Ayumi narrowed her eyes at her opponent as he taunted her. She gritted her teeth in a rage, clenching her fists around the wood of her spear and forcing her legs to move. The Onna Bugeisha thrust her blade out and started to push the offensive. Ieremia was ducking and weaving around the larger weapon as her legs were not as limber and agile as they might be normally...<br/><br/>Raiden narrowed his eyes under the brim of his hat as he crossed his arms,<strong>"No."</strong>He said, answering Gao Wu with a slow shake of his head. As the two warriors fought before them, the white-clad God went on to say,<strong>"Once Outworld and Earthrealm's champions have been chosen, the fight is between them alone. You will only invite trouble by interfering."</strong><br/><br/>Ayumi's naginata was broken by a well placed stomp of Ieremia's foot just above the steel. Abandoning the bladeless pole, she threw it aside and drew her katana, raising it high above her head. She remained focused on him, rage and frustration for his tricks welling up in her breast... she breathed hard, her chest heaving with the effort. With her arms over her head, the japanese woman's breasts were displayed quite prominently, framed by her pauldrons. Beads of sweat started to form on her skin.<br/><br/><strong>"Round Two! ...<em>Fight!</em>"</strong><br/><br/>Raiden did not balk, fixing his sight on the duel as he explained to Fatin,<strong>"If you lose... then the Emperor Shao Kahn comes one step closer to physically absorbing our world into his. The Elder Gods created the Mortal Kombat tournament to give Earthrealm a chance to defend itself. If the Emperor wins ten consecutive tournaments, then he will conquer all."</strong><br/><br/>Ayumi had yet to land a blow on her enemy, growing more and more frustrated with every failing of her legs to carry her through the battle. She was panting hard, while Ieremia seemed to remain well-rested. Her movements were stiff and unyielding as the poison seeped through the rest of her body. She swung a wide horizontal slash, one powerful enough to bisect a tree or behead any man... and yet it caught nothing but air. Ieremia slipped past and ended up moving faster than she could turn around. She looked over her shoulder as he whirled his blade around....<br/><br/><strong>"AAAaaauugghh!"</strong><br/><br/>A wide-eyed Skarlet forced herself to the front of the crowd of spectators by the time Ieremia's kilij found the back of her knees. She was hamstrung, his blade whetting itself on her blood as the woman's severed tendons suddenly went loose, rolling up into her thigh and calf. Ayumi dropped her katana in pain and reached behind her as she crumpled forward. Effectively crippled, it was obvious she was in no condition to fight any further. Rolling over to her side, the woman reached behind her knees, not knowing what to do to stem the pain or the flow of blood.<strong>"Nngghhuuhh."</strong>Instinctively, the woman crawled away from her opponent on her hands and elbows, her legs now useless as they dragged behind her.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong><em>"Finish her!</em>"</strong></span><br/><br/>Ayumi's eyes widened when she had heard those words... She had lost. This was no battlefield where she might be able to rely on another to preserve her as she crawled to safety. She could not treat her wounds and live to fight another day... This was a fight to the death, and she had lost. For her honor, for her clan and for her husband's memory, she had to adhere to Bushidō- to die with honor and dignity.<br/><br/>She turned around and propped herself on an elbow as she drew her short sword, the wakizashi. Falling back to lay down, she lifted the blade up, edge downwards... ready to plunge it into her own belly. She began to breathe hard, biting her lip as she cringed every muscle in her body anticipating the impalement. Ayumi closed her eyes and grit her teeth. 'Just do it! She thought, 'Die with honor! Kill yourself!'<br/><br/>Raiden looked on with disappointment evident in his face, but he did not look away. So suddenly, the harsh reality of this tournament would undoubtedly set in with most of the fighters here. This was no game, and whatever warmth and lightheartedness had existed in the air before was gone... replaced only by silence as a broken woman struggled to end herself before Outworld's first warrior.