it made his heart skip a beat.

Oh. I am definitely not telling Bi-Han that bit.

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