Sub-Zero: Origins

The Invasion Begins

After she and Kuai Liang had bolted from the hospital and climbed into the GMC, Sonya took off down the road, barely waiting for the moronic guard from earlier to let her through. And then she swerved onto the main road so quickly that the Cryomancer had to grab the overhead handle to keep from falling into her. Sonya raced towards the highway, dodging in and out of traffic as she drove, barely missing some of the other cars as she sailed by. Some of the other drivers shook their angry fists at her, and even more waved their middle fingers at her, though Kuai Liang wasn't entirely sure what the gesture meant. He made an educated guess though, and gave her a stern look to tell her to slow down. She ignored him, though, and soon she merged onto the highway and followed the signs towards New York City.

With an angry grunt, the Cryomancer looked out the window to scan for portals and intruders. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, but as they flew down the highway, he noticed the sky had changed color. A sickly, cancerous green spread like India ink over the sunset, washing away the reddish-orange sunlight until the landscape turned gray. It was almost like an eclipse.

"Sonya," he muttered. "Are you seeing this?"

She peered around. "Holy shit," she muttered. "Jax," she said after she tapped her wrist-comm. "Something's happening to the sky. The sun is gone."

"Not gone," Kuai Liang corrected, studying the sky in distracted awe. "Just...muted somehow."

"Baby girl, we've got monsters coming through the portals," the Major replied through the radio. "Right now, they seem to be concentrating their attention on major metropolitan areas. And somehow, they got their hands on some serious firepower. Where are you and Ice-man?"

"We're on the highway into New York, ETA thirty minutes," she announced. "There's very little traffic."

Indeed, on the other side of the median, Kuai Liang watched the mass exodus of cars trying to leave the city. It was wall to wall traffic, and it was at a standstill. The Champions' side of the highway, however, was free and clear with no vehicles ahead of them impeding their journey. He did notice in the side mirror, however, a faded blue car trailing behind them, the only other vehicle on this road besides them. It looked like a piece of junk about to die any second, so he thought nothing of it and returned his attention to the sky. The driver probably had no idea what was going on inside the city, anyway.

"Good," the Major replied. "Get your asses here ASAP. I'll be looking for you."

"Yes, sir," she sharply replied. "Sonya out." She tapped her wrist-comm again.

The Earthrealm Champions rode to Trinity Church in absolute silence, and as the Army Ranger sped along, Kuai Liang's thoughts shifted to his mother. He deeply hoped he hadn't made a mistake leaving her at Rockford. What if one of these invaders attacked the hospital and hurt her? But why would they focus on one lousy mental hospital when they had entire cities to contend with first? The thought was only slightly reassuring, but then he remembered how protective that nurse, Annalise, was. Dr. Anderson had been right; his daughter was a mama bear. Kuai Liang almost chuckled at the thought of her, but he stifled his amusement and maintained his expressionless mask. God help whoever went to Rockford looking to hurt Maggie Sullivan. He felt better knowing that his mother was in her care.

Trinity Church was a medieval gothic cathedral stretching to cut the ceiling with its climbing spires and towers, nestled deep in the heart of a bustling, contemporary city. Kuai Liang, however, had no time to admire its architecture as Sonya parked in front of it and ushered him inside. There, beneath stained glass windows and familiar Christian icons, nearly a hundred people sat in pews praying. Kuai Liang thought it odd that they weren't trying to escape the city, but perhaps they felt safer here, like their odds weighed more heavily in their favor if they huddled at the base of a cross. He passed no judgment on them, vaguely thinking that if the world was about to end, this place was as good as any to die.