Bi Han "Sub-Zero" x F!Reader

Forty-Eight

"Perhaps now you wish to entertain my offer?", Shang Tsung asked as he wiped the dust from his clothing.

Grunting, Bi Han struggled on his knees, held captive by two men of General Shao, the most trusted of Empress Sindel's army.

He had come to the aid of the sorcerer, infected by the words that the snake had uttered into his ear. His pride had been corrupted, had turned him against both Earthrealm and Outworld to seek something more fulfilling for himself.

Kuai Liang kneeled next to his brother, also defeated by the hand of unexpected support. Both of them had their arms chained in their backs.

"How would you know what I value?", Bi Han growled towards the sorcerer. "We are strangers to each other."

Shang Tsung smirked, a hint of too much confidence in it.

"I know that you wish to break free of Liu Kang's control...", Shang Tsung was a master of words, knew how to speak them to make each and every one more portent than poison. "You wish to escape written fate, the will of another man. All that to protect the precious peonies that bloom inside your heart. I offer the means to do both."

At the name of the flowers, Bi Han listened up.

Peonies. Those were the flowers that he had always compared you to since childhood.

Mûdān.

His peony.

Something chased through his chest, be it fear or dumb hope, it was unimportant. Small layers of ice started to grow on the tips of his fingers.

All he could think of was you. And the fate that had been betrothed to the both of you. If there was a chance he could escape it, he'd risk everything.

There was nothing of more worth to him.

Bi Han stared at Shang Tsung. There it was: the one chance to escape fate. The sorcerer threw him a lifeline in the midst of a storm.

However, it was made of snakes and Bi Han was at risk to be bitten.

Kuai Liang noticed his brother stare a little too long. Worried, he tried to break free once more only to be forced back to his knees again.

"Ignore him, brother!", he urged the grandmaster. "He promises only corruption."

Shang Tsung came closer.

"Grandmaster... I am sure you're asking yourself... Can I afford to trust a man I've never met?", the sorcerer did a gesture, a smirk growing on his face. "But the true question you must ask is... Can I afford not to?"

Bi Han's eyes wandered along the piles of gold. He hadn't seen you in a while. Judging by the fact that you weren't kneeling next to him he figured you were still roaming the  area.

There was no way to tell you his plan and he wasn't even sure if it would all work out in the end. If he'd agree now and wait until he had gotten what he wanted there would still be a way out.

All he had to make sure of was to let you in on his plan and not slip too deep into Shang Tsung's zone of influence.

A soft growl escaped him, echoed inside his mask.

There was no other way. Not after everything he had done to prevent fate. To fight for you.

What his father had told him all those years again and what Liu Kang had denied him couldn't be happening. He wouldn't be able to live on.

Bi Han's eyes narrowed. There was no price high enough for him to not pay it if it meant he'd be able to keep you by his side.

"Show me.", Bi Han snarled.

Pleased, Shang Tsung bowed his head.

"By all means, grandmaster.", he chuckled. "Be my guest."

Metal whispered as Shang Tsung and general Shao led No Han and Kuai Liang down another tunnel. Behind and in front of them walked guards.

There was no way of escape.

Just like many times before Bi Han's eyes wandered along the shadows and nudged in the walls in hopes he'd find a sign of you.

It had been a bit since he had last seen you close. Even though he wouldn't have admitted out loud he could feel a sense of unsettling grow in his chest.

"My realm and your clan have much in common.", general Shao explained in his grumbling voice. "We both feel the pull of Liu Kang's leash."

Bi Han couldn't have cared any less for that man's realm. He didn't even care about the chains of his own Lin Kuei. All he feared were his own. And the ones that chained you to someone that wasn't him.

Both had been forged by his father and Liu Kang's created fate alike. And he hated it.

"Once Outworld rules Earthrealm, you will be free to remake the Lin Kuei in any manner you see fit.", Shang Tsung said.

That meant he'd be able to get rid of all and every tradition that his father had kept. He'd create true freedom and wasn't depending on Liu Kang's approval, who had created many of such traditions himself.

"Bi Han, don't listen!", Kuai Liang cut through his throughs as the voice of reason. "We must stop them, not-!"

"Silence, Kuai Liang.", once and for all the grandmaster was sick of his brother's ignorance.

He had always been the one to be benefited by these hated traditions. In the end, he had even gotten that one thing Bi Han had truly desired.

And Kuai Liang knew. He knew so well that he tried to not let go of this one thing. Because for once he wanted to be above the grandmaster.

"But brother-!"

"Obey your grandmaster!", Bi Han turned back to Shang Tsung. "Can you win this war? Soul stealers are deadly, but they're not enough."

The smirk of confidence remained on Shang Tsung's face.

"You only think so because you don't understand their true purpose.", he replied.

Bi Han frowned.

"Explain."

The group walked through another entrance and right into the village made of stone.

"Emperor Ying built this fortress during one of Earthrealm's most turbulent periods.", the sorcerer explained whole gesturing towards the many statues that stood along a podium of stone. "Enemies beset him on all sides. He built a great army to protect his empire. He built a second one to protect him in the afterlife."