It was as if a fog had lifted in Frost's mind and she was able to think clearly for the first time in quite a while. Frost had been travelling across Outworld with Sub-Zero to deal with the 'Deadly Alliance' of Quan Chi and Shang Tsung. When his guard was down, she had seized her chance to steal his Dragon Medallion in a misguided attempt to gain enough control over her cryomancy to prove herself worthy of being his successor, to both him and herself. This had backfired, however, and left her in a frozen state for quite some time. By the time she had thawed out, Sub-Zero had abandoned her inside a tomb dedicated to their presumably shared Cryomancer ancestors. As she made her way back to the Lin Kuei Temple in Earthrealm, Frost became determined to depose her master as Grandmaster and lead the Lin Kuei herself.

However, Sub-Zero still outclassed her in every way, so his victory over her upon his return was all too easy. He froze her himself this time, leaving her unmoving, unthinking form in a side room until a wandering warrior released her from her icy prison. In her post-thaw delirium, she had mistaken her saviour for Sub-Zero himself and attacked him. By the time she regained consciousness, she had been locked in a new prison cell that had some kind of dampening field, which somehow prevented her from using her cryomancy to escape. By now, a few months had passed since she had departed for Outworld with her, now, former master.

She was not alone in this cellblock, however. The cell directly opposite her, the only other one with the same visually distinctive augmentation, was also occupied. The prisoner's attire was similar to Sub-Zero's traditional Lin Kuei garb, but in a shadowy black, rather than icy blue. Not only his attire, but skin was also a deep black, but more of an oily black than a shadowy one. At least, that was how Frost's still slightly inebriated mind explained it. He was on his knees in the middle of his cell, seemingly meditating. Frost shuffled uncomfortably, alerting her ebony companion to her attention. He looked up at her and rose to his feet. His cell seemed darker than her own, even with the same nullifying field that retarded her abilities presumably doing the same to his.

"What are you in for?" Frost asked, out for boredom, more so than genuine interest.

"For the same reason as you, I'd wager." His voice was deep, smooth. It gave him an air of power, with a slightly dark texture underlying it. Again, she wasn't sure the way her mind described it would make sense to anyone but her, in her current state.

"You tried to kill Sub-Zero and take over his clan?"

"The first part, yes. And, I suspect our motives for seeking an end to Sub-Zero are not too dissimilar."

"You don't know anything about me or my motives," she snapped, hating that condescending tone with which he pretended to know everything about her. Just like Sub-Zero's. The man burst out laughing at Frost's proclamation. "What's so damn funny?"

"Oh, just the sheer irony on display," the living shadow replied, still chuckling. "I know you better than you know yourself. You are desperate for Sub-Zero's approval, for him to embrace you as one of his own, yet you have no idea what you truly are to him."

"And what do you know about Sub-Zero?" Frost demanded, the aggression in her tone making way for intrigue.

"I was once called Bi-Han. I was Sub-Zero. The man you know by that name now is Kuai Liang, my younger brother."

"You are Bi-Han!? The one who defeated an Elder God?"

"Indeed." Bi-Han grinned beneath his mask at Frost's surprise. "I was killed by an enemy of the Lin Kuei named Scorpion, a little over ten years ago. After he took up my mantle, though, Kuai Liang did not seek to avenge his brother's death; he sought peace with his brother's killer, leaving my soul unable to rest until I have been avenged. He cares nothing for his family, in spite of everything I have done for him."

"I sympathise with you, but I fail to see the irony you found so hilarious."

"Of course, you would. I doubt my brother ever told you the truth about your past."

"What truth?"

"My brother and I are - or, in my case, was - of the fourth generation of our family to server the Lin Kuei. We were raised from a young age as loyal assassins for the clan. Our father spent a decade as part of a sleeper cell in America. He had settled down and started a family by the time he was called back to the main compound in China. He brought the two of us with him, leaving his wife and daughter behind."

"You mean... you and he... You're not seriously suggesting that..."

"Yes, Eira. You are our younger sister. The parents you accidentally killed in your youth were merely your adopted family."

"You know my name?" Frost's eyes grew wide enough for the full whites of her eyes to be on display.

"Our mother chose that name for you. She wanted to honour her Welsh ancestry with your name. She wanted to avoid snow-related names, as our father wanted with his choice of Lixue, but your pale complexion left her unable to resist."

"What was she like?"

"It may be the fleeting, biased memories of a child speaking, but I remember her as the ideal mother. She was kind, but firm and strong. Her taming of the icy heart of a lifelong assassin is a testament to that. No doubt, she was heartbroken when her sons were taken from her, but she still had you for her few remaining days afterwards."

"What happened to her?"

"After our father returned to China, the late Grandmaster dispatched an assassin to eliminate our father's desire to return to America. Though he killed our mother, he couldn't bring himself to kill you as well. He left you on the doorstep of a neighbour and fled. Whether or not those neighbours were the ones who raised you, though, I'm afraid I cannot say."

"Does Sub-Zero know?"

"I can only presume so. As Grandmaster, he has access to the old Lin Kuei's database. It was through that database the he found you, was it not?"

"Yes. It was. Then, he knew we were related..."

"And still, he rejected you. Such is his nature, as I know firsthand. As does my compatriot, Smoke."

"This database... Does it say who he is? The man who killed our mother."

"He goes by the name Sektor. He was the Grandmaster's son before he killed him and took the clan for himself."

"And then, Kuai Liang took the clan from him."

"You know that much, I see. Whatever our brother told you about Sektor is likely true. He was only seventeen back then; a mere boy. His heart turned to cold steel as he continued to serve his father. You've nothing to gain from seeking him out now."

"I see..."

"Should you ever meet him, do not hesitate to kill him, for he will not hesitate to kill you."

"I'll never be in a situation where your advice makes a difference, if I don't find a way out of this cell."

"You don't think one who toppled an Elder God and the former Mortal Kombat champion would allow himself to be captured without a backup plan, do you?"

"The former Mortal... Wait, what plan? These cells prevent us from using our powers."

"Indeed, they do. However..." Bi-Han moved towards his cell's sink. He gripped the drainpipe and squeezed it as he pulled it out, snapping the thing in a way that left jagged edges ready dig into the flesh of anyone unlucky enough to not notice its sharpness before touching it.

"I don't think Kuai Liang will give you a chance to stab him with that," Frost noted, worried the rushing water might attract the attention of the security staff.

Bi-Han, again, chuckled. "Whoever said this was intended for him?"

Then, without warning, he jabbed the jagged metal into his own left forearm, digging in deep and creating a massive gash that spewed copious amounts of black, oily blood that still managed to make Frost feel a little queasy. She had to remove her mask, just in case, once he began poking around inside the wound with his fingers, filling the cellblock with a sickening wet sound. He produced a small plastic ziplock bag containing what appeared to be a tiny remote control with only a single button on it. He extracted the device from the bag and held it up to show his fellow inmate.

"The field that suppresses our abilities may be magical in original, but it is maintained by Earthrealm technology. And no technology is safe from this." He clicked off the safety and pressed the button.

Frost felt some kind of energy wave pass through her from elsewhere in the compound. She instinctively knew this to be from the direction of the cyber lab, where those forcibly automated into Sektor's cyborgs could be partially restored to their old selves. As it passed through the compound, the wave knocked out lights, cameras and other electrical systems, forcing the alarms and red warning lights of the backup generator to kick in. She turned back towards Bi-Han's cell, only to find that it was empty. She suddenly felt something standing behind her and whirled around, finding the shadowy assassin stood in her shadow, less than a foot away from her.

"Come," he said, holding out a hand to her. "For now, we must retreat. A grand battle is coming in the near future. And there, dear sister, you will find your opportunity to acquire a power far greater than any even the Dragon Medallion can offer."

With only the slightest hesitation, Frost took her newfound brother's hand and found herself slipping into her own shadow, where a whole world of darkness awaited her.

They emerged in the lab, where a badly damaged grey cyborg was sparking with electricity. She guessed that this was the 'Smoke' Bi-Han had mentioned. It was from him, presumably, that the EMP had originated. On his Bi-Han's word, she helped him hoist their possibly unwitting saviour onto their shoulders and carried him back down into the shadows. As she sank down, Frost had just enough time to see the horrified look on Sub-Zero's face as his three captives made their escape to plot their revenge against the brother and friend that had abandoned them all.


I came up with a small exchange between the two characters for this scene, planned to just write that part and come back to it later... only to end up writing the whole thing in a couple of hours.