From a Woman's Point of View

Surprise, Surprise

Note: Sub-zero will be called a 'she' from now on.

Sub-zero trudged along the path. She had no idea how she was going to go back to the Lin Kuei palace. She sighed. She looked straight ahead as she passed a bar full of drunken men.

"Hey cutie!" one of them shouted at her. She just kept her eyes on the path.

"Come now cutie! Come have a drink with us!" another one slurred. They got up from their stools and stopped Sub-zero in her tracks. One touched Sub-zero's face. She slapped his hand away. He laughed manically. "Don't be like that cutie!" he said.

"I swear if you call me cutie one more time…!" she left the threat hanging. The men laughed once more. One of them leaned towards her and breathed on her face. She could smell his breath; it smelled like putrid corpses. It almost made her hurl. She shook her head and punched him squarely on the face. He was thrown backward.

"Why you little…" one of them started but was cut off when a bolt of lightning hit right in front of them. Sub-zero closed her eyes when another one struck. She opened her eyes when she thought it was safe. She was astonished at what she saw. There, standing in front of her, in all his glory, was Raiden, the Thunder God. Behind him, the men were all lying down, unconscious. He turned around and smiled at her warmly. She gave him an incredulous look.

"Hello, I thought you might need some help." He said amiably. "Those men were just Black Dragon thugs. Are you all right, milady?" Raiden asked. Sub-zero snapped out of it.

"Raiden!" she cried in joy. Finally, somebody who can transport me, she thought. Raiden looked surprised.

"How do you know my name milady?" He asked, still smiling warmly.

"You're the Thunder God, everybody knows who you are." She blurted out.

Raiden's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Yes, I am aware that people know who I am." Raiden said boldly.

Sub-zero resisted the impulse to roll her eyes.

"However," he surveyed Sub-zero from top to bottom. "only few actually know how I look like."

At first Sub-zero couldn't understand why he didn't recognize her. Just then, she remembered that she was actually a SHE. She laughed awkwardly. Raiden was still looking at her, waiting for a response.

"Er…"

Raiden furrowed his eyebrows in impatience.

"Well, you see…" she sighed and let her shoulders slump. "I'm Sub-zero." Raiden looked at her only a little surprised.

"You know, you have the same name as one of our comrades." At that response, Sub-zero's patience was ripped to pieces. She took a step forward and seized Raiden's robes and shook it. There were no words to express the confusion on Raiden's face.

Sub-zero knew what was running through his mind. 'Just who is this woman? Why in the name of the Elder Gods is she seizing me by my collar and shaking me?' But, by now, she could care less about what Raiden was thinking.

"What part of 'I am Sub-zero' did you not understand?" she screamed at him. Then, Raiden's expression melted into shock.

"But…Sub-zero was a guy…" he said feebly.

"Well, he WAS a guy." she emphasized the past tense just as he had done with Kenshi.

"Dear Elder Gods." Raiden looked at her as if she suddenly became Baraka.

She let go of Raiden and sighed. "Raiden, I need your help." She eyed him. Raiden still looked dazed, as if he still couldn't grasp what she was saying.

"Wha-oh…You need me to transport you back to Arctika…don't worry, I'll help you."

She smiled in relief.

"Thanks Raiden." She said as Raiden muttered a few words and a portal opened up in front of her. Raiden smiled in response and Sub-zero stepped in the portal.

Sub-zero stepped out of the portal. She took a deep breath. She was back in Arctika. She mused over what would happen. Will her guards ever let her in? What in the world was she going to do? She walked through the snowy path. After walking for about half an hour, the Lin Kuei palace was finally in his line of sight. She continued on until she reached the gate. As she expected, the guard stopped her.

"Halt!" he said as two of them crossed their spears.

"Let me pass." She said authoritatively. Still the guards didn't move.

"We do not let intruders pass. Our Grandmaster is not yet here, I suggest you stay out here until he comes back." The other one replied. She sighed.

"I am Sub-zero." She said exasperatedly.

"Nice try sweetheart, but the Grandmaster is actually a man." He said a-matter-of-factly.

"I am Grandmaster Sub-zero of the Lin Kuei. I got turned into a woman by a certain sorcerer named Quan Chi." She said.

"Look, sugar…Here's what we can do. Tell me something that only Grandmaster Sub-zero knows about me and I'll believe." He said the last part so dubiously that Sub-zero narrowed his eyes.

"Fine." She said angrily. "Your name is Takumi Okada, you came from Japan. Your wife and child died of an unknown disease and you begged me to take you in as a guard." Okada raised an eyebrow.

"Is that all you got? That definitely doesn't prove to me that you're Grandmaster Sub-zero." He replied. "You gotta do better than that honey."

"Do you really want me to say something about you, that only I know, in front of all these people?" she arched her eyebrow. He nodded unperturbedly. "No matter how embarrassing it might be?" He nodded again. She smirked.

"Once we got drunk together and you told me all you secrets. So as not to humiliate you too much, I'll tell you one secret."

"I'm waiting." He said. He was so sure that she wasn't Sub-zero. She took in a deep breath.

"Well...you..." She paused for a while. She was still thinking of whether or not to say the fact. The man grinned cockily. That shredded Sub-zero's patience. "YOU FOLD YOUR UNDERWEAR AT THE SIDE BECAUSE YOU FIND THE TAG SO ITCHY!" That did the trick. The man paled and bowed.

"F-f-Forgive me Grandmaster Sub-zero! Forgive me!" he said while he was on his knees.

"You are forgiven." She heard the silent snickering of his fellow guards. He stared at her in relief. "What are you waiting for? Do I have to spill more of your secrets for me to be permitted inside of my own stronghold?" she said arching an eyebrow. He shook his head and ordered the others to open the gates. She went in and when she went around the corner, she could hear her guards taunting poor Okada. She smirked. As she found her room, she bolted her door and lay on her bed and she fell asleep at once.