Sub-Zero: Origins

My Pr̆ítel

"Tomas?" Kuai Liang said uncertainly as the smoky cloud dissipated. He didn't want to believe it. Even though he stood before him, his soul imprisoned in a robotic shell of computer circuitry, he refused to believe this was his best friend from childhood. "Tomas?" he prodded.

Sunlight broke through the hole in the wall, casting rays upon the cyber-ninja's helmet, shining through the black plastic visor and illuminating his face. The Cryomancer jumped in revulsion when he saw it. Ghastly white as if leeched of all its blood, Tomas' flesh was devoid of any fatty tissue and pulled taut over his skull like the skin of a long-dead corpse, causing his lips to curl away from his gums as if non-existent. Additionally, his eyelids had been surgically removed to make room for the tiny cables threaded into the exposed sockets, so his eyeballs – the corneas glowing blue like fiber optic lights – bulged out as if in perpetual surprise. Before the Cryomancer could stare too long, a cloud blocked out the sun's rays, and Tomas' face fell back into shadow once more. Vomit crept into Kuai Liang's throat, but he swallowed it.

"You will come with me to be assimilated," the cyber-ninja replied in a voice completely devoid of emotion.

Kuai Liang's face wrenched itself in grief. "My pr̆ítel-" he trailed off as he held up a deferential hand and stepped towards him.

Smoke, who clearly misinterpreted the gesture, automatically clamped down on Kuai Liang's wrist with robotic movement, violently hyper-extended the Cryomancer's fingers, and then jerked his opponent's arm behind his back as the other collapsed to his knees with a pained shout. Surging bolts of jagged lightning coursed through his arm and shoulder as his friend pushed harder, his old collarbone fracture angrily protesting the exertion. Smoke was stronger than he remembered. Before any of his bones snapped under his best friend's grip, he raised his free hand and aimed it at his opponent. But the cyber-ninja, anticipating his defensive strategy, easily caught his wrist and aimed it at the ceiling just as Sub-Zero lobbed ice from his palm. A subsequent shower of snow fell harmlessly on the struggling men.

"You are weak," Smoke stated. There was no venom in his voice, no hatred, no spirit of competition. Just bland matter-of-factness.

"I'm your friend," he grunted as the gray and black cyber-ninja fastened a thick cuff to his wrist. "Your best friend. Your pr̆ítel." He hoped the Czech word would force Tomas to remember himself. But his supplication fell on deaf ears, and he struggled and grunted in frustration as Smoke snapped the other cuff in place.

Then something small screamed through the air and harmlessly plunged into Smoke's chest armor. In what Sub-Zero could only surmise was surprise, the cyber-ninja released his captive and looked around for the source of the sound just as more projectiles whistled through the air. Sub-Zero looked up in time to see five tiny throwing knives shaped like flames hit his friend with such velocity and force that they knocked him backwards. Stunned, he whipped his head around to see Sareena creeping towards the hut with a hungry fire in her eyes.

Smoke, who recovered quickly, was already on his feet when she crossed the threshold of the broken wall. "Do not interfere or you will be punished," he warned her.

Sareena stuck out her chin in defiance and grinned. "Sorry, honey. If you wanna get rough with me, it's gonna cost you extra." She immediately reached behind her back and pulled out a large sword with deadly teeth forged from its edge. If it wasn't made of metal, it might've looked like the jawbone of a dragon. Sub-Zero found he wasn't really shocked to see her wield such a gothic and monstrous looking weapon.

He was grateful for her distraction, though, and as Smoke promptly attacked her with his bombs, the Cryomancer carefully wiggled his hands behind his back until his fingers brushed the metal gauntlets that imprisoned him. He was about to freeze them when a loud, blinding explosion thundered through the air and carried him into a bedpost on the shockwave. With the wind knocked out of him, he coughed uncontrollably until his breathing resumed several moments later.