Disclaimer: I do not own either Injustice 2 or Mortal Kombat. They are property of DC Comics (in the case of the former) and NetherRealm Studios. No profit is being made from this story.

Author's Note: WARNING! There will be death and gore in this story. The description of the Netherrealm comes from Mortal Kombat wiki. Dialogue from both the Mortal Kombat X and Injustice 2 arcade modes have been borrowed.

The royal library of Black Adam was an impressive sight, with rows of shelves stacked with carefully arranged leather-bound books, scrolls and manuscripts. The walls were decorated with beautiful murals, some honouring the gods of Egypt, others depicting Black Adam's exploits.

Currently the library was empty save for one occupant. Wonder Woman sat at one of the tables studying a tome she had taken from the shelves. The ancient yellow parchment crinkled as she carefully turned each page.

Since the fall of the Regime and her exile from Themyscira Wonder Woman had sought out any means to release Superman and restore the One Earth government to power, including the arcane knowledge found in tomes such as this were one. This particular volume told of the Netherrealm, a dark dimension of evil where the souls of the wicked were condemned to endless suffering. Wonder Woman was intrigued by the similarity to Tartarus.

That sense of intrigue faded and a frown marred her features as she read a passage about a Netherrealm sorcerer named Quan Chi. According to the tome he was a powerful necromancer with the ability to raise the dead in a variety of different ways.

As much as she told herself that Superman loved her now, deep down she knew the truth. If he ever found out about this then he would stop at nothing to find this Quan Chi in order to have him revive Lois Lane.

"No!" Wonder Woman exclaimed. It took all her willpower not to rip the pages out and tear them to shreds as she stood up. Kal is mine and mine alone! My love made him stronger! I deserve to be at his side!

She could take no chances. There was only one thing to do. She would have to go to the Netherrealm, find Quan Chi and slay him. Fortunately the book also contained information on how to open a dimensional portal there.

Without a second's thought Wonder Woman turned and marched out of the library.

The Netherrealm was a desolate, volcanic wasteland with nothing to behold but barren rock and pools of glowing lava while dark clouds blanketed the sky. It was known by many as the darkest region of reality, inhabited only by demons, monsters and beings of purest evil. Despite that there was one being currently making his way through the blasted landscape whose heart was filled with hope.

His true name was Syzoth, although he was more commonly known as Reptile. He moved with a steady, measured pace intended to cover ground in good time while conserving energy, but with each step he had to fight the temptation to run, so filled with uncharacteristic giddy excitement was he.

For thousands of years now Reptile had longed to be reunited with his people. To that end he had served the Outworld Emperor Shao Kahn, motivated by the promise that the emperor would bring back his lost race. That promise had remained unfulfilled and now Shao Kahn was dead. However another chance had presented itself.

Word had reached Outworld of the defeat of the fallen Elder God Shinnok and the death of his servant Quan Chi. With the Netherrealm in chaos and the necromancer's revenant slaves busy trying to restore some semblance of order, that meant that Quan Chi's fortress was now vulnerable and with it all of his accumulated knowledge of the necromantic arts. With access to that knowledge then finally, after so very long, a way to restore the Raptor race could be found.

With the blessing of his new emperor, Kotal Kahn, Reptile had wasted no time in finding a portal to the Netherrealm. Of course it wasn't possible to open a portal inside the sorcerer's fortress (the wards he had created to prevent such an occurrence remained in effect even after his passing) and so he had tried to enter as close to it as he could. After a relatively short trek he now stood on a rock bridge spanning a river of lava with jagged outcroppings of rock on either side. In the distance he could see the fortress.

"At lasst. Nothing can sstop me now!" Reptile exclaimed.

As excited as he was his survival instincts, well-honed by millennia of dangerous missions he had been sent on, were as keen as ever. As such, when the sound of something parting the air reached his ears he instantly sidestepped. A glowing golden lasso came down on the spot he had just been standing, sending up a tiny cloud of dust, and then was yanked back.

He whirled around to see the lasso's owner, a black-haired woman wearing a red corset, blue trousers and red boots. On her forehead was a metal tiara and metal bracers covered her forearms. A sword and shield were strapped to her back.

"Out of my way beast" she snapped as she hung the coiled lasso at her hip.

Reptile snarled. "Watch your tongue or I'll have it."

The angry scowl on her face deepened. "You dare threaten me creature? I am Wonder Woman, the goddess of war!"

"You do not frighten me" he replied as he settled into a combat-ready stance.

Wonder Woman drew her sword and twirled it in a flourish. "Ready to lose your head?"

"Come and get it."

She immediately launched herself at him only to come to an abrupt halt as Reptile opened his jaws and sent a stream of green liquid flying at her. Wonder Woman brought up an arm to shield her face, realising too late that he'd aimed not at her but at her sword. With a sharp hissing sound the corrosive began eating into the steel, sending up acrid fumes. With a cry of rage she threw the ruined weapon off the rock bridge and into the river of lava where it continued to melt as it was slowly carried away.

"Disgusting beast!" Wonder Woman yelled. She drew her shield from behind her back and hurled it at him like a discus.

Reptile ducked and glided forwards over the ground as smooth as a sea krait through water. The shield whizzed over his head and hit an outcropping, biting deeply into the rock and lodging itself in place. He hit Wonder Woman with a slide kick that knocked her sprawling but she sprang back up to her feet at once.

"Let'ss ssee how you fare without your weaponss" he taunted.

"An Amazon needs no weapons."

She charged in with a volley of punches that he blocked or weaved around and then retaliated with his own strikes. They moved back and forth as they traded blows, attacking, blocking and dodging in a blur of motion.

He ducked under a haymaker and kneed her in the gut. She stumbled back but recovered near instantly and landed a push kick that launched him backwards. Reptile rolled as he landed in the middle of the bridge and got to his feet.

Wonder Woman charged again but he snatched up a horned demon's skull lying nearby and threw it at her. The skull hit her right in the face, stopping her charge and sending bone fragments flying everywhere. While she was momentarily dazed he leaped forwards and slashed outwards with both of his clawed hands. The blow knocked her off of the bridge and she fell out of sight.

"Ha, sso much for the sself-proclaimed goddess of war" he snorted.

But as he turned to leave he caught movement in the corner of his eye. He turned back to see Wonder Woman fly up from under the bridge. Before he could react she zoomed forwards and tackled him. Air whooshed past him as he was lifted off the ground and slammed right into a wall of rock. The impact rattled his bones and drove the air from his lungs.

Wonder Woman cocked back her fist to hammer a punch into his face. Reptile responded by opening his jaws to spray his acid but she reacted too quickly by simply letting go and sending him plummeting towards the lava river. He reached out and caught hold of the rock face. His hands adhered to the surface, stopping his fall and allowing him to climb down safely. He dropped to the ground and landed on the bank of the lava river.

It was somewhat ironic that such a thing would be impossible in Outworld or Earthrealm. In either of them he would be dead by now, his lungs scorched by superheated air. Here in the Netherrealm however, only direct contact with the lava was fatal since it burned the soul of a being rather than their body.

Wonder Woman flew down and landed on the bank. She immediately attacked with another volley of punches, kicks and elbows. This time she was better-controlled and although he managed to block most of them he was forced back.

But even as she pressed her advantage Wonder Woman knew that something was wrong. She sensed that her attacks were subtly slowing down and weakening. Not by a great amount, but enough for her to notice. And if she had realised it her opponent probably could too. It was time for a new tactic.

She brought her wrists together, unleashing a wave of energy that blasted him back. As he picked himself up she uncoiled her lasso.

"Time to end this" she said as she cast the lasso over her shoulder and then flung it forwards…

Except that it didn't budge.

"What?" She looked over her shoulder to see that the lasso was tangled on one of the rocky outcrops.

Before she could pull it free Reptile darted forwards and landed two powerful kicks to her jaw that sent her reeling back. Dazed, she couldn't react in time as he seized the back of her neck and shoved her forwards. She toppled over and landed face-first in the lava.

Wonder Woman writhed in agony but Reptile held on while a sizzling noise and the stench of burning flesh filled the air. After a few seconds her convulsions ceased and he stood up. She lifted her head to reveal that the lava had burned away her face, leaving only bare bone. Glowing lava poured from her eye sockets as she pushed herself up on her hands. Her jaw hung open in a silent scream.

He raised his foot and brought it down hard on the back of her head, driving it back down into the lava. Wonder Woman twitched weakly as her hair caught fire and the remainder of the flesh on her head and neck began to burn.

With a final contemptuous glare at the dying figure Reptile turned and climbed back up the rocky walls to the bridge. This minor annoyance would not distract him from his destiny. Soon his people would live again!

Analysis:

The first thing to remember is that the "Injustice" characters are less powerful than their comic counterparts. Furthermore this was the "Regime" Wonder Woman who is shown to be inferior to her heroic self. Throughout both games she is shown to be over-zealous, easily angered and reckless which leads her to make some truly stupid blunders. For example in Injustice 2 Cheetah points a huge gun at her and what is Wonder Woman's response? Fly right at her and get blasted.

Additionally her only wins are against Captain Cold, Reverse-Flash, Scarecrow and Cheetah, none of whom are skilled hand-to-hand fighters, while in the first game she was defeated by both Green Arrow and Deathstroke (who even commented on how predictable her techniques were), demonstrating her lack of skill compared to "regular" Wonder Woman.

Finally, Wonder Woman is a demigod (side note, UGH, I HATE her New 52 origin. Daughter of Zeus, how boring and cliché can you get? Her being made of clay was a far better origin.) and it's been confirmed that beings of divine nature are weakened by being in the Netherrealm.

Additionally, for anyone wondering "how can Reptile's acid corrode Wonder Woman's sword when it didn't cause permanent damage to Takeda's eyes?" Some materials react more strongly to acids than others. Metals are generally far more reactive than flesh.