Chapter 9: Good Times Don't Last

AN: Apparently, that break I talked about last chapter went from one week to one month. In my defense, I got busy with the entirety of the Mass Effect series (yes, even Andromeda. Game gets more flak than it deserves), and got really into a few other stories of mine. Plus, I had to deal with my Statistics class.

Not fun. Don't ever take it if you can help it.

Outworld

Another grey cyborg fell, crushed to pieces, smoke billowing out from the fragments.

Tomas sighed. Ever since the green haired man, Izuku, had saved him, the Lin Kuei had been chasing after him relentlessly. It was only thanks to a communicator he'd been able to salvage from one of the cyborgs he fought that had kept him alive so far, as it alerted him of any Lin Kuei in the area hunting after him.

He had been able to defeat them so far, but Tomas held no illusions about his chances against Cyrax and Sektor. He had been trying his hardest to find Kuai Liang, but he hadn't had any luck so far.

Where are you, Kuai?

Suddenly, a burst of static echoed from the communicator. Tomas shifted into a fighting stance, but he didn't see anything coming after him.

A voice started talking on the communicator, freezing Tomas's blood.

"Smoke, this is Sektor. I know you carry a communicator from one of my fallen brothers. I have Kuai Liang with me. I now present you with a choice. Either I take him with me to replace one of the many brothers you have slain this week, or you take his place. If you wish to save him, come to the newly constructed Coliseum. You have one hour. "

Coliseum, Minutes Earlier

Kuai Liang awoke to the sound of screaming.

Quickly picking himself up, he was greeted to the sight of fire blazing all around the outside of the Coliseum, where all the villagers had been sleeping. He saw Li Mei in the near distance, assisting a few of the villagers who had fallen down. He quickly ran up to her.

"Li Mei! What the hell is going on?!" Kuai Liang exclaimed.

"I don't know! It all happened so quickly!" Li Mei replied. At that moment, a grey cyborg appeared in a burst of blue digital light, aiming a kind of spear-like rope at Li Mei. Just as the cyborg was about to fire it from their hand, it froze, before descending to the ground and shattering into pieces.

"What….what are those things?" Li Mei whispered, shocked at what had just transpired. Kuai Liang shook his head.

"The Lin Kuei. They must be here for me." he turned to Li Mei. "If I can give them enough of a distraction, can you get everyone out?"

Li Mei nodded. "What about you?" she asked.

"I'll be fine. Just get them out of here." Kuai Liang replied, before donning his respirator and pulling up his cowl. Sub-Zero threw a small wave of ice to clear the fires ahead, giving the villagers and Li Mei an exit out of the blazing inferno.

"Go!" he shouted, before running into the opposite direction, where he could hear the sound of the cyborgs attacking the other villagers.

Sub-Zero, seeing a group of cyborgs cornering a few villagers, raised a wall of ice from the ground with his left arm to protect them from the cyborg's weapons. He then threw his right arm out and turned the wall into an array of spears that flung themselves at the cyborgs. Up ahead, Sub-Zero could see a section of the newly built Coliseum about to collapse, with some villagers still inside the arena. Thinking quickly, Sub-Zero froze the soles of his feet to gain the speed needed to clear the way. Tucking his head downwards, Sub-Zero slid into the Coliseum just as the entrance broke apart.

Rolling on the ground to break his slide, Sub-Zero got up. He saw the villagers huddled together in the distance, terrified, while Bob was laying on the ground and clutching his side. A red cyborg stood in front of them.

"All the data I gathered on you suggested this would be the best course of action to draw you out. I am pleased to see that data was conclusive." the red cyborg stated, before turning around.

"Who are you?" Sub-Zero growled.

The cyborg raised a hand to his chest, before giving the same salute that Tomas did when they arrived on the island.

No, it couldn't be. He knew that the man had lost his mind, but…

"I am Sektor, Unit LK-9T9." the red cyborg replied.

Sub-Zero stumbled back, shocked. "What have you done?" he whispered, horrified.

"I have done something not even the great Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei could ever achieve. I have achieved perfection! When my father falls, I will then share this perfection with the rest of my clan!"

Sub-Zero stood there for a few moments, before quickly connecting the dots and reaching a horrifying conclusion, " You will not harm Tomas!" he shouted.

Sektor chuckled, his voice coming out far more sinister than Sub-Zero remembered. "While I would prefer Smoke over you, you will still make just as fine an addition to my forces." Sektor fell down into a fighting stance. "Come, Kuai Liang. Face the harbinger of your perfection!"

Sub-Zero struck first, sliding towards Sektor while unleashing a barrage of icicles on the cyborg. None of them hit, as Sektor leaped into the air and landed right behind Sub-Zero. Sub-Zero, in response, tried to hit Sektor with an ice dagger, only to get hit with a backfist to the face and an uppercut to the jaw. Flying into the air, Sub-Zero had no time to recover before Sektor teleported to where Sub-Zero was about to land, hitting the blue ninja in the spine. Hearing a few cracks, Sub-Zero roared with pain, falling to the ground. Breathing heavily, Sub-Zero tried to think of a way to defeat the cyborg.

Sektor, unwilling to give Sub-Zero any time to recover, quickly fired two missiles at him. Sub-Zero froze the missiles before they could hit him. However, he failed to realize that the missiles were just a distraction. In the brief time Sub-Zero had been distracted, Sektor had powered up his jump jets and charged right into Sub-Zero. Feeling Sektor's entire metallic arm flying into his sternum, along with the painful sensation of a great many of his ribs breaking, Sub-Zero flew backwards. Sektor capitalized on this by teleporting right next to where Sub-Zero was going to land, before grabbing Sub-Zero's head and bringing it to the ground. Blood sprayed from Sub-Zero's mouth, trapped in his respirator.

"This is the brother of the legendary Sub-Zero? I must say, I am rather disappointed."

Sub-Zero coughed. "Fight me without those damn robot parts of yours. See how much you'll be disappointed then."

In response to Sub-Zero's barb, Sektor smashed Sub-Zero's face into the ground again.

"This is the power I offer to the Lin Kuei. When my father falls, and everyone in the clan has ascended to the heights I have achieved, we will become unstoppable. Don't worry, Kuai Liang. One way or the other, you will join us. It is only a matter of time, after all." He turned to Cyrax

"Send the message, then wait one hour. If Smoke fails to show himself, we will take Kuai Liang with us."

With that, Sektor stood up, before quickly bringing his foot down on Sub-Zero's right arm. A loud SNAP echoed through the arena, and Sub-Zero screamed in pain.

Sektor pointed at the group of villagers in front of him. "Watch over him. Make sure that he does not expire. If he does, I will ensure that none of your people will live past the next dawn."

The villagers nodded, gently picking up their former savior by the legs and back and carrying him next to the Tarkatan foreman. He lay there for a few minutes, not talking with anyone.

"Khan's spit, looks like they did a number on you, ice boy." Bob whispered, still clutching his side.

"At least he's able to walk now," Kuai Liang thought.

Kuai Liang coughed, taking off his respirator with his left arm. "I-" he coughed again, spitting a few bits of blood out. "I'm fine. It's these people I'm worried about. We have to get them out of here."

"You got a plan?" Bob asked.

"No." Kuai Liang replied, dejected. What a fool he'd been, thinking that he could ever avenge his brother. He was a civil engineer, not an assassin. It was just a shame he'd forgotten that until now, when he was on the verge of dying, or turning into a copy of Cyrax and Sektor.

Whatever was going to happen to him now, he didn't see any way out of it.

The next hour passed by slowly, as if time had been dragged into a near standstill. Kuai Liang had tried to think of ways to get everyone out, to no avail. Only one plan could possibly work, and that was a gamble in and of itself.

At that moment, Cyrax walked into the arena, the entrance having been cleared of rubble by the Lin Kuei cyborgs.

"Sektor, there is no sign of Smoke in the perimeter."

Sektor turned away from Cyrax, looking at Kuai Liang. "I thought he would come." He started walking towards Kuai Liang.

"If Smoke is unwilling to honor his debts, then we do not need him. We will take Kuai Liang. He will serve us well enough."

At that moment, Kuai Liang jumped up in a burst of speed. He formed an icicle and held it out.

Sektor stopped. "Your injuries must have made you delirious. You could not defeat me when you were at your best. Now, you think you can challenge both Cyrax and I, while you are severely wounded?"

Kuai Liang smirked, before turning the icicle to himself, hovering it just over his heart.

"You need your victim alive to complete the Cyberization, don't you? If you didn't, you wouldn't have stopped at breaking my arms and my ribs."

Sektor held up his flamethrower, aiming it at the villagers. "If you kill youself now, the rest of these people will join you, along with their entire village. Are you capable of killing that many for your own selfishness?"

Kuai Liang shook his head. "No, I'm not. That's why I'm doing this. You want me to join your Cyberization? Fine. Just let these people go."

Sektor stood there for a few seconds, as did Cyrax.

"What action do you wish to pursue, Unit LK 9T9?" Cyrax asked.

"Let them go. It's not like it will change anything." Sektor replied.

The villagers turned to Kuai Liang, unsure of what to do.

"You heard him. Go. Rejoin the others."

"Kid…" Bob said.

"Go! Now!" Kuai Liang shouted.

The villagers slowly walked out of the Coliseum. As Bob trailed behind, Kuai Liang dropped the icicle. The moment he did so, a group of grey cyborgs teleported right next to him, shooting arcs of green electricity.

Suddenly, the cyborgs were torn apart. Kuai Liang fell down, landing on his knees. In the haze of pain, Kuai Liang could hear Sektor chuckle.

"Finally come to join us, brother?" he asked. Kuai Liang turned his head upwards, only to be greeted by the sight of Tomas.

P.O.V Switch - Tomas Vrbada (Smoke)

"Let him go, Sektor! It's me you want!" Tomas shouted.

A part of him wished that Kuai Liang could still fight. A part of him wished that only Sektor or Cyrax was here. A part of him wished that there was just some other way than what he was about to do, anything that could spare him being turned into a machine, his soul and will erased.

Alas, it was not to be. Tomas could see how severely Kuai was injured. It was a miracle that he was still conscious. If Tomas tried to fight now, all he'd do is doom them both. At least this way, he would be able to repay Kuai Liang for sparing his life ten years ago.

"What are you doing?!" Kuai Liang shouted at him. "Get out of here!"

Tomas shook his head. "If I abandoned you now, I would dishonor everything your brother and I stood for." He turned to Sektor. "Leave him be. I'm here, as you asked."

"If you insist." Sektor replied. A group of grey cyborgs teleported into the arena, slowly walking up to him.

Tomas could hear Kuai Liang shouting and cursing at Sektor, could hear him trying to bargain for Tomas's life.

Tomas turned to his friend one last time, giving him a smile of reassurance, before pain overwhelmed him, Green electricity coursed through his body, immobilizing him.

This time, there was no Izuku Midoriya to save him.

P.O.V Switch - Kuai Liang

Kuai Liang could only watch in horror as his best friend was taken away in a flash of green light.

For a few moments, he could only lie there, still as ice itself, before he roared in pain and hate. He dove right at Sektor, forming dozens of icicles.

Sektor merely backhanded him, sending Kuai Liang tumbling away.

Kuai Liang didn't care. He started crawling to Sektor.

"I'll...fucking...kill...you!" He growled, before swiping a fist at Sektor's leg. Sektor merely stepped away from the punch, before bringing his foot down on Kuai Liang's spine.

"Better men than you have tried. They all failed before I achieved perfection. What chance do you have? You, who has never taken a life until today? You, who was so weak that your brother had to coddle you all your life? Do you really think you can defeat me, because you can conjure a few orbs of ice?"

He twisted his foot, further digging into Kuai Liang's back.

"Don't flatter yourself, child. In the world me and your brother lived in, you wouldn't even worth the dirt on our shoes."

And with that, Sektor lifted his foot up. He and Cyrax walked out of the Coliseum, before teleporting in a flash of green light.

Moments later, Kuai Liang finally lost consciousness.

Unknown Amount of Time Later

Kuai Liang slowly started waking up.

"Careful! He hasn't fully recovered yet. Don't crowd around him!" he could hear someone calling out.

He rubbed his eyes, trying to clear away his grogginess. As he leaned forwards, he could feel sharp stabs of pain echo through his body.

Kuai Liang cursed, before he realized the company he had woken up to. In front of him stood Li Mei, Bob, the old man he'd talked to at the beginning of the Coliseum's construction, the villagers he'd saved from Sektor, and a bunch of other faces he couldn't recognize.

"What's….going on here?" Kuai Liang asked.

Bob scoffed. "You had us all worried, ice boy. You were asleep for a week! We all were starting to get worried!"

Kuai Liang gaped at Bob. "One week?" he asked, stunned. Was it really that bad?

"Yep, one week! It's a good thing we already had most of the work done for the Coliseum, so we were able to quickly repair the damage. Now that it's finished, I heard I'm getting a very nice sum of Koin for my efforts."

"Our efforts, Bob." Kuai Liang corrected, gesturing to everyone that was in the room with him. Where was he?

Bob huffed. "Fine. But they all owe me for the food I had to buy! Most of my Koin is gonna go towards that fucking butcher!"

Kuai Liang chuckled, before he froze.

Li Mei, noticing Kuai Liang had stopped smiling, "Kuai, what's wrong?" she asked.

"He…he's gone." he whispered. He fell back into the bed.

"He's gone because of me."

AN: Fun time's are over. The pain for Kuai Liang starts now.

Izuku and the gang will come back in the next chapter. I just wanted to knock the beginning of Sub Zero's painful journey out of the way first.