Shirai Ryu and Lin Kuei.
It was a centuries-spanning factional rivalry so ferocious, so legendary, that it took a rivalry of realms to match its intensity. It was more comparable to the conflict between Earthrealm and Outworld than that between the O.I.A. and Black Dragon. And it was a conflict embodied by each factions' respective champion: Scorpion and Sub-Zero. After all, this was a rivalry that transcended individuals, death and the end of one of the clans.
Sub-Zero slew Scorpion, only to meet his own end when his Shirai Ryu counterpart returned from death to have his nemesis join him in the pits of the Netherrealm. Then another Sub-Zero took up the name and, in time, became Scorpion's new nemesis.
But this second Sub-Zero was no true enemy of Scorpion. Even after having his brother taken from him, Kuai Liang had reserved vengeance as a secondary goal in his quest to complete the mission his brother failed due to Scorpion's interference. And when Scorpion had expressed a desire to make amends, the new Sub-Zero afforded him the opportunity. That is, until Scorpion had allowed himself to become blinded by vengeance once more, his infamous wrath twisted by Quan Chi's manipulations and unjustly redirected towards the younger Sub-Zero.
The vengeful Scorpion had once again emerged victorious over a Sub-Zero. This time, however, he had managed to come to his senses before he could kill the wrongfully-accused warrior... but only after he had beaten the man until his blue uniform more resembled the crimson-clad Ermac. And he had left him battered in that chamber in Edenia as Quan Chi dragged him back to hell, where both spectre and sorcerer would remain for seven long years, until Quan Chi escaped to Outworld.
Scorpion had seen Sub-Zero a scant few times since. The two had briefly crossed paths in Outworld during the Deadly Alliance conflict while Kuai Liang was seeking a place to lay to rest his seemingly deceased apprentice, Frost. Scorpion had pointed him towards a fitting location, but he had continued along his own quest for vengeance. Had he bothered to stay with Sub-Zero, he wondered if the two could have dealt with the two sorcerers themselves, for there was surely no deadlier alliance than Scorpion and Sub-Zero. But Hanzō's shame over how easily he had believed Quan Chi's lies was overpowering, driving him away from Sub-Zero's presence, even as the grandmaster of the new Lin Kuei gave no indication that he saw any bad blood between the two.
The next time had been in the battle in Edenia, where Scorpion had spotted Sub-Zero as the two faced their respective nemeses. With the dishonour perpetrated by the Elder Gods still fresh in Hanzō's mind, he had left assisting Sub-Zero to a Lin Kuei woman he had spotted, while he continued on in his vain attempt to claim Blaze's power and destroy the Elder Gods. And the end result was Sub-Zero's death by the hand of his own brother, the previous bearer of the name 'Sub-Zero'.
The third time, then, was Scorpion's chance to redeem himself. With Kuai Liang's death, combined with the heavy losses the Lin Kuei had suffered from being the Tekunin's priority, it had fallen to Hanzō and his own reincarnated a clan to join Earthrealm's defenders to fight back against Shinnok's invasion two years later.
And as soon as it became clear to Earth's forces that Shinnok had revived Quan Chi to assist him in amassing an army of undead warriors, that Kuai Liang would return as his brother had was almost a certainty. Hanzō was not surprised by Quan Chi's revival - he had expected it to happen eventually - but the prospect of Shinnok welcoming him back into his forces suggested there was something he could now offer the fallen Elder God that outweighed his treacherous nature.
Hanzō was quick to lead his new Shirai Ryu forces into battle with the undead army. The irony of former undead leading the reincarnation of a long-dead clan against an army of demons and undead was not lost on Scorpion. As he joined up with the Outerworld Investigation Agency's forces to exchange information, Hanzō was informed of the known revenants which, worryingly, included Liu Kang and Nightwolf, two of the most powerful Earthrealm fighters lost in Edenia. In addition, some of the less significant members of the undead army turned out to be relatives of some of the Shirai Ryu's current members, whose very losses had led them to join the clan in the first place. This was going to be a difficult war for everyone involved.
But Hanzō's difficulty only began when, towards the end of the conflict, the chinook carrying Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage and Kenshi Takahashi was brought down as their team made for Raiden's Sky Temple. Hanzō happened to be in the area and responded to the distress call. When the downed vehicle came into view, Hanzō thought he might die again as his heart felt like it stopped on the spot.
Sonya Blade was injured and possibly unconscious in the pilot's seat, while her presumably sole surviving compatriots were being engaged by the enemy forces. Kenshi was stuck in a duel with Bi-Han, his sword cutting down Noob's shadow every time it made a reappearance, but never quite finding its mark with the wraith himself. And Johnny Cage was intercepted on his way to assist his wife as he was hit in the back by ice blast that slowed him to a near stop.
The only difference between the two brothers now was that Kuai Liang had returned as a revenant, rather than a wraith. The wraith transformation brought with it a whole new host of abilities that overrode Bi-Han's naturally cryomancer powers, but he was no less deadly when wielding shadow than when he commanded ice. Kuai Liang, however, retained his abilities, which remained augmented by the Dragon Medallion that was stolen from him by Bi-Han.
With the two brothers reunited in Shinnok's service, many questions arose. Was Bi-Han enslaved by the fallen Elder God and his partner, or was he simply aligned with them to suit his own enigmatic purposes? With the presence of the medallion Bi-Han had stolen in Edenia, was this reunion in undeath Bi-Han's goal all along when he fought in that battle? Had a part of Bi-Han always remained inside Noob Saibot, taking doppelgangers and his brother's cyberised best friend as substitutes for his brother following their separation all those years ago, all leading up to this?
The deathly pale Sub-Zero formed an ice sword as he approached the immobilised actor and Hanzō cursed Cetrion for restoring his humanity and costing him his power of teleportation. The only thing he felt at all thankful for as he rushed across the debris-strewn street to intercept the former grandmaster was that he had been restored to his psychical age from the time of his death - thirty-two - not the forty-five he would have been had Bi-Han not torn his head from his shoulders at the Shaolin temple. Being restored in his prime allowed Hanzō to close the gap even before his younger recruits, rocketing his father's ropedart in between the two kombatants, managing to embed the projectile blade into a nearby piece of debris and leaving the rope dividing Sub-Zero and Cage taut.
Kuai Liang turned his attention towards the interloper, whose sword was already drawn as he closed the gap. Hanzō yanked on the rope with enough force to pull the debris with it, narrowly missing the cryomancer as he dodged out of the way and leaving Hanzō to wonder if he had somehow retained some of his spectral strength upon his restoration. But the debris served the purpose of distracting Sub-Zero and leaving him off-balance, allowing Hanzō to get in close and swing his father's katana at the cryomancer, knowing he would bring his own blade up to guard. Hanzō threw his full might into the swing at a very precise moment, just his father had taught him, to slice right through the iceborne blade and shatter most of it to smithereens.
"Must we do this again, Hasashi?" Sub-Zero bemoaned as he stared at his shattered weapon and dropped what remained with resignation. "I tire of this repetitive conflict."
Hanzō met Kuai Liang's gaze, the cryomancer's blank eyes burning with a yellow-red fire that seemed antithetical to his very identity. This effect carried over the rest of his form, the ice-coated arms replaced by fiery veins glowing hotly beneath his ashen skin. And that scar; always changing but ever present - red when he had first received it in the Outworld tournament at the hand of his brother, blue once he acquired the augmentation of the Dragon Medallion, and now as yellow as the glowing veins that marked him as a slave of the Netherrealm.
"The feeling is mutual, Kuai Liang. But enough widows and orphans have been created by you Sub-Zeroes, even before you became puppets of Quan Chi."
Sub-Zero chuckled. "You see something of yourself... in Johnny Cage?"
"And in you. I, too, was once a slave to Quan Chi's manipulations-"
"And you still feel terrible for how you beat me so mercilessly."
"That mocking tone is unbecoming of a grandmaster."
"As is your emotional weakness. But don't worry. My brother and I will see to it that you are revived in Lord Shinnok's army as a hellspawn once more." Sub-Zero forged a new Kori Blade and took his stance.
"Cage!" Hanzō called over his shoulder to now thawed actor. "Take your wife and get out of here. You can leave these two to Takahashi and me. The rest of you," he added to his half-dozen Shirai Ryu followers, "see to it that those two make it to their destination."
"You're a helluva guy, Hanzō," Cage responded as he pulled his wife from the wreckage. "But don't hesitate. I'm sure Sub-Zero'd rather be dead than a puppet. Trust me on that."
"I know," Hanzō replied under his breath as the footsteps of the two soldiers and six ninja grew more and more distant behind him.
Once again, for... who even knew what number this was, Scorpion and Sub-Zero faced each other down. The last time they had faced off like this, it had been Scorpion that was dancing to Quan Chi's tune. It was as if Hanzō's life since had all been one long, meandering waste of time, designed to bring him right back to this very scenario so that he might redeem himself for how easily and readily he had accepted Quan Chi's lies, all for the sake of having someone else to blame for his misfortunes.
But that was over now. It was about time Hanzō left Scorpion the spectre behind - left him dead and buried along with the family and clan that had birthed him. The new Shirai Ryu could not progress if led by a relic of the old clan. The second Lin Kuei had prospered under a 'traitor' to the old clan, and the Shirai Ryu would do the same under the reborn Hasashi Hanzō.
The clash between the two swordsmen and the two brothers lasted for hours, both sides evenly matched, occasionally switching off opponents to keep the enemy guessing. But eventually, the battle drew to a close when Bi-Han and Kuai Liang sensed the defeat of their master Shinnok and fled into the shadows.
A Special Forces medical team happened upon Hanzō and Kenshi and patched them up while the Shirai Ryu grandmaster contemplated the hideously unnatural image of the two brothers finally reunited after so many years, but in the service of evil. Had the two instead been reunited as a force for good, the conflict would have been over in an afternoon.
Hanzō gathered up his forces and assisted in the relief efforts, their number only growing as yet more orphans and widows were created by the conflict. Hanzō requested to be kept abreast of Quan Chi's movements, especially where the two former Sub-Zeroes were concerned, and Kenshi agreed. Hanzō knew little of the blind swordsman's backstory, but he was aware of both his lone wolf nature and the respect Sub-Zero had earned from him during their time in Outworld. It spoke much to Kuai Liang's character that even a man like Kenshi could be so determined to see the man restored to his true self.
Two months later, Hanzō was contacted by Kenshi on behalf of the O.I.A.; they had found Quan Chi's current fortress in the Netherrealm, thanks to the efforts of Sareena, the Lin Kuei initiate that had taken command after the grandmaster's death. It was only upon arriving at the O.I.A. facility that he knew the face to which the name belonged. He had seen her during the battle in Edenia, rushing to save Sub-Zero... and evidently failing to do so.
It was Cyrax that would be leading the team into the Netherrealm, accompanied by Kenshi, a dozen soldiers, and about as many Shirai Ryu and Lin Kuei forces, each clan led by their respective grandmasters. While the team began final prep, Sareena approached Hanzō in private while he made one last round of cleaning and sharpening of his three blades.
"Grandmaster Hasashi," she greeted with the respect and unease of one only recently risen to the same class as the subject of her greeting.
"Grandmaster Sareena," he responded with a much more level tone.
"Please, there's no-"
"-need to refer to you by that title when you are only an interim grandmaster Sub-Zero returns. Have you not led the Lin Kuei's rebuilding efforts for two years now?"
Sareena was evidently taken aback by Hanzō's interruption and harsh tone. "Y-Yes, but-"
"You were chosen for a reason. What that reason is, I cannot say, but you were not given your position by default. Something about you made your fellow Lin Kuei choose to follow you in Kuai Liang's absence. They trusted you to see them through the rebuilding, and they trust you now to bring him back. But you cannot live up to their expectations so long as you continue to wallow in self-doubt as you are. A grandmaster must be bold, decisive, determined. Yet you display none of these qualities. How do you expect to be able to bring Sub-Zero back to the light when you yourself are drowning in darkness?"
Sareena remained silent while she contemplated his words. A wistful smile came to her dark blue lips. "You've the wisdom of a grandmaster of decades to leadership, despite having had the title for less time than I have."
"That is because I am well acquainted with my capabilities and my failings. I have learned not to dwell on the latter, and to instead utilise the former to combat them. You will need to learn to do the same if you plan to be anything but a burden in our raid on Quan Chi's fortress."
Sareena was, again, silent.
"Let us start simply: what can you contribute to our excursion, aside from a handful of Lin Kuei veterans?"
"I... I can offer... intelligence. At least, with regards to Quan Chi and his machinations."
"A valuable contribution that has already borne fruit. After all, you are the one who brought the information this operation is acting upon to the O.I.A.'s attention, did you not?"
"I am."
"Then you have already contributed to Sub-Zero's rescue. The only question, then, is are you ready to contribute more?"
"I-I am. Of course, I am!"
Hanzō smiled. "Then give it your all on this mission, Sareena. But be sure to also recognise your limits. It would be far less of a victory for Sub-Zero to return and lose you in the process."
"Yes. Thank you, Grandmaster." Sareena bowed so cleanly that Hanzō might have almost suspected she was Japanese herself. "But on the subject of information... there is something else that you, in particular, should be made aware of."
Hanzō had a sudden uneasy feeling about the direction their conversation was going. "...Is this something that can wait until after the operation?"
"No. I feel that this must be addressed now. I wouldn't feel comfortable going into this battle, knowing I might never get another chance to tell you this. You spent some time working for Quan Chi and Shinnok when they invaded Edenia, correct?"
"Yes," he replied warily.
"Then, you might have run into Quan Chi's two enforcers, Kia and Jataaka?"
"Once or twice."
"Those two used to be three. You might recognise my facial markings and... this." Sareena lifted a part of her sleeve to expose a patch of horribly scarred skin on her left shoulder. "I burned off my Brotherhood brand after I reached the Lin Kuei temple a few years ago, but I was a member up until Bi-Han spared my life when I tried to stop him from reaching Quan Chi. He opened my eyes to the possibilities that lay beyond thoughtless servitude. But up until that point, I was thoughtlessly servile to Quan Chi, assisting him with whatever task he needed completing." As Sareena tried multiple times to gather up her will to continue, Hanzō spoke aloud the conclusion that he knew she was trying to reach.
"The Shirai Ryu massacre." Despite the neutral tone with which he alluded to the annihilation of his wife, son and clan, Sareena shuddered.
"Yes... Kia, Jataaka and I accompanied Quan Chi and his forces... and we helped him slaughter the entire village."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you deserve to know. You deserve to know that one of the perpetrators of this indescribably despicable crime committed against you still lives."
"Why? So I can kill you?"
Sareena lowered her gaze and sighed. "...If that is what you deem appropriate."
Hanzō stood in silence, contemplating her intent more so than his response.
"If it is death you seek, at least wait until after Sub-Zero has returned from his." With those words, Hanzō sheathed his blades and made to return to the command center.
"Wait!" Sareena called out as Hanzō reached the doorway.
"I have no intention of killing you," he said as he stopped, but didn't turn to face her. "I have made peace with what happened back then, and I will not be dragged back into that place. And if Kuai Liang trusted your desire for redemption, then so do I. But redemption cannot be found in death, only in life." With no further words, Hanzō finally departed, leaving Sareena alone to consider his words.
The trek from the portal to the fortress was a short one, led by Sareena. A secondary team of soldiers stayed at the portal to serve as backup and a preventative force to keep any demons from infiltrating the base from this side.
Hanzō spent the trip contemplating everything that had led him to this point, from his death at Bi-Han's hand, all the way up to his failure to capture Kuai Liang back in Earthrealm. He had travelled numerous times to Outworld with noble intent, and to Edenia with ill. He had attempted to slay the highest beings in the universe, and had still been given another chance to make amends by finally fulfilling the self-imposed duty he had shirked for nearly a decade and protect Kuai Liang. And if possible, he would finally lay Bi-Han to rest to keep that particular mistake from remaining a threat to all the realms.
The fortress was not one Hanzō recognised from his time wandering the wastes of this realm, nor from his time working for Quan Chi. Sareena led the group inside this tower that was entered from the upper floors via a cliff the tower was build beside. Scorpion had pursued Quan Chi into many hiding places in his years hounding the sorcerer after the first Shinnok conflict, and even many of his briefest residences were more difficult to infiltrate than this place.
Hanzō quietly warned Kenshi to keep his telepathic search wide, suspecting this to be a trap, rather than a sign of the sorcerer's resources having been cut by Shinnok's defeat.
Descending a large spiral staircase into what could only be the sorcerer's laboratory, the group came upon a pair of odd circular pools built into the floor, a dark, viscous liquid swirling within and the occasional ripples suggesting something rested beneath the surface. The chamber was decorated with all sorts of artefacts from various realms. One, Hanzō recognised as the Kamidogu of the Netherrealm. No plot involving those things could possibly be allowed to proceed. But for now, he simply made a note of its location as Sareena alerted the others to its significance.
Another concerning artefact was the cylindrical glass tube against the wall near some bookcases, containing an older armour set of Shao Kahn. For what purpose the sorcerer had this armour, in light of the Elder Gods deeming the emperor's death in Edenia to be the only one he would be allowed, was uncertain, but certainly another scheme that must be halted.
While he was distracted by these potential schemes, a portal opened deeper into the area and Quan Chi emerged from it, flanked by Sub-Zero, Noob Saibot, two new enforcers, and an unknown female revenant clad in yellow and black. Sub-Zero was quick to start immobilising the intruders with his ice blasts. Hanzō knew these techniques better than anyone, bar the cryomancers themselves, and had no issue avoiding the attacks. Sareena was quickly caught up fighting the replacements for the enforcers Scorpion had killed in Edenia, while Kenshi and Cyrax made to engage the brothers, leaving Hanzō and the few unfrozen warriors that had accompanied them to deal with Quan Chi and the other revenant. That is, until a few oni emerged from the shadows to deal with the footsoldiers.
As expected, Quan Chi was quick to retreat, leaving his new warrior to hold off his nemesis while he made some sort of preparations in the background. As Hanzō drew his katana, the woman before him revealed a set of four insectoid appendages connected to her back, each ending in a jagged spear-like tip. Combined with her yellow attire, they brought to mind the Kytinn warrior D'Vorah that had served Quan Chi during the Invasion of Edenia. This gave her silhouette an almost arachnid appearance, especially as she used these additional appendages to skitter across the ground to approach him much faster than he anticipated.
It was unusual of Quan Chi to use such an unknown warrior as one of his revenants, so there must be some particular intent behind his decision to choose her. But whoever she was, she was certainly skilled with her additional limbs which, upon closer inspection, were evidently artificial; closer to Jackson Briggs' metal arms than Baraka's metal blades. Hanzō deflected her strikes with his blade, as he would any other bladed offender. But unlike such an attacker, she was armed with four such implements, giving her an inhuman attacking pace. But Hanzō had fought deadlier creatures in the Netherrealm across his decade of residence within its depths.
When his ability to keep up with her four-pronged attack became clear, his opponent changed up her tactics, shifting to a new stance where two of her appendages acted as legs and the other two as overhead striking weapons. Her body would have been fully exposed, were she not equipped with a small blade in her hand. It was a kunai, not unlike those employed by Hanzō himself, but lacking a rope or chain to make it as versatile a tool as his was. Still, she showed skill with it as she managed to deflect the sword strikes she was unable to dodge.
Hanzō drew his tachi with his free hand and began a dual-bladed assault, effectively doubling his attack pace. A misplaced attempt at deflection let to her kunai being launched from her hand. On reflex, it seemed, she brought one of her pincers down into the ring at the base of the kunai's hilt, allowing her to keep it from flying totally out of reach, but this being one of her 'leg' pincers, she struggled to maintain her balance under Hanzō's continued assault. A pair of short blades attached to the insides of her wrists allowed her to still block and deflect some of his strikes, but the rest were accidentally dodged as she fell off-balance, her pincers carrying her back away from her attacker and towards her master.
"Keep your distance, Tarantula!" Quan Chi commanded as he noticed their approach, and the woman obeyed with such fervour that her inexperienced stagger halted on the spot.
'Tarantula,' Hanzō pondered. In issuing this command, Quan Chi had unwittingly dispelled much of the mystique surrounding his secret weapon. A tarantula was hardly the most obvious name to choose for an arachnid-themed assassin, especially a female assassin. A widow, for example, would be far more suggestive of lethal intent. But there was one thing Hanzō knew about tarantulas that may inspire their use as a name: they were a natural predator of scorpions.
This woman, whoever she may have been in life, was now Quan Chi's attempt at a bodyguard, a Scorpion-killer. Hanzō lamented that this woman had been wrestled from her eternal rest to protect this weasel from facing his just punishment a second time.
"Whoever you are," he said to the woman as he took up a new stance with his katana and ropedart, "I will release you from this curse soon. No one will ever disturb your rest again, I swear."
The woman scoffed. "Your vows are devoid of merit, heretic."
"Heretic?" The choice of word confused Hanzō, possibly intentionally so as the woman used the opportunity to lunge at him. He rolled out of the way of her attack and used the momentum to carry his arm into a throw of his trademark weapon, which managed to strike her in the breast. Wrapping some of the cord around his hand, he pulled hard and dragged the woman in close.
The irony of an arachnid being pulled in on a thread by its would-be prey was not lost on either kombatant, especially as Tarantula made to bite his arm. Her teeth didn't seem to be anything special, not the jagged razors of Reptile or a tarkatan, but even with her specific name, Hanzō didn't want to risk a potentially toxic bite and dodged back. In fact, her ability to go for a bite highlighted something unusual about the woman.
Most masks worn by those fighting in inter-realm conflicts covered the lower half of the face, leaving the eyes exposed. That was simply the way these things tended to be, even with those that had mouths that could be utilised as weapons, such as the aforementioned Reptile or Mileena. But Tarantula covered her upper face, leaving her mouth exposed instead. This was unusual and suggested one of two things: either her mouth really did have some weaponisable property that he'd need to look out for, or the choice of mask style was made to hide her identity. Whatever the case, there was something Hanzō could do to figure out which.
From his crouched position, he lunged forward, closing the gap too quickly for her to adequately counter his attack. All she could do was try to block an attack aimed at her torso with her wrist blades. In truth, that was not his target. Instead, he slid across the ground, moving right between her legs and yanking on the rope around his hand as hard as he could. His opponent was pulled sharply down, her face colliding with the marble-like floor of the laboratory.
Despite the daze she seemed to be left in, her pincers managed to keep her rooted to the spot while she tore the kunai out of her chest and let it slither back to its wielder, whose position gave him a clear view of the woman's mask as she lifted her head out of it, leaving the metal yellow faceguard on the floor, some dark red blood splattered across its inside.
Wasting no time, Hanzō leapt to his feet and switched from his katana to his tachi as he once again closed the gap. He leapt onto her back, where her pincers would struggle to reach him as he grabbed her forehead with his free hand and held his blade up to her throat. And in the dim light of the infernal facility, Hanzō saw the face of Quan Chi's Scorpion-killer.
"Harumi?"
The revenant took advantage of her widower's disbelief, wrapping her hands around the back of his head and throwing him over her shoulder onto the floor. Her assault with her appendages was swift, her rage causing a number of her attacks to go wide, while most of the rest were deflected by Hanzō's blade or hand. One managed to break through his defences, however, diving into his shoulder and piercing the ground beneath it. He quickly grabbed the offending pincer with his free hand and sliced it in half with his blade. She reeled from this, a viscous dark blue liquid gushing forth from the artificial limb and staining Hanzō's uniform as she staggered back.
As Hanzō pulled the remains of the pincer out of the floor and rolled into his front, he found two fresh portals opening at roughly the same time. From the one on the other side of the chamber, Fujin appeared, flanked by Kung Lao and Kai, the protector god finally doing his damn job. From the one Quan Chi opened, the revenants forms of Kurtis Stryker, Kabal and Nightwolf emerged.
Kabal began zipping around the area with his enhanced speed, while Stryker opened fire on the soldiers. Nightwolf, meanwhile, escorted Quan Chi through the portal. Hanzō made one last attempt to ensnare the sorcerer with his spear, only for Nightwolf to deflect it with his tomahawk and then give the former spectre no further attention as he escorted his master to safety. And then Liu Kang stepped through the portal.
Despite the threat the renegade monk posed, Hanzō pushed himself to his feet and prepared to fight both him and his late wife at once. Liu Kang's patented Flying Kick sent Hanzō skidding across the chamber before he even realised the former champion had left the ground. But as he moved to finish his opponent, he was stopped by Harumi, who insisted viciously, "He is mine!"
Fortunately for her, Liu Kang had little interest in Hanzō specifically, and instead chose to engage Kung Lao and Kai, allowing Harumi to move in on Hanzō as he once again dragged himself to his feet. "Harumi, wait," he pleaded, trying to buy himself time to steady himself.
"I've waited long enough," she retorted, her march unimpeded by his plea. Despite the revenant distortions, this was unquestionably Harumi's face, as well as her voice. But this was not her spirit. Harumi had had her moments of rage and she would gladly kill to defend her family, but this was nothing like the woman he loved. Her demeanour was much more like Scorpion than it was Harumi.
He tested the shoulder that remained impaled by the severed pincer. It stung every time he moved it, but its range of motion and its strength remained unimpeded. Thus, he drew his sword once again and wielded both blades as his wife approached.
"At least tell me why!"
"I am not your obedient wife anymore, Scorpion. And the fact that you need me to explain is exactly why!" She lunged at him with her three pincers. Hanzō got lucky with an early swing and severed a second. She staggered back again and folded the now severed upper appendages into her back to get them out of the way. She could still use the lower two to move around, but her ability to strike effectively from above was hampered.
The two exchanged a few more thrusts and swings, their fight more like a choreographed dance than a duel. But Hanzō recognised that her strikes were more effective than his own, as she knew the Shirai Ryu style, while he did not know this Kytinn-esque style. Thus, he opted to remain on the defensive instead, countering until he could find an opening.
That opening came with the intervention of, of all people, Noob Saibot, who shoved Harumi aside and began engaging his old nemesis himself.
"Human again, Hanzō? Your spectre powers were the only thing that gave you an edge over me. And now you're past your prime. What do you say I kill you again? For old times' sake."
"Get away from him!" Harumi screeched as she shoved Bi-Han aside with her pincer stumps, sounding almost as if she were defending her husband. "Scorpion's life is mine to take, not yours!"
"Please. You only have that power to slay him because my killing him the first time led to Quan Chi killing you. You should be grateful to me that you've been perfected by Quan Chi."
"Perfected?" Hanzō growled, a familiar anger burning inside him as he resumed his stance. "Is that what you think this is? Perfection? These degenerate forms Quan Chi forced upon you? And Harumi. And your brother."
"Quan Chi has made us both more powerful than ever before. Admittedly, this is far more significant with your previously useless wife-"
Harumi struck Bi-Han hard enough to crack open his face mask, further exposing the rotten form his face had taken since his death. In retaliation, Bi-Han took his stance, as if he were ready to fight Harumi instead of their mutual enemy.
"What are you two fools doing?" Kuai Liang demanded as he approached to break up the fight. "Put your petty squabble aside and finish him already!"
For the first time since Noob's creation, Kuai Liang's words actually managed to get through to his brother. Unfortunately, that was to Hanzō's detriment. Fortunately, Kenshi and Sareena arrived before the battle could resume. Bi-Han gleefully targeted Sareena while Kenshi moved to engage Sub-Zero, leaving Hanzō once again alone with Harumi.
"Quan Chi has poisoned your mind, Harumi."
"Quan Chi freed my mind from your poison."
"What poison?"
"I am done speaking with you."
"Why? Because you are afraid that if you explain the source of your wrath, you might realise it is misplaced?"
Harumi grunted in frustration. They both knew she now had to prove her faith in Quan Chi. "You are the reason the Shirai Ryu were wiped out. The reason Satoshi and I were killed."
"Me? How? What could I have possibly-"
"You failed to claim the map from the temple. You allowed yourself to be killed by Sub-Zero, and in so doing, you sentenced us all to death."
"Your view of the events has been warped by Quan Chi. How else could you see no guilt in the man who personally murdered you and our son-"
"He is not your son!"
"I am not the one defending his murderer!"
For the first time, Hanzō's words gave Harumi pause.
"Did you see the way Quan Chi murdered Satoshi, Harumi? Or did you die to defend him, as a mother should?"
"After all this, you dare question my devotion to Satoshi!?"
"Had I succeeded in my mission, the Lin Kuei would have been the clan that was wiped out. The conflict between the clans would have ended and our son would have been safe. I died trying to ensure his future. I need to know that his mother did the same."
"I... The audacity to feign-"
"My love for my son is no lie, Harumi! I defied the Elder Gods themselves over the curse they placed on him. And you. The audacious one here is you, to claim that I did not love my son enough! Or my wife, or my clan!"
"You loved us so much, you replaced us. How is your new clan, by the way, hm? Perhaps Quan Chi will permit me to pay them a visit."
Hanzō struck Harumi with the back of his hand, stunning her. Despite his famous rage, Hanzō had never struck his wife in such a manner before, even when the two were at their worst. It was a line he had never crossed, until now. "I warn you now, Harumi," he growled with an intensity that clearly intimidated Harumi, "I have suffered the loss of my family and my clan twice over. As strongly as I desire to have you restored to your true self, alive and happy, if you threaten to try and make it thrice, I will not hesitate to kill you myself."
"You are a devil, Hanzō. A devil."
Hanzō's stomach sank as, for the first time in this encounter, he truly felt like he was speaking with his beloved Harumi. And she was afraid of him.
"Hanzō!" Hanzō's gaze turned in the direction of Kenshi, who was down on one knee with an ice dagger in his side.
"Enough wasting time!" Between them, Sub-Zero was marching in the direction of the Hasashis, forging a new ice blade as he closed the gap. Before Harumi could protest the further interference from the brothers, she was hit with an ice blast and frozen solid.
Hanzō's instincts went into overdrive upon seeing his wife attacked by Sub-Zero. Even knowing for a decade by this point that Sub-Zero had nothing at all to do with Harumi and Satoshi's deaths, the image still haunted his dreams every now and then, melded with the history of Kasamasa Takeda to paint a sickening and gut-wrenching mural of frigid death.
Hanzō launched himself at Sub-Zero, sliding into his legs to bring him down, grabbing the back of his head as he fell and ramming his face so hard into the floor that it cracked beneath him and shattered his mask on impact. In one move, Sub-Zero was unconscious.
After that, everything moved along so quickly that it was akin to a fever dream. Bi-Han suddenly flew overhead, flying clear across the chamber as Fujin gained the upper hand on the one mortal that had ever defeated him. Kabal rushed the Wind God, only to wind up redirected slightly into Fujin's waiting arm, clotheslining him onto the ground, where Sareena could straddle him and beat him unconscious.
"You may run like the wind, Kabal," Fujin taunted, "but I command it."
With his friend in danger, Stryker fired his demonic handgun at Fujin, whose command of wind allowed him to move the bullets enough to not only miss their target, but to impact Quan Chi's new female enforcers; unfortunately, nonlethally. Fujin then compelled the air in Stryker's lungs to leave his body as the Wind God manipulated the air around the former peacekeeper to stay out of his body until he fell unconscious. It seemed that Quan Chi's methods were not so perfect, after all.
Then, Liu Kang rushed past Hanzō, shattering Harumi's ice prison and dragging her back to the portal. Despite her and Bi-Han's protests, the former Champion of Earthrealm dragged the two through the portal in retreat, while most of the allied Earthrealm forces rushed past Hanzō and Kuai Liang to try and stop them. But once Liu Kang had held them off with Dragon Fire long enough for Quan Chi's other enforcers to make it through, he retreated through as well and the portal closed behind him.
The chamber fell silent, save for the ragged breaths of the unconscious Stryker and the occasional shifting of the nearby pools. Fujin made his way over to Kenshi and Hanzō and used his godly magic to heal their wounds once the offending weapons were removed from their bodies. While the other forces were healed up and the dead were counted, Cyrax approached one of the pools with Sareena.
"Do you have any idea what these pools are for?" the cyborg asked.
"No, I've never seen anything like this before. But, given Quan Chi's recent obsession with necromancy, I'd wager they're related to that."
"There is only one way to find out," Fujin responded as he approached. Using his command of wind, he lifted whatever it was within the pool that was causing the rippled in the water. With only its head breaking the surface, exactly what it was became immediately apparent: it was an exact replica of Sareena, albeit with the Brotherhood sigil restored to the ashen skin of its shoulder. Sareena felt sick looking at this thing and Fujin quickly lowered it back into the water.
"Clones?" Hanzō asked as he approached, hoping beyond hope that Quan Chi's Tarantula was merely a Mileena-esque replica of his beloved wife.
"Not likely," Fujin explained. "Undead require physical bodies to walk the mortal plains. If the original body is unavailable or has decayed or been damaged beyond repair, a fresh body is necessary to allow them to leave the Netherrealm. No doubt, this was to be Sareena's new body, had Quan Chi's plan succeeded here."
"Let me guess," Cyrax said as he looked at the other pool. "Scorpion is in that one."
"Takahashi Kenshi is more likely. It is a little-known fact that a person can only be resurrected a single time, without direct intervention from the Elder Gods. But such a boon is rare, and never benevolent. As far as I am aware, the only instance of such in the last millennium was with Johnny Cage during Shinnok's Invasion of Edenia."
"Because the Elder Gods were directly threatened," Kung Lao noted in a jaded tone as he and Kai approached.
"Exactly. But my point here is that Hasashi Hanzō has already been revived once before. If he dies again, he is done. Quan Chi no doubt knows this. Thus, he opted to target you two instead, and created another revenant all together to eliminate his nemesis."
"You knew her, didn't you?" Kenshi asked as all attention from the group turned to Hanzō.
He was hesitant to explain the situation, but he supposed the others might be more likely to offer him aid in rescuing Harumi if he offered answers. "Her name was Genji Harumi. She was my wife." He pushed through the awkward silence that followed his explanation. "Quan Chi has filled her head with whatever lies he needs to use her as a shield against me."
"That does sound like the kind of twisted thing he would do," Sareena noted.
"But, wasn't she put to rest with the rest of the Shirai Ryu two years ago?" Cyrax queried.
"The revival of the original Shirai Ryu was performed by the Elder Gods," Fujin explained. "It is likely that they superseded that rule to do so, effectively making it 'not count', unwittingly allowing any of them to be revived again as if they had only died once."
"Once again, the Elder Gods have proven themselves a useless blight on this universe," Hanzō cursed.
"All that aside," Fujin interrupted, "it is likely that we will encounter her again as we continue to pursue Quan Chi and his revenants. Should we have the opportunity while you are not with us, how would you prefer we proceed? Capture above all else, or release from her curse?"
"I will always choose to give Harumi another chance at life, of course, but I will not allow my desires to prolong her suffering. Capture her if possible. If not... please make it quick."
Fujin nodded slowly. "I will do my best for her. But for now, please gather the unconscious revenants by the other pool. I will summon Raiden and attempt the ritual to restore them to a proper life."
"You know how to do that?" Cyrax questioned, hopeful for their release from servitude.
"For the most part, yes. But there are holes in my knowledge surrounding this particular brand of magic. With any luck, Raiden should be able to fill in the blanks here and help with the ritual itself." With that, Fujin passed back through the still open portal he and the White Lotus forces had arrived through.
He returned shortly thereafter, accompanied by Raiden who, despite his darker look and demeanour, was still more than willing to assist in the restoration of Earth's heroes. He exchanged a brief look with Hanzō as he passed, and Hanzō noted the subsequent brief look of disappointment as he saw the trio of captives. No doubt, he had not been told which revenants had been captured and was hoping to find Liu Kang among them. Still, he did as he was asked and filled Fujin in on what he didn't know. The two gods combined their magics, channelling them into the pool that had indeed contained a new body for Kenshi, which had since been removed.
"Do you think the eyes would have worked?" Kenshi whispered to Cyrax as he stood near the discarded body.
"Given the state of Kabal," Cyrax replied, "it's possible."
The former Black Dragon had certainly been given a much healthier body. His original had been scorched all over with napalm, leaving his entire body with a melted, sickly looking and slightly browned texture. He'd been forced to use a respirator just to survive, a tube connected directly to his throat to allow him to breathe. It was apparently set up by Kano with some help from Shang Tsung. This left Kabal with no chance of a normal life, but had also granted him enhanced speed to make him a better fighter. And now, he was going to be restored in a new body that no longer needed those necessities. In a twisted way, for every bad thing that happened to Kabal, something good also came from it. And he was finally going to get the good without needing the bad.
"Then again," Kai noted, "Sub-Zero still has his scar."
"That is likely a mark of Quan Chi's pride," Sareena explained as she stepped closer.
"He did receive that scar from Bi-Han after he was corrupted by Quan Chi," Kung Lao elaborated.
"So he's proud that he could twist Bi-Han's mind enough to make him deliver such a serious wound to his own brother," Cyrax surmised.
"That does sound like him," Hanzō growled.
"We'll get him, Hanzō," Cyrax reassured his one-time enemy. "And like Fujin said, he's not getting another chance this time. So whoever gets the opportunity should enjoy it while it lasts."
A huge blast of hot air shot past the two gods and threatened to knock the six warriors off their feet. They each stepped closer to gauge the situation.
The pool had dried up. All the liquid had either evaporated or splattered out of the basin. A red mist of some sort was now emanating from the very bottom of the former pool, spreading through the area and washing over the three revenants. One by one, each man's skin turned a far healthier shade of pink. The glowing yellow veins beneath lost their lustre until they could only faintly be seen in their natural faint blue. And their restless states turned into likely the first peaceful sleep any of them had had in two long years.
Hanzō knelt before the graves of Sanada and Shinohara, the only two Shirai Ryu killed in the raid on Quan Chi's fortress. A month had passed since then and Hanzō had made a point of paying his respects to the two every day for a month. Today would be the last of his daily visits, but he would continue to pay them his respects along with the rest of the fallen regularly.
The Shirai Ryu had been the first group to depart the Netherrealm. Once Hanzō was assured by Fujin that Kuai Liang was going to make a full recovery, he took his forces and personally carried Shinohara's body back home. Despite those two losses, however, the clan had managed to recruit four more initiates in the time since, as if symbolising the Shirai Ryu's tenacity and its refusal to die.
Hanzō was on his way back to his residence when a par of initiates rushed over to inform him of intruders on the outskirts of the compound's territory. He didn't have his blades on him, but he always kept his kunai around his belt. He commanded the two to tell him where and he set off at a sprint without them. The Shirai Ryu had suffered an invasion once before. And Hanzō swore it would never happen again.
He found the invaders not far from where the initiates had spotted them, thanks to another, Yukiko, that had stayed to quietly track them, putting the skills she had learned from Hanzō to good use. Rushing past her, he found the intruders and was surprised by what he found: the Red Dragon. Not only was this an unusual clan to be encroaching on Shirai Ryu territory, but their quarry was equally unusual: Kenshi was on the ground, battered and bloody, accompanied by a young boy of around seven years - the same age Satoshi had been when Quan Chi invaded the village.
Hanzō's blood boiled as the thought of his son's murder returned to his mind, as it now regularly did. Even without another weapon, Hanzō leapt into the fray, swinging his ropedart around with enough fervour and deadly precision to remind all the realms why Hasashi Hanzō had been the deadliest member of the old Shirai Ryu, even before he acquired his hellspawn powers. The kunai slashed and pierced and dragged the intruders all about the place, leaving the long, dry grass quenched with the blood of Scorpion's enemies.
It took only a minute for the near dozen mercenaries to lie dead at Hanzō's feet. He centred himself, allowing the bloodlust to subside before he approached Kenshi. Despite his young age, the boy threw himself over his father' body to protect him. Hanzō stopped his advance and lowered his mask and hood.
"It's okay, child. I'm not going to hurt you. Is Kenshi your father?"
The boy seemed surprised to hear this stranger use his father's name. He nodded silently.
"I am a friend of your father's. I'm sure he brought you here for that very reason. Come. Help me get him inside so we can get him patched up."
Although hesitant, the boy did as he was bidden. Although, given his size, there was little he could actually do to help Hanzō carry his father. Rather, it was Yukiko that helped carry the injured swordsman inside. Hanzō had his initiates search and dispose of the bodies, prepare medicine and bandages for Kenshi, and bring food for the boy.
It took over a full day for Kenshi to recover, and the boy barely said a word until his father regained consciousness. Once he was able to speak again, Kenshi agreed to explain the situation to Hanzō.
"Do you have somewhere Takeda can wait for a while?" he asked quietly. "I don't want him to hear this."
"Of course. Yukiko. I'm sure our young guest could do with a bath after the long trek here."
"Right away, Grandmaster. This way, please."
The boy looked to his father.
"It's alright, Takeda. We're safe here."
Without much further prompting, the boy accompanied the woman out of the room.
"I'm sure your first question is, why were we being pursued by Red Dragon mercenaries?"
"It's as good a place to start as any."
"Well, you know how I joined the O.I.A. properly after the battle in Edenia."
"I hear Johnny Cage had a part in it."
"It's a little embarrassing to admit, but he made a surprisingly strong pitch. Anyway, before our mission in the Netherrealm, I was working as a mole inside the Red Dragon. We got some good intel, but my cover was blown after a few months. Lieutenant General Blade relocated Takeda and his mother, Suchin, and we hoped that would be the end of it. And it seemed to be for a while. But when I came back from the mission last week, I found our home ransacked. Suchin was dead, but she took about a dozen of those bastards with her first."
Kenshi took a moment to collect himself before continuing. "Suchin was smart. She'd known something was coming and sent Takeda away. The neighbours helped me find him in the next town over. There aren't many other places I could take him that I knew were secure, so I brought him here."
"I see. Well, whatever your reasons, the two of you will be safe here. That is a vow from the Shirai Ryu."
"Thank you, Hanzō."
After a moment of silence, Hanzō asked, "Takeda, is it?"
"Yes. His mother chose the name. Why?"
"Just an amusing coincidence. But why bring the boy here? Sub-Zero has returned to the Lin Kuei as its grandmaster. You and he have far more of a rapport than you and I. And the Lin Kuei temple is far more difficult for invaders to reach than this place."
"That is true, but I believe it is what his mother would have wanted."
"How so?"
"Suchin was a member of the old Shirai Ryu."
"What?"
"I don't know for how long, but she never made much of a name for herself, from what I can tell. I think she mentioned being away on a mission at the time the clan was wiped out, but she never elaborated on that. She didn't say a whole lot about her time in the clan in general, but she took a lot of pride in it.
"She was... unique." A wistful smile crept across Kenshi's lips. "You should have seen her the day we settled on a name for our son. She'd already decided that she would train our child in the Shirai Ryu's ways so they could defend themselves in our increasingly fragile and dangerous world, but she wanted to honour the Shirai Ryu in other ways too.
"All of her early suggestions were Thai, combining that with my surname to represent both sides of his heritage. But once I started suggesting Japanese names for him... her little face just lit up as she realised that, because of his heritage, she had the perfect excuse to name him 'Takeda', after Kasamasa Takeda. She thought he could be a living legacy of the Shirai Ryu. I don't think she ever knew that you still walked the mortal worlds. And I kept the clan's brief revival from her to spare her the pain."
"You have my thanks. Though I did not know her, it would pain me to know a Shirai Ryu suffered due to my actions."
"I think she would have been proud to know the clan lived on through you, and that the fate of the clan held so large a place in your heart. Undead revival notwithstanding, of course."
"You mentioned she planned to train him in the Shirai Ryu's ways?"
"Yes. She'd already begun long before her passing."
"Then your bringing him here was partially strategic - to have me pick up where Suchin left off, rather than have him start fresh under Sub-Zero."
"That's right. Takeda needs to be able to defend himself, and this is objectively the best place for him to learn how while I complete my task."
"Vengeance," Hanzō said knowingly.
"Partially, yes."
"I have been down this road myself, Kenshi. Revenge is a toxic, all-consuming bile that is not so easily expunged once you've allowed yourself to become immersed in its depths. Most men drown in it."
"I am well aware. But this is not simple vengeance that drives me. It is the honour of my family, and the protection of my son that matter most. So long as the Red Dragon remains a threat, Takeda will never be safe in this world. They will always come for me and for him. This way, I can be sure he'll be kept safe until either I remove Daegon's head from his shoulders, or Takeda can do it."
"I do not agree with your decision... but I can respect it. As I said, so long as either you or the boy are in Shirai Ryu territory, you will be kept safe. And if you insist on pursuing this path against my advice, I can at least see to it that you're in good health before you go. That is my one condition. Attempt to leave before then, and the boy will be left in the wilderness to make his own way."
"You wouldn't."
"I also wouldn't leave my son with strangers while I left on a revenge quest, but injustice can often only be deterred by the threat of a graver injustice."
"Heh. You're a real devil, Hanzō."
Hanzō said nothing in response. Harumi had said the same to him, and he was beginning to wonder just how true that was becoming. "For now, get some rest. That is the first step to recovery, and the sooner you do, the sooner you can return with Daegon's blood on your blade."
"Of course. Thank you again, Hanzō."
Hanzō stood. "I will leave the boy in Yukiko's care for the time being. I have business elsewhere that needs attending to."
"I can accept that. She seems nice enough. But may I ask what business is urgent enough to pull you away right now?"
"Sub-Zero..."
This started as the opening background for the next story I'm planning, but I went too in-depth in depicting the MKX Chapter 1 portion and realised this would need to be its own story. It worked out for the best because this is a key part of Scorpion's arc through MKK and I shouldn't skim over it.
Also, I thought I didn't enjoy writing fight scenes, but I've been writing quite a few lately. What happened?
