Sub-Zero: Origins

The Death of Sub-Zero

Sub-Zero sank to the ground. Ribs, newly broken, the jagged edges stabbing at his lungs, constricted his cold breath. He gasped for air and looked up at his opponent, a demonic entity who sadistically enjoyed his discomfort. Fire blazed through his enemy's eyes. The Cryomancer swallowed hard and felt the sharp pain pulse throughout his chest, but he willed it away. Pain was the mark of a weak mind, his father's voice rang through his head. The black and yellow-clad man, called Scorpion by Shang Tsung, yanked violently on the rope tied to the large kunai blade that was stuck in Sub-Zero's rib. A wet crack filled the air as the blade whipped back to its master. Flaring pain coursed through Sub-Zero's body. He collapsed into the dirt, writhing and clutching his bloody chest armor as the ghost of the man he killed only a week before kicked him over and over in the stomach. Bile and blood mingled in his mouth, and he vomited into his mask before the demon finally stopped his assault.

"Vengeance will be mine!" Scorpion roared. Sub-Zero choked and strained to push himself up, but his opponent kicked him back into the sandy dirt.

"I didn't kill your family," the Cryomancer coughed, almost pleaded, and it was true. He had killed Scorpion, yes, to recover the map that led to the location of Shinnok's amulet. But he did not kill the Shirai Ryu, Scorpion's clan, even though they were the Lin Kuei's mortal enemy, nor did he kill his wife and son. Sub-Zero did not know why Scorpion was convinced that he was the responsible assassin. He was completely innocent.

Somewhere close behind him, the distant voices of the bloodthirsty crowd cheered. He heard Shang Tsung's voice, hungry for someone's death, yell over them, "Finish him!" On cue, Scorpion gripped Sub-Zero by his throat and threw him onto his back in order to look him in the eyes. Without a word, he peeled off his black cowl and yellow mask to reveal not the face of an angry, grief-stricken man, but a human skull wreathed in flames. The demon opened his bony mouth to breathe hellfire at the Cryomancer, and before the white-hot flames reached him, Sub-Zero thought of his brother, Kuai Liang, one last time. I'm sorry, Brother, he said to himself as if his will could make Tundra hear his thoughts. Then the fire, a living entity all its own, coiled itself around him and tore into his flesh, devouring him like a mighty dragon. The last thing he heard before everything went dark was the sound of his own voice screaming.