Sub-Zero: Origins

Smoke: Round Two

Kuai Liang barely heard the policeman introduce himself while he stared at his mother's nurse in concern and compassion. Annalise was recovering from her shock, but her slender shoulder still felt remarkably tense underneath his palm, understandably so, and before he knew what he was doing he found himself tenderly squeezing it to make her relax. When the Cryomancer realized that he was massaging her, he mentally cursed his hand for having a mind of its own, and then pulled it back quickly. She continued staring at her wrecked car and the Centaur corpse, but her own hand drifted to the spot where his had been and rested there peacefully.

"You got a name there, pal?" Stryker asked as extended his hand.

"Sub-Zero," he said as he shook the man's hand.

Now Annalise faced him and scoffed. "Another name?" she asked incredulously.

"That's my code-name," he explained to her.

She quizzically lifted her eyebrow. "Well, you're nothing if not intriguing," she said and then shook her head in disbelief.

Suddenly, a brilliant orange and blue flash of light exploded around the street corner over a small bridge, and it pulsed a few times before it stabilized and concentrated into a swirling portal of energy. Impulsively, Kuai Liang bolted to it to stop whatever creature came through this time, and he vaguely heard his companions' footfalls on the pavement behind him as he ran. A moment later, a humanoid figure raced through the ethereal doorway at a blinding speed that probably put a cheetah to shame, running so fast that all the Cryomancer could see of him was a blur. But as he came upon him, he slowed and stopped, not even winded.

Burn scars covered the exposed portions of the newcomer's body, but a helmet not unlike a Lin Kuei cyber-ninja's completely encased and protected his head and face. There was one noticeable difference, however; this man's mask seemed to function as a respirator, as evidenced by the raspy wheezes that whistled mechanically through it. There was nothing else inhuman about him, though, no circuitry or wires like those found on Kuai Liang's old Clan members. This newcomer was dressed predominantly in dark leather and a sleeveless trench coat, and he carried long hook-swords in his hands that he immediately poised to use.

"Kabal!" Stryker cried as he and Annalise trotted up. The cop withdrew his .9 mm pistol and aimed it for the man's head. "Put down your weapons. Get on the ground now!"

"Out of my way!" the other barked, though his voice was labored.

"You invade my world and just expect me to let you waltz on in?" Kuai Liang countered, rising up to his fullest height and glaring at the man.

"I'm not an invader," he began just as the portal sputtered in loud, short bursts that spit out three more figures. "Those are the invaders!"

Kuai Liang looked up in time to see his old companions, the cyber-ninjas, march through the portal. In yellow, dark purple, and gray, he recognized them immediately: Cyrax, Hydro, and Smoke. No trace of damage from their earlier fight remained on his best friend's armor, and his amputated arm had been refitted with a brand new limb covered in an intricate series of buttons. The Cryomancer's heart sank when he saw his old comrades, and especially his pr̆ítel. If only there was something he could do to save him.

"Tomas," he breathed, his voice mournful. "My pr̆ítel ...I am so sorry about what they've done to you. It should've been me, not you. Never you."

"You know these guys?" Kabal asked pointedly.

"They were members in my Clan," he explained drily. "Long story."

"Unit LK-4D4 to LK-9T9," Cyrax spoke aloud to his wrist after he tapped a button fixed into his yellow gauntlet. "We have encountered the fugitive known as Sub-Zero. Should we abandon our orders to capture Kabal and capture him instead?"