Prologue
The shadow of the night made it simple for anyone to remain hidden, especially one that had trained their whole life to use the shadows. Even though his uniform had a primary color of a brownish yellow, he used all the right techniques to stay hidden. Balling himself up in a dark corner to avoid the guards' lines of sight, clinging to the ceiling with his rope kunai whenever he needed to, and using loose pebbles to misdirect anyone that was in his way. Even if one of the guards was able to shine their light on him, a quick slash of his katana would silence them before they'd have the chance the call for him. The very last sight they'd see would be a man in black and yellow ninja garb with the logo of a dragon on his chest.
This dragon logo was often used as a symbol of the elder gods, often used in worship for the more traditional cultures and religions in the world. But this man was not a worshiper of the gods or elder gods. He wore this symbol as a sign of loyalty for his clan, the Shirai Ryu. While he was not a traditional worshiper of the gods, he was a traditionalist in terms of his gear. His ninja outfit was one his father before him, perhaps even his great grandfather wore it as well since it appeared to have been made in the feudal era of Japan. It was loose and baggy, and used leather straps to hold all his weapons together. And even his weapons were traditional rather than modern. Katanas, kunai on a rope, smoke bombs, all his gear were created in the exact same way as they were made centuries ago.
This Shirai Ryu ninja was not the only one who sneaked into this temple. There was another man that used the shadows just as well as he did, but his gear was much more contemporary. He had night-vision goggles to use as he stuck to the shadows, he would throw small disks that would emit a beeping sound to attract the guards away, and while his garb was black and blue, it had an experimental fabric that would shift colors to match his surroundings as he moved through the temple. If a guard was able to catch sight of him, the guard would be impaled through the throat by the man's hunting knife, with only a symbol of a triangle in the middle of circular blade with three edges. This was the symbol of the Lin Kuei clan, a group of Chinese assassins. And this man was one of the clan's top operatives.
The Lin Kuei assassin would pull one of the dead guards into a dim hiding place before pulling out a map to the temple. His destination was just a single floor above him. He pocketed the map and snuck his way past two more before creeping his way upstairs. The stairway had small torches to line the way, which exposed the man briefly as he walked past. Taking a stealth approach would become difficult for him, so he kept his hunting knife out to prepare himself. As he exited the doorway, he spotted the Shirai Ryu ninja approaching an alter at the end of the room. Luckily, the Shirai Ryu's back was facing him, so the Lin Kuei assassin reversed the grip on his hunting knife and returned to the shadows, ready to strike the ninja down.
The Shirai Ryu ninja steadily approached the alter, making his steps light and careful as to avoid any possible traps the room could have. With no traps triggered, he stepped in front of the alter and looked down upon it to find the item he was looking for. It was another map, but not a map that detailed the interior of another temple. No, this map revealed the location of a temple called the Temple of the Elements. The ninja scanned his eyes across the map to see the temple was hidden in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal. The ninja picked up the map and rolled it up, but before he could move to leave, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stick up. He knew something was off. He was being watched. The ninja slipped his hand into one of the pouches on his utility belt, and a single, swift motion, he pulled a shuriken out, spun around, and tossed in the general direction of his stalker.
The shuriken, of course, didn't actually hit the stalker. Afterall, outside of an outright direct hit, shuriken's were not reliable as weapons. Yet, it was useful in making the ninja's point clear. The assassin could no longer take the stealth approach.
"Come out and face me," the ninja commanded to the shadows.
With no other options, the assassin stepped out into the light of the room. He removed his night-vision goggles and placed them into his backpack as he faced the ninja.
The ninja looked at the logo on the assassin's chest. He was all too familiar with what that logo and the blue accents on the assassin's gear meant.
"Lin Kuei," the ninja spoke once again. "Why are you here?"
"I have no time for idle chat, Shirai Ryu dog," the assassin immediately snapped back at the ninja. "Hand over the map and I may let you live."
The ninja stepped back and put the map into one of his pouches. "I shouldn't be surprised the Lin Kuei would want this," he spoke to himself before facing his foe again. "I have no intention of handing this over to the likes of you."
"Then I'll pry it from your dead hands, ninja!" the assassin shouted before he pulled his hunting knife out once again.
The ninja unsheathed his katana and assumed a standard kendo stance. Both hands clutching the hilt tightly and both feet planted firmly to the ground. He was ready to defend against the assassin's inevitable charge.
Yet, the assassin took a trickier approach. The Lin Kuei slipped his empty hand into a pouch in his own utility belt and quickly tossed three stainless steel chakrams at the ninja. The ninja panicked and shifted the angle of his sword to block each of the chakrams.
That was when the Lin Kuei rushed forward to close the distance between them and swiped the knife towards the ninja's gut. Luckily, the ninja was quick enough to suck his gut inward to dodge the edge of the blade by mere inches. He responded by attempting to swing his sword downward at the assassin, but the assassin matched his speed by stepping to the side of the ninja.
The ninja moved backward to avoid yet another knife swipe. Wielding a smaller blade made the assassin's movements faster than the ninja's. A few swipes with his knife and the assassin was able to land two hits on the ninja. Neither were enough to cause bleeding, they only cut through the ninja's baggier uniform, but it was a warning the ninja had to think fast to avoid a fatal injury. The ninja acted quickly and locked the assassin's arm when he attempted the lunge his blade into his gut. With a slight twist of the wrist, the assassin grunted in pain and was forced to drop his knife.
That didn't mean the ninja had won though. The assassin slipped his hand back into his pouches and pulled on a button. With a press of the button, the three chakrams the assassin threw earlier began to emit and sonic screech so loud and irritating that the ninja drop his own weapon and cover his ears in the hopes to block out the sound. The moment the assassin was free from ninja's grip, he spun around and began to wail a barrage of punches on the ninja. With the flurry of punches and the sonic screeches, the ninja had a difficult time maintaining focus. He had to power on through the pain. He shifted his body and used his arms, still covering his ears, to block each of the punches. He kept shifting his body back and forth to block until an opening appeared. He hooked his leg behind the Lin Kuei's leg and swept him onto his back.
With the small moment of from the Lin Kuei's barrage of attacks, the Shirai Ryu ninja snatched the button away from his opponent. He pressed said button and the chakrams finally ceased the screeches. He then crushed the device in his fist and tossed the pieces away. The Lin Kuei narrowed his glare at the ninja before he swung a taser gun at his opponent and pulled the trigger. The two prongs shot out of the taser gun, but the ninja simply grabbed them without touching the electrified tips. He yanked the taser out of the assassin's hand and tossed it away.
"You Lin Kuei rely too much on your technology," the Shirai Ryu ninja said with a laugh.
The Lin Kuei assassin returned to his feet. "And what about you and your pathetic clan? You're all still content playing in the dirt with the same farming tools from five hundred years ago."
"I'll see just how dangerous these farming tools can be," the ninja said as he pulled a kunai from one of his pouches. The end of this kunai was tied to a long rope that could easily reach over ten feet in length. He wrapped the other end of the rope in his fist before swinging the bladed end in a circle.
The Lin Kuei assassin's eyes widened before he took a few steps back. That wouldn't be enough as the ninja suddenly swung the kunai across the room and managed to cut across the assassin's chest. Due to the tighter outfit he was wearing, the Lin Kuei assassin actually began to bleed. The assassin had very little time to properly react as the ninja swung the kunai again and slashed the assassin's left leg. The assassin dropped down to his left knee as he groaned in pain. The ninja rolled the rope back up and held onto the hilt of the kunai.
"So, you're the Shirai Ryu Scorpion I've heard rumors about," the assassin commented.
"Now you know not to look down upon me," Scorpion said.
"No, you'll just be a bigger nuisance than I thought."
The assassin picked his hunting knife back up and chucked it right at the Scorpion's head. Scorpion used his kunai to swat the knife away as the assassin charged right towards him. Scorpion reversed the grip on his kunai and attempted to stab the assassin's throat, but the assassin grappled onto his wrist. He locked onto Scorpion's wrist and turned his body, tossing the ninja over his shoulder and onto the ground. He then wrapped his hand around the ninja's throat and squeezed.
Scorpion coughed a bit. His hand was pinned down, so he couldn't use his kunai to stab his foe. If he wanted to get out of his foe's choke hold, he would have to respond in kind. Scorpion put all of his weight onto the back of his shoulders and lifted his waist, and therefore, his legs upward. He wrapped his legs around the assassin's neck and arm. The assassin knew the pressure of his neck being squeezed against both Scorpion's legs and his own arm would be enough to knock him out in mere moments. If the assassin wanted to get out of the ninja's hold, he'd have to take a risk.
Releasing his grip on Scorpion's armed hand, the assassin grabbed onto Scorpion's belt and spread his feet out. Using all the strength in his legs, knees, and thighs, the assassin lifted himself and Scorpion off the ground. The Lin Kuei assassin lifted Scorpion into the air. Scorpion would slash the assassin's arms and back, but that wouldn't stop what was about to happen. The assassin power-bombed Scorpion onto his back. Scorpion groaned in pain and the assassin finally backed away to check his injuries.
The cuts in his arms were deep. The black sleeves and gloves he was wearing turned a dark red as blood slowly dripped out onto the floor. As the assassin was distracted by his injuries, Scorpion rolled back up to his feet and readied his kunai again. Before the assassin could even react, Scorpion thrusted his hand forward and out launched the roped kunai. The kunai was launched with such speed and force that it actually pierced into the assassin's side.
"GET OVER HERE!" Scorpion shouted before he yanked onto the rope with both of his hands.
The assassin came stumbling forward which Scorpion responded with by dropping to the ground and sweeping the Lin Kuei's legs. The assassin fell onto his chest. As he groaned and clutched his side in pain, Scorpion jabbed his knee into his back and wrapped the rope around his neck. Scorpion pulled on the rope and choked him. The assassin attempted to dig his fingers underneath the rope to pull it away, but it was of little use. There was little room for his fingers to dig in, but to add on to his panic, Scorpion thrusted his kunai towards his throat. The assassin grabbed onto Scorpion's wrist with his left hand to stop his throat from being torn open, but this left the assassin in a predicament. If he wanted to push Scorpion's kunai away, he'd risk dying of asphyxiation. If he wanted to pull the rope away from his throat, Scorpion would carve his throat open.
Two choices, neither of them any good. So, the assassin decided to take a third option. The hand that was grabbing onto the rope tighten its grip and a sudden chill filled the room.
Scorpion didn't understand why he felt cold. There were no windows to expose them to the elements of the mountains and there were plenty of torches lit aflame. Yet, the cold grew. Then suddenly, a sound similar to shattering glass echoed the room. Before Scorpion knew what happened, the Lin Kuei used his right elbow to bash his face. Scorpion recoiled in pain as he stepped away from the assassin. When he regained his focus, he noticed the rope to his kunai was torn in half and there were bits of ice at the assassin's feet.
The assassin finally removed his gloves and rolled up his sleeves to reveal that his arms were an unnatural shade of blue with mist rising up from them. Actually, it didn't even seem like blue skin. The assassin's arms were coated in ice. Yet, there was no frostbite. He moved his hands, his fingers, as if it was natural. He flexed his arms and the once bright red cuts across his arms froze over and the bleeding came to a stop.
Scorpion's eyes widened. His foe was no mere Lin Kuei assassin. He knew his foe all too well. "You…Y-you're Sub-Zero," Scorpion said in horror.
Sub-Zero took a deep breath, an icy mist escaping through his mask. He glared at Scorpion. "I shouldn't have humored you for this long. Now, you will feel the chill of death."
Sub-Zero flexed his arms once again before shifting into a Pi Gua fighting stance.
Scorpion was hesitant to face the infamous cyromancer of the Lin Kuei, but he had a mission to complete. He took a deep breath and shifted into a hapkido stand.
The two men leered at each other. Scorpion hoped he could notice a shift in Sub-Zero position, a falter in his breathing, but the Lin Kuei warrior was as still as a statue. If the fight was to continue, Scorpion would have to make the first move.
Using what was left of his rope spear, Scorpion thrusted his hand forward to launch it out. But Sub-Zero simply leaned his head to the side to dodge it. Sub-Zero responded with a power blast of ice magic from his hands. Scorpion could feel all the heat from his body vanish as a thin layer of ice consumed his body. Scorpion was still alive, but he was left helpless as he watched Sub-Zero stormed over to his froze body. With a big kick to his chest, the ice shattered and Scorpion was sent flying to the ground.
Scorpion looked up to see Sub-Zero was still storming towards him. Scorpion quickly scanned his environment and picked up the katana he had dropped earlier. He leapt back up to his feet to swing his sword at Sub-Zero's neck, but in just a mere few seconds, Sub-Zero was able to create his own sword out of ice and blocked Scorpion's swing with it.
Scorpion growled in anger and swung his sword twice more, but Sub-Zero again blocked them. Scorpion swung his katana one more time, but Sub-Zero swung his ice sword back, slicing right through the katana. Scorpion's eyes widened at his shattered blade. In Scorpion's moment of panic, Sub-Zero sliced his sword across the ninja's chest. As Scorpion recoiled in pain, Sub-Zero kicked him to the ground once again.
Scorpion scurried across the ground and leapt to grab his kunai. He jumped up and charged at Sub-Zero with every intention to stab him repeatedly. Sub-Zero simply grabbed a hold of Scorpion's wrist and froze it. As Scorpion was left exposed, Sub-Zero punched Scorpion in the side of his ribs. Again, again, again, and again. Scorpion could feel them crack and break off. Breathing felt like knives stabbing into his lungs. Sub-Zero would create an ice gauntlet over his fist and smash it against Scorpion's jaw.
Scorpion was sent stumbling back against a wall, and Sub-Zero immediately grabbed a hold of his neck. Scorpion kicked his feet against Sub-Zero's knees and even tried to slam his frozen hand against Sub-Zero's face, but it was to no avail. Sub-Zero slipped his hand into Scorpion's back pouch and pulled out the map. Then, using the hand still crushing Scorpion's throat, Sub-Zero began to freeze the ninja's body. Sub-Zero made sure to do it as slowly and as cruelly as he could. He wanted to hear Scorpion's teeth chatter under his mask. He wanted to see his skin turn pale and his breath turn to ice.
Soon, all that was left unfrozen for Scorpion was his head. Sub-Zero used his free hand to tear off Scorpion's mask to see the fearful expression. What Sub-Zero saw was a Japanese man, most likely in his late thirties, with a goatee and long black hair tied into a ponytail. That wasn't anything of interesting to Sub-Zero. What was interesting to the Lin Kuei warrior was that the man didn't show any fear in his eyes. He leered back at Sub-Zero with hate and fiery determination. It most likely to spite Sub-Zero, but it wouldn't last like.
Sub-Zero grabbed a hold of Scorpion's neck once again and-
Scorpion's left arm broke out of the ice and grabbed onto Sub-Zero's wrist as tightly as it could given all the frostbite and numbness. Sub-Zero looked down at the hand of the commoner ninja that dared to struggle against him in his final moments and saw something peculiar. Scorpion's purple, frost-bitten skin was broken up by a golden wedding ring on his finger.
"M-m-my n-name…" Scorpion spoke through his chattering teeth, "i-i-is…Hanzo…H-Ha-Hasashi…r-rememb-b-ber my name…and f-f-face…"
Sub-Zero blew cold air to Hanzo's face. "Your name will be nothing more than an afterthought to me. I'll leave that to your family."
Sub-Zero grabbed onto Hanzo's neck and his fingers dug through the ice and eventually dug through the flesh. Hanzo coughed up a seemingly unending fountain of blood as Sub-Zero tore through his vocal cord and esophagus. Eventually, Sub-Zero could feel the bones of the spine. He smirked and grabbed a hold of it. Finally, Sub-Zero tore Scorpion's head off while his spine trailed right after. Sub-Zero looked down at the head of his foe to see that even with his mouth hung agape and his eyes rolled back, there wasn't a look of fear across his face. The disappointment only lasted for a moment before it was replaced with irritation, but not towards the dead man. He tossed his head to the ground and looked at the map.
'What the hell is a Shirai Ryu ninja even doing here?' Sub-Zero thought to himself. 'Damned sorcerer! I knew he was hiding something!"
Sub-Zero placed the map into his backpack and made his way out of the temple.
This part was mostly a giant fight scene, but it's a super important one since it sets up oh so much about the franchise and the characters. I how I somehow made Scorpion and Bi-Han, two gruff, cold hearted killers seem different from one another. I also hope my fight scene was well paced, had good descriptions, and actually sounded epic. I always get worried when I try to write a fight scene and wonder if it's not as action packed as I want. I'll need to get good at them if I want to actually keep writing this story.
Also, their designs here are sort of based on art by RazorsEdge on deviant art. The high-tech vs old school ninjas was something I hoped this chapter highlighted well. As for Razor, he sort of inspired me to want to write my own MK storyline with an actual tournament and sort of blend ideas from all over the MK media. I am more optimistic than him, so I won't be afraid to use ideas and characters that are often looked down on. I like to think no idea is inherently without value.
There's a mix of MK Mythologies and the 2021 film here. Most adaptations super simplify the Bi-Han vs Scorpion fight. I get why when adapting it into a single movie to not overload backstory, but this is a longer story so we can do that.
