Sub-Zero: Origins

The Chosen One

Raiden looked at the Cryomancer. "You know he is not dead. Kuai Liang?"

"What?" the other said in a dreamlike fog.

"You know he is not dead. Scorpion, I mean. He will be back."

"I know."

"And so will Noob Saibot."

Beneath his mask, Kuai Liang ground his teeth. His brother would be back. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. When loved ones die, people would give anything to see their family member once more, but never were their wishes granted. Except his was, and it was nothing like he'd hoped. There was no declaration of everlasting peace, no eternal happiness, just the realization that his brother was the walking damned. His head hurt and he rubbed his temples as if doing so could take away his pain, from his inevitable concussion and everything else. 

"Raiden," Shao Kahn said in a thundering voice that shocked Kuai Liang from his thoughts, "put forth another Champion."

Kung Lao eagerly glanced at the Thunder God, his eyes like that of a little puppy seeking approval. Raiden met his gaze and nodded. "Go."

"Kung Lao, you will face Shang Tsung and Quan Chi," the Emperor declared. The two sorcerers exchanged an evil look as they stepped forward, the obvious contempt for each other shining strong in their murderous gazes. Clearly, there was no love lost between these two.

The Shaolin monk arrogantly faced them and started the match. Kung Lao was a master of Wushu, and Kuai Liang watched in awe as his old enemy whirled around like a dancer. It was one of his favorite martial art forms because it was one of the most graceful, marked by sweeping, circular movements and immense power concentrated into compact punches and kicks. As he studied the battle, Kuai Liang felt hypnotized by it, and at some point stopped seeing it altogether, instead seeing his brother leaving the Lin Kuei Temple for the last time.

"Keep an eye on my brother, Tomas," Bi-han had instructed as he hoisted a black bag full of gear onto his shoulder.

"Two eyes," Tomas said as he punched Kuai Liang in the arm.

The younger Cryomancer sighed and rubbed his arm, glaring at his older brother. "I don't need anyone to keep an eye on me," he stubbornly insisted. "When are you going to stop treating me like a child?"

A cocky half-smile spread on Bi-han's face as he lifted his cowl over his head and fixed his mask into place. "When I'm sure you're not." He gazed at his younger brother for a long moment before he followed Cyrax and Sektor to the old Nissan truck waiting to take them down the mountain.

"You're wrong about me, Bi-han," he said. "I'm not a child."

"I hope so," his brother said back, though his voice was encouraging, not condescending.

"Come back in one piece," he called as the truck rolled away.

"Of course I will. I'm not you!"

And then he was gone, the Nissan having disappeared around a bend and a large rock. It was the last time he saw him alive. What had happened between that moment and now? What had he done that had been so terrible that his soul was now condemned and enslaved? And was there any hope for his redemption? Kuai Liang looked at the spot he had beaten Noob Saibot unconscious, but his brother had vanished, having undoubtedly slunk back to the Netherrealm.

"Yes!" he heard Johnny Cage shout, and he realized the fight was over. Kung Lao had won. He glanced over at Cage, whose face beamed behind sunglasses as he leaned over a make-shift crutch crafted from Jade's staff. He held his free hand triumphantly in the air. "That's what I'm talkin' about, son!"