The battle was in equal parts similar and different to previous clashes between Scorpion and Sub-Zero. The key reason was that this man, Kuai Liang, was the second man to bear the name Sub-Zero in battle with Hanzo Hasashi. Every previous battle Scorpion had had with a man by that name, it had been against Kuai Liang's older brother, the late Bi-Han. Their tally had concluded in a draw as Bi-Han claimed the first victory after a series of stalemates, only for Hanzo to return as a spectre and equalise by killing his foe in turn.
Scorpion had believed that Bi-Han had likewise returned as a spectre soon after, only to learn that the man in the blue Lin Kuei garb was Bi-Han's younger brother. To make amends for attempting to kill an innocent man, and for taking his brother away from him (just as Hanzo had been taken from his wife and son), Scorpion had vowed to become Kuai Liang's protector for the remainder of his mortal life.
But that was before Scorpion learned the truth from the Netherrealm sorcerer Quan Chi, who showed him a vision of events from after his death five years prior. The second Sub-Zero, in retaliation for his brother's murder, had taken it upon himself to lead his clan into battle with the Shirai Ryu and personally end the lives of Scorpion's wife and son, Harumi and Satoshi. Quan Chi had asked that, in return for this revelation, Scorpion join Shinnok's Netherrealm forces in their invasion of Edenia and deal with Sub-Zero when Raiden's forces inevitably interfered.
And thus, Scorpion found himself once more battling a Sub-Zero. There was a very distinct difference between the way the two fought: Bi-Han was an assassin - efficient and, fittingly enough, cold. His use of his ice powers was purely designed to immobilise and stun his opponent, forge small daggers of ice and occasionally close the gap between himself and his opponent, as he knew Scorpion's spear gave him the advantage at a distance. Kuai Liang, meanwhile, was much more creative with his powers, creating an icy statue of himself to take a hit for him, put distance between himself and his opponent with an icy slide.
Although he had never fought Kuai Liang before, Scorpion could certainly tell from having observed his past fights that he was approaching his brother's level of skill in both martial arts and cryomancy. But even that was not enough for him to match Scorpion in a battle. After all, even Bi-Han had been no match for Scorpion's spectral abilities. And more to the point, Scorpion had fought Sub-Zero many times over the years. Kuai Liang, however, had yet to face any spectre, giving Scorpion the clear advantage.
And now, it was over. Sub-Zero lay battered, bloody and beaten at Scorpion's feet. Of course, this would not be the end of Sub-Zero's suffering. He would experience far greater agony than even his brother had before him. Murdering Hanzo Hasashi was one thing, but to lay a hand on Harumi and Satoshi was crime deserving of far worse than immolation.
"Get up, Sub-Zero," the spectre commanded. "Harumi and Satoshi demand retribution, and you have not suffered even a fraction of what you deserve."
Sub-Zero rolled from his back onto his side, pulling off his brother's damaged mask to cough up a concerning amount of blood onto the floor of the dungeon in which their battle had taken place. "Wh... Who?"
Scorpion's white eyes burned with crimson hellfire and he grabbed Sub-Zero by the scruff of his neck and dragged him to his knees. "HARUMI! SATOSHI! MY WIFE AND SON!" he screamed in his beaten adversary's face. "It wasn't enough for your son of a bitch brother to kill me, but you had to attack the Shirai Ryu and murder my entire family!?"
"What are you... *koff* talking about? The Shirai Ryu were wiped out years ago."
"Yes, by you and your clan!"
"No. The Lin Kuei requested your clan's destruction-"
"Then you admit it! You and yours are responsible!"
"You have eyes but will not see... Kill me if you must, Scorpion... but your soul will never rest. Sub-Zero may have been responsible for your murder... but your family's killer remains free."
Scorpion threw Sub-Zero back onto his front and kicked him hard in the side, sending him sprawling onto his back. "I have had enough of your Lin Kuei lies!"
"What did Quan Chi offer...?"
"What are you babbling about?"
"When he hired the Sh-Shirai Ryu to obtain the map. What did he offer as a *koff* reward for your success?"
"The annihilation of the Lin Kuei. But I failed, so it hardly matters now. Your brother killed me and took the map-" Scorpion's eyes grew wide with realisation.
"Our grandmaster wanted your clan wiped out, as yours wanted the same for ours. Quan Chi made good on his promise to the victor. I swear to you that no Lin Kuei took part in the assault on the Shirai Ryu."
"Quan Chi..." Even Sub-Zero, whose aura of cold gave him some protection from external heat, could feel the temperature of the surrounding air rise as Scorpion's rage boiled his spectre blood.
The sound of slow clapping permeated the dungeon as the man in question stepped out of the shadows. "Well done, Scorpion. You finally figured it out."
"Sorcerer," Scorpion growled with vengeance burning in his eyes.
"Come now, Scorpion, it was nothing personal. It was just business, you understand. I had my oblig-"
"'Just business'!? You killed my family and you have the gall to say it was 'just BUSINESS'!?"
Scorpion's entire body erupted in flames, the silhouette of a skeleton with hellfire burning in its sockets visible at its centre. He lunged forward, but Quan Chi erected a magic barrier between the two, momentarily forgetting that the hellborne spectre could teleport. The brief disappearance of his attacker threw Quan Chi off-guard. Dispelling the barrier and whirling around to where his foe had emerged, the now panicking sorcerer held out his hand and cast the mind-controlling spell that had served him so well thus far. Scorpion, however, continued advancing.
"Your sorcery will not save you, sorcerer!" he declared as he reached out and grabbed him by the throat.
Despite his flesh burning, Quan Chi maintained enough composure to bring both hands down to Scorpion's chest and launch out one of his trademark green skull fireballs. Although smaller than usual, it still prompted Scorpion to teleport away, releasing Quan Chi and giving him an opening to act.
He opened up a small portal to some Netherrealm wasteland far away from the conflict zone, and created a wall of skulls in front of himself just as Scorpion can barrelling in to strike him. Scorpion crashed through the skull wall, but rather than colliding with his quarry, he found nothing else between the wall and the portal to stop him from flying directly through. Turning in midair once on the other side, Scorpion saw Quan Chi appearing on the other side of the airborne portal, smugly waving goodbye with one hand, while the other performed the spell to close the portal.
Scorpion's teleportation had a limited range, which didn't allow him to pass though portals, and the real distance between himself and Quan Chi now was no doubt far beyond the range of his powers. With no other choice, he threw out his hand, producing his trademark chained spear, which took Quan Chi completely by surprise as it dug into his shoulder. With a fierce tug on the chain with both hands, Scorpion managed to pull Quan Chi off his feet and into the closing portal.
Scorpion took no small amount of pleasure in the sorcerer's cry of "NOOOOOOOOO!" as he fell dozens of feet from the now closed portal to the molten dirt below. Had he pulled him through a few seconds later, Scorpion may well have gotten the sorcerer split in two by the portal, but this was good enough.
Scorpion would find Kuai Liang and make amends with him later. But for now, the souls of Harumi, Satoshi and every member of the Shirai Ryu cried out for vengeance. And if there was one man in all the realms that understood vengeance and how best to exact, it was Hanzo Hasahi.
This one exists purely because I had the idea for Scorpion's rage to allow him to power through Quan Chi's mind control magic with no issue. Planning this chapter really did highlight just how ridiculous it is to make Quan Chi the ultimate manipulator when he's been a dumbass fuck-up since Day 1. How did he think telling the vengeance-fuelled man he brought in to fight Sub-Zero because he knew he couldn't beat Sub-Zero without him that he killed his family was going to go down? Absolute cretin.
