The White Ninja's Legacy * * * * * * * * * *
Book 1: Before His Time
Diamond stood inside the grand hall of the Lin Kuei headquarters, somewhat confused as to why him and his brother Damage were called before the Grandmaster. Ninjas were only called to the grand hall for special announcements or secret missions.
As Diamond scanned the room, he noticed four other ninjas, two of them the new cyber-ninja prototypes, unit LK-4D4 (codenamed Cyrax) and unit LK-9T9 (codenamed Sektor). Diamond didn't particularly like the new cyber-ninjas, the main reason being that they had no instinct. They all ran off programming and pre-determined patterns. They couldn't change plans in the middle of a mission unless they were reprogrammed, which was a major hassle in itself. They were only sent mainly for seek-and-destroy and reconnaissance missions. Those types of missions were easiest to program, for even the programmers of the cyber-ninjas were learning as they went. Seek-and-destroy and reconnaissance missions also had the lowest rate of change of the course of action. A change in the course of action would render the old programming for the cyber-ninja useless, and it would become a hassle.
The two ninjas standing aside the cyber-ninjas were dressed in standard Lin Kuei attire, wearing their respective colors. The throne from which the Grandmaster would make his announcements and give assignments sat in the middle of the back of the hall, with enough room for the Grandmaster's personal guards. The hall then quickly widened, and was large enough to accommodate around ten thousand people, Diamond estimated. The grand hall was also held a variety of sparring tournaments, everything from hand to hand to weapon combat in all forms such as handicap and team battles. These tournaments helped the ninjas to hone their skills for any type of combat situation.
Suddenly, a large wooden door in the far right corner of the hall opened, and in walked the Grandmaster with his two personal guards following closely behind. Instinctively, the six standing before the Grandmaster saluted by placing a clenched fist over the heart, or where the heart would be inside the cyber-ninjas. The Grandmaster did the same, then brought his arm back to his side quickly. Diamond and the others did the same, and stood straight, waiting for what the Grandmaster had to say.
"At ease, Lin Kuei," the Grandmaster said with a motion of his hand. Almost simultaneously, the ninjas clasped their hands behind their backs and spread their legs slightly for comfort, except for the cyber-ninjas who merely stood at attention. The Grandmaster sat on his throne, which was pure gold molded and carved with many intricate designs. His hands curled around the rounded ends of the armrests, and the Grandmaster leaned back with a sigh as he prepared to begin.
"Lin Kuei warriors, you have all probably heard by now of the insurrection and escape of two of our greatest assasins, Sub-Zero and Smoke."
Diamond had been apprehensive and confused lately. Sub-Zero had taught him so much of what he knows, including some of the tricks to commanding the elements that were already roughly controlled by Diamond himself. Sub-Zero and Smoke were always open for quick sparring matches to help Diamond and themselves get better at what they do best, but it had never occurred to him that either would want to run away.
Diamond had heard that in the middle of Smoke's automation process, which Diamond had also heard occurred against his will, Sub-Zero (who had already run from the Klan and the entire purpose of the automated ninjas was to capture him) broke into the sealed room and killed the technicians. He then ran out with the confused and half-programmed Smoke, who still had some human thought left in him. Smoke had become unclear of whether or not to obey his last programmed order (kill the renegade Sub-Zero) or to trust his longtime friend.
"Seeing how unit LK-7T2 has not yet returned with the head of our betrayer Sub-Zero, we suspect Sub-Zero has over-rided his programming due to the process being halted in the most important stage of development by Sub-Zero's wild and reckless attack on the automation factory. The six of you are to work together to bring back the head of Sub-Zero and bring unit LK-7T2 intact so we can finish the automation process. I trust that the six of you are able to complete this mission with minimal problems. As always, if you return here before the mission is complete or if you fail to bring back unit LK-7T2, your punishment will be the same. Dismissed."
The six Lin Kuei warriors saluted, then did a full one-eighty and marched single file back towards the living quarters. On the way there all Diamond could think about would be possible reasons as to why Sub-Zero ran off. He had seemed at peace within the Klan and around Diamond. It never occurred to him that Sub-Zero would suddenly up and leave like he did. Diamond wanted answers, and knew there was only one way to get them. Through Sub-Zero himself.
Once inside, Diamond turned to Damage, who seemed rather calm about it all, as if nothing was bothering him.
"Don't you find it odd that Sub-Zero would just run off like he did? I mean, what the hell happened? He just seemed as if he enjoyed being here all the time? Why the sudden change of heart and why suddenly running from the Klan and the raid on the automation factory?"
Damage turned to Diamond, and Diamond could see in his brother's eyes that he was just as confused, if not more, by the assassin's actions. Damage merely shrugged.
Then, unexpectedly, Damage leaned over and whispered as if not wanting anyone else to hear, "I'll make ya a little deal, brother. If you find Sub first, you can go ahead and find out what he was thinking when he ran off. I'll hold off. But if I find him first, you had better haul ass."
Diamond felt a little better after that, but was still confused out of his mind as he got up with Damage that night for their departure. They had agreed with the other two warriors and the cyber-ninjas that they would meet to depart in the training room right after sundown. Diamond walked down the halls behind Damage, watching the sun set out the windows. He, for reasons he did not understand, felt uneasy about this mission. He wanted no part in the killing of his longtime companion Sub-Zero, but he knew that he had to do it. For leaving the Klan at any time for any reason was against the code, and any infraction against the code had only one punishment. That punishment, of course, was death.
Damage and Diamond entered the training room and stood in the center of the room, seeing only the cyber-ninjas. Looking around, they saw no sign of the other two ninjas. Damage saluted the cyber-ninjas, as did Diamond. Cyrax and Sektor saluted back, then returned to their recon scanning to make sure Sub-Zero was nowhere near the Headquarters.
"Guess we're early," Damage said, trying to keep Diamond's spirits. Damage knew that Diamond was incredibly uneasy about this mission, but he also knew that any mission giving to a warrior directly by the Grandmaster could not be turned down for any reason other than disability. And, much to the dismay of Diamond at this point, Diamond was one of the healthiest warriors within the walls of the grand Headquarters.
"I still don't understand why I was chosen for this assignment," Diamond blurted out. "I mean, there's a lot more qualified and able warriors and assassins here that could have taken Sub-Zero out without any second thought, but the Grandmaster chose me. I don't understand." The thought of having to kill the blue assassin again hit home for Diamond.
Damage turned toward his brother and shrugged. "Perhaps it's a test of your loyalty to the Klan," Damage suggested. "I wouldn't be surprised if the Grandmaster knew how much you three spent sparring and training and learning from each other."
That makes sense, Diamond thought. He would want to make sure I wouldn't run off and join Sub, so he's sending me to kill him to test my loyalty to the Klan. Clever bastard.
The other two ninjas came walking in from the hall opposite the one Diamond and Damage came out of right as the sun slid behind the horizon. The red Lin Kuei saluted to Damage and Diamond, followed immediately by the salute of the purple Lin Kuei. Damage, Diamond, Cyrax, and Sektor all saluted back. The six of them grouped together and began walking towards the front exit, as Damage tried to make some sort of small talk to keep the spirits of the men up.
"Rain, Ermac, punctual as always. We came early expecting you guys to be waiting for us."
Rain, the purple Lin Kuei, turned towards Damage, smiled under his mask, and replied, "You know me, I tend to wait right until the exact time. Ermac over here kept pushin' me along, sayin' we were gonna be late. I told him not to worry, cuz I'm a time freak. Guess he'll have to get used to that."
The four ninjas had a bit of a laugh, and even Diamond felt better now. Damage seemed to be able to brighten up anything, but when it came down to business, you didn't want to be on the opposing side. He could put anyone out with a few quick strikes easily, but Sub-Zero may prove to be a different task. The blue assassin remained the undefeated contender in every tournament ever held within the walls of the headquarters. He was too strong even for Damage, Rain, or Ermac alone. Perhaps the six of them would be able to at least hold off the two renegades.
An hour had passed since the departure of the six warriors, and still no sign of either Sub-Zero or Smoke. The radar detectors inside the two cyber-ninjas were pickin' up, as Diamond would say, jacksquat. It seemed odd to all of the Lin Kuei out there that Sub-Zero had found a way to elude the radars. This means that the assassins would have to search for the two renegades the old-fashioned way. Walking around blindly in a certain prescheduled path 'til someone ran face first into either Sub or Smoke. Diamond preferred it this way, without the help of little "all-knowing" machines to help him around. He believed in good old-fashioned hand-to-hand missions, and wasn't about ready to go cybernetic.
Now we see how good these big hunks of metal are without the little toys, Diamond thought to himself. A slight grin spread over his face as he lowered slightly to the ground as they entered the forest north of the Lin Kuei Headquarters. Diamond looked quickly over at the other five, all of which had also lowered to a ready stance. Diamond slid soundless across the forest floor, searching from side to side tentatively, as if expecting a sudden attack from the blue assassin and LK-7T2.
Walking through the forest, it suddenly hit Diamond like a bo staff to the side of the head. The radars were rather primitive, and could only pick up a solid, moving object. If Sub froze himself and Smoke cloaked, they would be invisible to radar. Diamond became a bit uneasy, knowing that Smoke could be anywhere around them.
Diamond was the first to step into the clearing, and immediately saw a frozen Sub-Zero crouched down, and small puffs of smoke emitting from seemingly out of nowhere. Almost immediately, a flame pillar shot up, and from where the smoke was emitting emerged unit LK-7T2, Smoke. Smoke turned toward the ice and tapped on the head of the frozen figure, which slowly began cracking. Diamond jumped down to a fighting stance, but was dumbfounded to find that nothing was there when the ice shattered. Almost instantaneously from the rear, Sub-Zero landed a well planted left kick into the base of Diamond's back. Sub flipped off his foe and landed beside his partner and both fell to a fighting stance. Diamond hit the ground face first and winced a small bit in pain. But Diamond quickly rolled up to a fighting stance, and the three of them had a quick stare down, Diamond watching both Sub-Zero and Smoke at once.
Diamond rose from his stance and stood comfortably, yet on the ready. He looked at Sub-Zero questioningly and asked, "Why'd you run? Why run from the Klan? You knew this would happen! You knew they'd send me! You know you'll have to kill me in order to survive this! Why?!?"
Sub-Zero looked over at Smoke, then nodded. The renegades stood up from their stances and Smoke took a step back.
"You would never understand, Diamond," the blue assassin replied rather quietly. "I've been a part of this Klan ever since I can remember. Long before either you or Damage were introduced to it. With the beginning of the automation process, I fear that the Klan showed that they were going soft. They are turning toward technology and betraying our ancestors and what they had fought for all those years ago. I fear that after witnessing what Shao Kahn did to my brother, the original Sub-Zero, the Klan became questionable as to whether the standard warrior could combat the new threat or not. So they threw away all that we had worked for a bunch of wires and programs!"
Sub-Zero swung his right arm as if he cut the air. "Just LOOK what they've done to Smoke!!" he added, as a way of proving his point. "One of my best friends and a great help for you and me, and here's now a mere shadow of himself..." Sub-Zero's voice trailed off as he bowed his head, as if asking the gods to forgive him for what he had done. Diamond, now seeing the error in the ways of the Klan, felt as though he should do something himself. Yet the loyalty to the Klan still ran deep in this novice's blood, and Diamond feared that nothing he could do would ever straighten out the Klan. To contradict the Grandmaster was unheard of within the Klan, for the Grandmaster made it to his position through wisdom and loyalty.
Diamond now knew that there was nothing more he could do. Slowly, Diamond lifted his own head. "Sorry, Sub....Smoke...but I cannot disobey the Grandmaster. Please try to understand." The two renegades merely nodded, and slowly dropped to their respective fighting stances. Diamond dropped down and quickly whistled as loud as possible and screamed out above the ambient sounds within the forest, "I'VE FOUND THE RENEGADES!!! HURRY!!!"
With that, Sub-Zero and Diamond lunged toward each other on a collision course. The two collided, and immediately locked hands into a test-of-strength and began the agonizing task of trying to overpower the opponent. Just after the collision, Damage, Rain, Ermac, Cyrax and Sektor came into the clearing from separate sides of the field This left Smoke and Sub-Zero with no way of escaping from the circle of warriors now surrounding them. Rain and Ermac quickly charged straight for Smoke, who very easily somersaulted over the teaming combatants and fired the pitch-fork spear/grappling hook that had been embedded into the overmantle of Smoke, Spearing Ermac in the small of the back. The red Lin Kuei cried out in pain, as Cyrax and Sektor awaited their turn at the elusive Sub-Zero. Damage stood patiently, as if watching to see how well Diamond had spent the extra training time with Sub-Zero and Smoke.
Meanwhile, Sub-Zero slowly began to gain advantage over Diamond and pushed him ever so slowly towards the ground. Diamond knew better than to go to his knees, for if he did he would be at the complete mercy of the blue assassin. Instead, with a burst of energy, Diamond fired a small crystal shard from each hand into Sub-Zero's, who instinctively let go and checked his hands. Though the cuts were deep, Sub-Zero merely shrugged them off and looked up to Diamond, just in time to see him fire a small crystal ball straight at Sub. The ball shattered upon impact, sending Sub-Zero flying backward, landing flat on his back with a loud thud.
Smoke had by now reeled Ermac in by his back, and had lifted him up, preparing for what would be the end of the red ninja. Instead, Rain suddenly lifted an outstretched hand to the air, and to the amazement of everyone in the fighting area, thunderclouds now loomed overhead. Rain brought his hand down in a quick slash motion, and a thunderbolt sent straight from the clouds caught Smoke with deadly accuracy, which sent Smoke straight to the ground. This gave Ermac enough time to come to his senses and backflip to Rain's side. Simultaneously, the two Lin Kuei jumped down to a fighting stance, waiting for Smoke to return to his feet. Smoke kipped up into a perfect fighting stance, and prepared for another onslaught when the sound of cries of pain made all heads turn towards Diamond and Sub-Zero.
Sub-Zero lay on the ground bleeding after two furious hook kicks to each side of the head, one catching his nose on the way down, breaking it. Yet the screams were not coming from him. Diamond was caught in a ice blast from Sub-Zero, but the shot only went halfway up the legs, leaving Diamond conscious enough to scream bloody murder. Diamond tried desperately to break the ice from his legs, but to no avail. Sub-Zero was slowly getting up, and Diamond knew it was only a matter of time before he became another victim of Sub-Zero. Diamond, in a last ditch attempt to break free, grabbed the crystal nunchucku hanging out of his belt. He smashed it against his leg wildly, hoping the circulation hadn't been cut off from his legs. Diamond saw Sub-Zero fast approaching, looking to take out Diamond's legs. Sub-Zero dropped into a low sliding position, seemingly gliding across the rough grass. Just before Sub-Zero was able to make contact, Diamond gave the nunchucku a quick horizontal swing, catching Sub-Zero upside the head and eliminating any thought of breaking off the white Lin Kuei's legs. Diamond again struck the frozen limb, which was luckily just covered in a thin sheet. The thin sheet around his leg shattered, and Diamond quickly broke the other sheet, freeing him.
That's enough of that insanity, Diamond thought to himself. He quickly rolled back behind Sektor, Cyrax, and his older brother Damage, who quickly took up the fight against the dazed and confused assassin. Sub-Zero slowly rose to his feet, only to find that he was now out-numbered three-to-one. The blue assassin sent a spinning back hook kick towards the three Lin-Kuei, which all avoided easily. What the two cyber-ninjas did not know however that this would be a setup kick, and only Damage saw it coming. As Sub spun around, he quickly lowered himself down to a back leg sweep and spun again. Damage hopped over it, but the kick caught the cyber-ninjas off guard and were swept right off their feet, landing hard on the back of their helmets.
Once again, instinct beats out programming, Diamond thought to himself, catching his breath. Diamond turned to watch Smoke, who was slowly saluting for some odd reason. Rain and Ermac rushed the half-cyborg, who quickly rose into the air, catching both Lin Kuei off guard. Smoke was nowhere to be found. As the two searched frantically, a low rumble was heard beneath the surface of the field.
Diamond, frantically getting enough breath to speak, quickly yelled, "LOOK OUT!!!" But the warning was just a fraction of a second too late. As Rain looked down at the ground, the ground split open, sending Ermac sailing through the air. Smoke came flying up from the hole, and caught Rain with a stiff uppercut right under the jaw. Rain went into the air, and promptly fell back down, landing hard on the back of his head. As Rain lay unconscious, Smoke slowly crept up to the downed Lin Kuei. Smoke lifted up Rain, who had to be held up just to remain standing. Smoke slowly opened the compartment in his overmantle, and a small bomb came out, being held up by a mechanical hand.
Sub-Zero glanced over just in time to see Smoke about ready to kill the red Lin Kuei ninja. Sub quickly caught Damage with a mid-kick straight in his gut, sending the brown Lin Kuei warrior to his hands and knees gasping for air. Sub-Zero ran over to Smoke and grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Smoke, we have no reason to kill these warriors, only the cyborgs," Sub-Zero explained to Smoke. Smoke reluctantly put the bomb back into the compartment and dropped Rain to the ground. Smoke then turned towards Ermac, who was slowly rising to his feet after the sudden unexpected flight.
Sub-Zero turned back to his opponents just in time to see a dark green net come flying at him. The blue assassin quickly fired an ice blast at the net, freezing it in mid-air. Sub merely pushed the net over, and it fell to the ground shattering into millions of tiny pieces. Damage then pulled out a black, rubber cord and flung it towards Sub-Zero, intending to wrap the cord around Sub and pull him in for a quick combo. However, the blue assassin caught the cord and sent Damage flying towards him. Once Damage arrived, Sub-Zero immediately gave Damage a left elbow to the chin, a right elbow downward to the temple, backhanded Damage across the face breaking his nose, delivered a left knee to Damage's kidney, kicked the leg out catching Damage in the temple, then spun around and caught Damage on the opposite temple with one hell of a back spinning heel kick. Damage went into the air, spinning a couple times before landing, blood flying everywhere from his mouth, nose, and the side of his head. Damage quickly pulled down his mask and opened his mouth just before spewing a mouthful of blood. Damage slid the mask back up and passed out on the ground, a victim of one of the most vicious kombos known.
Sektor was the next to attempt an attack on Sub-Zero, who fired a small missile towards Sub-Zero. The blue assassin barely ducked underneath the small weapon, and came sliding toward unit LK-9T9. Before the red cyborg could react, Sub-Zero slid right into Sektor's right leg, sending the robot head over heels to the ground behind Sub. As Sub-Zero slowly rose to his feet, LK-4D4 was already on a hit-and-run attempt for the blue assassin's head. Cryax leaped into the air with a flying kick, and began his descent when Smoke turned from his two battered foes. He shot a spear right over Sub's head, causing the blue assassin to duck. The spear caught Cyrax off guard, and embedded in the metal overmantle. Cyrax returned to the ground like a huge rock, and as Smoke reeled him in, Sub-Zero went to cover his back.
Sektor kipped up to his feet as Rain and Ermac also rose. Diamond, seeing a chance for an ambush, leaped into the trees surrounding the field. As the three fighters surrounded Sub-Zero and Smoke, the blue assassin ducked down, as if surrendering. The three kombatants knew better, and quickly jumped back. Sub-Zero froze himself, but backflipped into the trees at the last moment. Diamond was the only fighter to notice this, partially because he's seen Sub do that so many times, yet also because the blue assassin landed right in front of him.
Almost immediately after Sub had frozen himself, there was some rustling in the trees. Suddenly, Diamond came flying from the trees, landing hard on his back. Diamond instinctively arched his back up, checking to see if his spine was still intact. However, Diamond never saw the vine creeping up toward him, and before he could even comprehend what was happening, the vine wrapped around his shin and began to pull him towards the forest.
"OHHH SHIT!!!" Diamond cried out as he desperately went for his nunchucku. The vine quickly pulled him into the forest as Cyrax, Sektor, Rain, and Ermac continued their battle against Sub-Zero and Smoke as Damage lay on the ground unconcious. The vine continued to pull Diamond in deeper, who now realized that the vine had wrapped around the chain of the nunchucku, as if expecting Diamond to go for them. The white Lin Kuei watched helplessly as the trees surrounded him and then lost sight of the battle. When Diamond looked in front of him, he saw a female surrounded in the vines. She looked at Diamond, then laughed aloud. The female raised a staff and was hoisted up by one of the vines.
"I am IVY!" the female began. "Now, you shall die for entering my forest."
Diamond realized that the stories of spirits within the forest were partially true. She was no ordinary female, having the ability to control the vines of the forest. But she appeared to be flesh and blood. Diamond would not have long to think, however, as four vines suddenly wrapped around him, covering him. Diamond looked at a vine in front of his face, and noticed that something was trying to come out.
Shit, Diamond thought. He knew he had only seconds before whatever was poking would pop through, into him. Diamond also knew the vines were slowly crushing him, so that left little time for Diamond to escape. Diamond began to concentrate on forming a small crystal ball in his hands. The crystal slowly formed and rested in his hands when Diamond found out what was trying to poke through. Thorns. The thorns stabbed into Diamond in every spot imaginable, causing him to let out a cry for help. However, the plants covering Diamond muffled his screams, barely audible to the mysterious female he now knew as Ivy.
Ivy smiled under her mask, knowing that she had another victim within her grasp for the forest to feed on, when she noticed something forming around the vines. Small crystals were slowly making their way around her vines. The smile quickly faded, and Ivy began fuming. This warrior was beating the forest. A muffled yell came from the vines, and the plants shattered to the ground, leaving the white clad warrior standing there, bleeding from the many cuts from the thorns. Ivy had not had time to unleash the poison, and she was enraged at this man.
"How DARE you!" Ivy cried out. With a flick of her hand, another vine came flying towards Diamond. Diamond grabbed the vine as it neared him, freezing it in a sheet of crystal almost on contact. I finally got it, Diamond said to himself. Diamond had been working with Sub-Zero up to the day he left, trying to make the freeze on contact work, but he'd only been able to get the long distance blast down. Diamond fired a blast at Ivy, catching her and freezing her in a layer of crystal.
Diamond instinctively began running, as far and as fast as his bruised and battered body could take him. Diamond searched frantically for some sort of exit out of the forest, but only saw the thick trees. Knowing that it wouldn't be much longer before the female ninja would break free of the crystal encasing her, Diamond climbed up the nearest tree.
As Diamond scanned the treetops from side to side. Spotting the top of the Lin Kuei HeadQuarters, Diamond leapt to the ground and began running furiously in that direction. However, Diamond had forgotten in all the confusion that returning without Sub-Zero or Smoke meant instant death for him. Diamond only thought about reporting the strange ninja to the Grandmaster. If the Lin Kuei knew of the reason behind the recent disappearances of those who went into the forest, it could possibly decrease the amount of warriors lost.
After what seemed like forever, Diamond stepped into the Grandmaster's chamber. Diamond saluted, then dropped to one knee to begin his report.
"Grandmaster, I have uncovered the identity of the murderer within the forest. A female ninja named Ivy dwells deep in the forest, and murders her victims using the vines in the forest to crush the life out of them. I barely escaped with my life to bring you the information. I feel that with the awareness of the attacker, the number of warriors dying in the forest shall decrease indefinitely."
The Grandmaster merely nodded. "And what of the renegades?" The Grandmaster asked questioningly, putting on a perfect show to make Diamond believe he was going to be merciful on the young warrior. The Grandmaster knew Diamond had talent and skill, but defying the laws of the Lin Kuei was not a wise choice for any warrior. Not even the great Sub-Zero of old could be protected from the punishment.
Diamond looked up, fear in his eyes. He realized that he returned empty-handed and would pay the price. Another thing Diamond failed to notice earlier was that the commander of the Japanese ninja klan stood aside The Grandmaster. The Grandmaster was standing next to the Lin Kuei's greatest enemy, and doing nothing! Diamond did not know of the large massacre that took place while Diamond, Damage, Rain, and Ermac were gone. The Lin Kuei was destroyed in a swift attack by the ninjas, one which was planned by The Grandmaster and his "nemisis" for quite some time.
Diamond stuttered as he realized his fate, "The...They're still at large, Sir. There was a tense battle, in which Sub-Zero and Smoke were able to dominate against us. They knew much more about the forest than we did, and were able to easily take us out. They had also found a way around the Cyber-ninjas radar detectors."
Diamond then realized another connection. Cyber-ninjas-. Why had no one seen that? The Grandmaster crossed his arms and looked down devilishly at the bloody Diamond, a smile spreading under his mask. Diamond's execution would not be a normal execution, but a vicious, secret one. The Grandmaster looked to his new ally, and they both nodded.
"Diamond!" The Grandmaster shouted out with fury. "You have failed me! Now, you shall pay the price of those who defy the laws of the Lin Kuei! Meet your executioner, CYBER SURFER!!!"
A door opened behind the Grandmaster, and a silver cyber-ninja came flying through on a hoverboard. The front of the board smacked against Diamond's face, creating a deep cut and sending blood everywhere. Diamond cried out in pain as he landed face first on the stone floor after two spins in mid air. Diamond got up instinctively as Cyber Surfer set up for another run. Surfer charged, and Diamond took to the air, hoping to knock the assassin off his board. However, Cyber Surfer back-flipped, catching Diamond in the chin with the back end of the board. Diamond landed on the stone again, and his arm went to his back as he cried out again in pain. Cyber Surfer hovered above Diamond, then raised up. As Diamond opened his eyes, the board came crashing down lengthwise, covering Diamond's body. A muffled scream came from under the board, and Surfer raised it and landed on Diamond again, with more force. Diamond cried out again, but weaker. Cyber Surfer began to work like a piston, crashing down on Diamond repeatedly. On the fifth strike, Surfer stopped and pressed down on Diamond's body. A pool of blood began to form under the board, and Cyber Surfer raised up. The silver cyber-ninja hovered back to The Grandmaster and the ninja master, and took the board from under him and held it upright. The Grandmaster cackled, admiring the work of the newest member of the cyber-ninjas.
"Dispose of the body with the others," The Grandmaster ordered. As two ninjas came in and dragged the mangled, lifeless body of Diamond away, The Grandmaster turned to his ally.
"Now, we wait for the rest to return, and then..." The Grandmaster told him.
"We finish them off, and the destruction of the Lin Kuei will be complete." The master finished for him. Both laughed out insanely, as Cyber Surfer stood there, his board set upright.