Arctika was a place shrouded in an ungodly cold. Even being frozen by Sub-Zero never felt this cold. Hanzō had to wonder if some ice god watched over the place, protecting the domain of one of the last descendants of the otherwise long-dead Cryomancer race of Outworld. He'd never heard of such a god, but he knew there was a God of Chaos worshiped in the Netherrealm, so a far less abstract element having a dedicated god hardly seemed beyond the realm of possibility.

But none of that mattered. Enduring this biting frigidness was one final penance Hanzō knew he must endure as he approached the Lin Kuei temple. A month had passed since Sub-Zero had been restored from his revenant corruption. A month since he had returned to his place with his reincarnated Lin Kuei. A month that was surely time enough for him to have recovered sufficiently for a visit from his former nemesis.

Hanzō was noticed by Lin Kuei sentries as he approached, his bright yellow uniform, while partially obscured by beige furs to help him endure the cold, still popped out against the swirling white mists of the deadly snowstorm raging around him. Upon seeing her opening the gate to welcome him in, Hanzō wondered if Sareena, the interim grandmaster and a former Netherrealm demon, had been forced to endure this same assault on her body when she had first made her way to the temple to make peace with Kuai Liang.

Perhaps sympathising with him there, Sareena offered Hanzō a cloak to drape over himself. Even now, almost two decades past the annihilation of the old Shirai Ryu and the rebirth of the Lin Kuei, it still felt... sacrilegious for Hanzō to adorn himself in this blue cloak marked with the Lin Kuei's centuries-old symbol. It was an outdated notion, but not one easily shaken, even with Hanzō's current, more wizened mindset.

Still, he accepted the cloak gratefully and allowed Sareena to guide him through the temple. Decades ago, his presence here would have been met by far more than simple apprehension. In fact, on his end, his presence would have brought with it a sense of anticipation, excitement, and a growing sense of impending relief as he stalked his way towards the grandmaster's chambers to slit his throat. Of course, he still felt a powerful sense of anticipation, but it was altogether different than what the old Hanzō would have felt.

Sareena asked nothing of Hanzō's intent or purpose for being here. No doubt, she had also seen the parallels between their respective treks and concluded that his intentions were pure. He contemplated chastising her for not checking that he wasn't a shapeshifting sorcerer before inviting him in, but after her untold years of serving Quan Chi, she likely knew a way to suss them out - or at least had strong enough instincts to be able to identify him as the real Hasashi Hanzō.

Sub-Zero's chamber awaited up numerous flights of stairs, each floor denoted by a slight shift in the uniforms of the initiates they passed - full blue on the lower levels, a black and blue above them, and a wider range of colours above those. It made sense to position the more experienced members literally above their underclassmen, and closer to the grandmaster in case of emergency.

He also noted that Sareena, even after a few years spent as interim grandmaster, still retained the same black and blue she bore back before Sub-Zero's death in Edenia. There was much that could be gleaned from this seemingly insignificant detail, but Hanzō felt it best to leave the matter between herself and her grandmaster.

Sareena came to a halt outside Sub-Zero's quarters, a set of double doors guarded by a pair of the upper echelon members, each armed with not only a sword, but a sidearm as well. From what Hanzō could tell, the Lin Kuei had, technologically speaking, regressed a few hundred years since Kuai Liang took over from Sektor. Of course, given what technological advancement had done to the old Lin Kuei, to Sub-Zero's best friend, and the hell the runaway had been forced to endure back in the '90's because of it all, it was doubtful anyone would hold such a decision against the man.

But after the thrashing the comparatively underequipped Lin Kuei had taken from the ever-upgrading Tekunin back in Edenia (and presumably back in Earthrealm since), it seemed that one of the two grandmasters had elected to cast aside this doctrine and accept the necessity of matching Sektor's arsenal, if at a slower and more controlled pace than that which had destroyed the old Lin Kuei.

"He's right through here," Sareena stated, rather obviously, bringing Hanzō back to the moment. "He isn't back to his full strength yet, and I'd appreciate it if you could keep discussion of his time as a revenant to a minimum."

"I understand," he acquiesced with a bow. No further words were needed, of course. She knew he understood the desire to not look back on one's time as slave, be it to a puppet master or one's own rage. She simply nodded and indicated for him to head inside while she waited outside with the two guards.

Pushing through the two doors, Hanzō was met by a new frigid wind, as if cold were a force with a quantifiable mass that was desperate to escape such a confined space. Hanzō had never truly considered the living conditions of either Sub-Zero before, but finding the bedroom of one of them - significantly more powerful now than he had been when he had first met Hanzō, even without the Dragon Medallion adorning his clothes - to feel like a walk-in freezer certainly made sense.

In a way, it was good as it would make attackers reluctant to risk entering, lest the chattering of their teeth give away their position. Conversely, however, it no doubt made him unapproachable to those not attuned to the cold. Even with so many supporters, Kuai Liang's life seemed... for lack of a better term, cold.

What struck Hanzō the most, though, was that he could, in a sense, recognise the intent behind this coldness. He had fought Sub-Zeroes so many times by now that he could recognise certain tells from the temperature of the air around them. It would take some time for him to adjust his internal thermometer in each new encounter as the brothers consistently grew more powerful between clashes, but Hanzō was always quick to acclimate.

Frustration was a common cause of a temperature drop. Even when he came armed with hellfire, Hanzō could feel a temperature drop whenever he gained the upper hand. It was this kind of drop that he was experiencing now. At a guess, Kuai Liang had overheard Sareena's comments through the doors and felt that she was treating him like some kind of invalid, while he felt he was far more recovered than she believed. Either way, Hanzō opted to err on the side of caution and do as she had bidden until he could attain his own perspective on the matter.

"Kuai Liang," he greeted with a respectful bow.

"Your tone is as soft as Sareena's."

Yes. Definitely frustrated. Kuai Liang rose from his bed and stepped closer, to his visitor. He bowed just as respectfully and Hanzō felt unworthy of such respect.

"And you look to be in no shorter a supply of guilt," he sighed. "Will you come with me for a while? I have somewhere I want to visit. And I think we could both use some fresh air."

Hanzō nodded and followed Sub-Zero through the window to the courtyard below. Clearly, he was pretty much fully recovered, physically. He led Hanzō easily through the cold exterior of the temple, the burning torches and sconces they passed providing brief respite from the cold around them. The journey was brief, ending as the two passed through a pair of double doors into a chamber that was completely deserted. Once the doors were closed behind them the only sounds to be heard were the crackling of the wall-mounted torches and the now seemingly distance whipping of the chill wind outside.

The chamber was akin to a chapel of some sort. At the far end, inside a large alcove, stood a statue of a robed woman, her eyes covered by a veil and measuring three times the size of the two men. Hanzō knew this place was once a temple, so he supposed this woman must be whomever the temple was originally built in honour of. But she wasn't one of the Elder Gods - Hanzō had seen all of them in person. A Lesser God, perhaps?

"This temple was built in honour of the Edenian seeress, Delia," Sub-Zero explained, having evidently noticed Hanzō's inquisitive stare.

"Delia. The one who foresaw Armageddon."

"Indeed. One of her sons, Taven, came through here around that time to claim the artefacts she had left for him to complete his quest."

Hanzō remained silent, once more overcome with guilt for his attempt to slay the demi-god.

Whether he noticed or not, Sub-Zero continued unimpeded. "The temple had been long abandoned by the time I came across it. I didn't know to whom the temple was dedicated, but this chamber was clearly a place of worship for her followers."

"Why would an Edenian seeress be worshiped in Earthrealm?"

"It is difficult to say. Knowledge of other realms was scarce in Earthrealm until Shao Kahn's invasion."

"Perhaps her visions were used to help the people of Earthrealm before Edenia's annexation?"

"Perhaps so. Either way, we would need to speak with an Edenian who was alive at the time to know for sure. But, to get back on-track, this chamber felt like the ideal place to erect our shrine." Sub-Zero walked closer to the statue, Hanzō following close behind.

The statue's hands were held out, palms up and fingers tilted down, two marble tablets positioned below her hands as if she were indicating towards them herself. Both tablets bore long lists of names, the one to Delia's right being by far the longer of the two. Looking over them, Hanzō recognised no names on the one to his own right, but the other bore a few he did.

"The dead of the two Lin Kuei's?"

Kuai Liang nodded. "The left one has only a few more names to add to reach completion. The right... will hopefully take far longer to complete."

It took Hanzō a while to find Bi-Han's name, towards the bottom, not near the top as he had expected. This seemed to have been set up in chronological order, making clear Kuai Liang's deep knowledge of the clan's centuries-long history. As such, future generations could expect to find Kuai Liang, Cyrax, Smoke and Sektor at the very bottom, assuming Sektor had any place on here in light of his self-destructive ambition.

"Kasamasa Takeda..."

"The founder of the Shirai Ryu, yes."

"I am honoured you think him worthy to be honoured so."

"He was once a loyal Lin Kuei. Regardless of my or anyone else's personal feelings on the matter, he is a part of our clan's history and should be remembered as such."

"I am surprised his membership in the Lin Kuei is even known by your generation of Lin Kuei."

"Few specifics remain, I'm afraid. He is said to have been a Lin Kuei who fled with the clan's secrets to form a rival faction, before being hunted down and killed by Sektor's ancestor. He was used as an example of what becomes of traitors."

"Sektor's ancestor?"

"Yes. It has long been used by members of his family to support their push for the role of grandmaster. It is how his father earned the position as the penultimate grandmaster."

"Yes, but Sektor's? That is not how the Shirai Ryu know the tale to go."

Sub-Zero cocked an eyebrow Hanzō's way. "The Shirai Ryu have a different take?"

"We do. And, I mean no offence, but I am more inclined to believe our version that one that emboldens Sektor."

"That is not an unfair assessment. But please, I would like to hear this other version, if you would be so kind."

"Of course. But first, I would like to pay my respects to the fallen. We have a similar shrine of our own and it only feels right that I pray for the Lin Kuei's souls as well."

Sub-Zero cracked a rare smile. "Thank you, Hanzō. I will prepare some tea in the meantime."

Hanzō, in spite of... everything that had been overwhelming him since he had entered the temple, couldn't help but smile in turn. "It seems our clans really do share a deep culture."

Kuai Liang chuckled. "So it would seem. I would actually like to visit the Shirai Ryu's new temple myself, if that would be okay with you."

"O-Of course. You're always welcome. As are all of your followers."

"And yours are welcome here."

Silence fell as Hanzō began his prayer. The sounds of fire and ice were now joined by the stirring and pouring of tea as Sub-Zero poured two cups on a nearby table. By the time Hanzō's prayers were finished, he found Sub-Zero waiting at the table with the two cups. Hanzō crossed the chamber and knelt across from Sub-Zero where his cup had been placed. Hanzō picked it up, lifted it to his lips, hesitated, and lowered it back down to the table.

"What's wrong, Hanzō?" Kuai Liang asked, his even tone refusing to betray if he was concerned or if he knew what his Shirai Ryu counterpart was going to say.

"I mean no disrespect. You have earned nothing but the utmost respect through your wisdom and your kindness. But I am undeserving of such."

"What makes you think so?" Despite Hanzō's refusal to drink, Kuai Liang casually took sips of his own tea as he waited patiently for Hanzō to explain himself. Hanzō felt like he was being scolded by his late father.

"We have seen little of each other in the last decade. Our interactions since have been brief, thanks to various circumstances. But our last substantial meeting was-"

"Edenia. During Shinnok's invasion. While you were fighting for him and Quan Chi."

"For my family and clan," Hanzō insisted defensively.

"Of course, my apologies. When you were fighting for your family and clan, due to the manipulations of Shinnok and Quan Chi."

"Yes," Hanzō replied, calming himself down. "Quan Chi manipulated me, made you the target of my vengeance when, once again, you had done me no ill. And I allowed his lies to blind me, to stoke the flames of my rage and-"

"Hanzō, stop."

Despite the emotions burning within him, Hanzō managed to get himself under control enough to listen.

"I understand that that whole affair is not something you look back on proudly. You feel terrible about how Quan Chi manipulated you, and yes, you should. But consider what you did after: you hounded the one responsible for years, you fought to preserve the existence of the realms, you killed Quan Chi in Edenia, fought to defend Earthrealm in its darkest hour... and then, while I myself was bound by Quan Chi's manipulations, you fought to save me from that cursed existence. All things considered, I hardly think a single beating can outweigh all the good you've done since."

"You might not-"

Sub-Zero let out a deep sigh that dropped the temperature of the chamber considerably. One of the torches even lost out to the chill. "Fine."

He placed his cup down as Hanzō had and stood up, motioning for him to do the same. The very instant Hanzō's legs were straightened, Kuai Liang threw his icy fist into Hanzō's nose with surprising swiftness, busting it open and sending him sprawling across the ground.

"Are you happy now?" Sub-Zero asked, frustrated. He sighed after Hanzō croaked out a negative response. He stomped on his chest, as Hanzō had done to his in their previous clash. "Now?" Hanzō finally nodded and Kuai Liang helped his former enemy to his feet and guided him back to the table. "I admit, I did suspect something like this might happen. Though I never expected such stubborn insistence. Now drink up. The tea should help heal your wounds."

Hanzō was surprised to find that the tea did seem to dull the pain, and his nose stopped bleeding sooner than he expected. With a few tissues provided by his host, Hanzō managed to clean up most of the blood before Kuai Liang spoke again.

"Now, I believe we were about to discuss the Shirai Ryu's perspective on the fate of Kasamasa Takeda?"


Yes, well, I supposed it's best to go all the way back to the beginning.

Kasamasa Takeda was born amidst Japan's turbulent Sengoku Era. Regional warlords vied for power and plunged the country into a century and a half of near-constant civil war. His family fled to China when he was young to escape it all. Back then, as I'm sure you know, the Lin Kuei were in the habit of abducting children to recruit into the clan. Takeda was one such child.

From the age of six, he learned the ways of the Lin Kuei assassin. The result was one of the finest warriors the clan had ever produced. Alongside him, another young warrior stood out from the rest - a young man with the unusual power to manipulate the cold.

A cryomancer?

Supposedly.

That is strange. My family has only been a part of the Lin Kuei for four generations...

Perhaps not. This ice-wielder went by the codename 'Ice'. He and Takeda had an intense rivalry that quickly grew into respect and eventually friendship. Both men served the clan into their thirties and both started families, which was allowed by the Lin Kuei back then.

After the Tokugawa Shogunate took control of Japan in 1600, Takeda began to grow disillusioned with the constant killing. He left the Lin Kuei five years later and took his pregnant wife, Kana, with him as he fled to the now peaceful Japan. Naturally, the clan dispatched their top assassin to prevent his escape.

Ice...

Yes. But what the Lin Kuei leadership did not anticipate was that the two's friendship went far deeper than clan loyalty. Ice tracked the Kasamasas down easily, slowed as they were by Kana's pregnancy. But Ice could relate to his friend's desire to keep his wife and unborn son safe. He allowed the two safe passage, so long as Takeda proved his dedication to his new life by offering up a piece of himself. Without hesitation, he allowed his friend to take his left hand as 'evidence' of his demise.

After that, things went well for both men. Kana gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Jubei, and she would become pregnant with their daughter Emiko a decade later. During that time, Takeda, under a new name, used his Lin Kuei skills to establish the Shirai Ryu, partly as a way to help destitute peasants in his home province to recover from the wars that had ravaged their lands and claimed the lives of many of their families.

Not too dissimilar to the NEW Shirai Ryu, I see.

Yes... Back in China, Ice welcomed his own daughter into the world. Both clans grew and eventually began to come into contact. It began, supposedly, when the Lin Kuei were hired by a Japanese noble to assassinate a rival, who hired the protection of the Shirai Ryu. Most of the Lin Kuei dispatched returned to China to report the slaying of their fellows and the war between Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu began.

The conflict was at a stalemate until 1617. A disgraced member of the Shirai Ryu saw an opportunity and sold out the clan to a Lin Kuei raiding party. Word was sent back to the Lin Kuei Grandmaster, who was, needless to say, displeased with Ice's deception. He offered lenience for him and his family on one condition: he must travel to Japan and kill Takeda and his family. Of course, threats against Ice's life were difficult to back up, given his power and skill, so the threat was instead made against his wife, his daughter, and his sister.

Ice acquiesced, traveling to Takeda's mansion with help from the turncoat. Takeda was away at the time, meeting with the local lord to inquire about further service. Upon his return, he found his home and the surrounding area covered in a firm layer of frost, in spite of Japan's intense mid-July heat.

At the door, he found Kana's frozen body, slumped and on her knees, the sword Takeda had forged for her to use in their family's defence shattered on the ground. Inside, he found the body of his son, his throat slit with the dagger his father had given him only a month prior on his twelfth birthday. His daughter was missing and he assumed that Ice had taken her to lure him out.

He searched the area and found his old friend, no baby in sight. Supposedly, Ice did not use his powers in their duel. Takeda was a master swordsman who would likely have won their duel, were it not for the handicap of his missing hand. Some retellings claim he had attached a blade to the stump, but this has never been verified, only imitated by later amputees in the clan.

Either way, the duel was alleged to have been a mostly fair bout, in which Ice emerged victorious by running Takeda through with his dao. Most retellings claim that Ice held Takeda's body in his arms as he died, crying ice-cold tears over what he had been forced to do. This isn't difficult to believe, given that Ice then left the Lin Kuei himself soon after, fleeing with his wife and children to parts unknown.

And what of the girl?

Takeda and Kana had planned for enemy attacks. A small crawlspace beneath the floorboards was set up during construction - ostensibly to hide weapons and valuables, but it was the ideal spot to hide baby Emiko. Jubei had been guarding that spot, under the guide of being hidden himself by his mother. Even at twelve years, he had faced down a deadly foe and successfully protected his sister with his life.

When other members of the clan found the aftermath of the attack, Emiko was quickly found and recovered by Takeda's right-hand man, Park Yong, a Korean prisoner brought to Japan towards the end of Japan's war with Korea and released by Takeda. Park became the new clan head, arranging a marriage between Emiko and his son, Park Tsui. The two later succeeded Park Yong after he was disembowelled by a Lin Kuei assassin - supposedly the same man that sold out Takeda and his family a decade earlier. The two survivors declared war on the Lin Kuei and changed the clan's uniforms into a mockery of the Lin Kuei's...


"Interesting." Sub-Zero's hand was on his chin contemplatively. "The version in the Lin Kuei archive posits that Sektor's ancestor assassinated Takeda and earned enough esteem to become the next grandmaster and secure a strong foothold for many of his descendants to do the same."

Hanzō pondered this alternative take. "...Was this ancestor Chinese, or Japanese?"

"I'm not sure. Nothing of that nature is documented."

"I see... Well, regardless, that is as far as Takeda's story goes. What became of Ice and his family afterward remains a mystery to this day."

"Perhaps not. Cyromancers are a rarity in this day and age. The only known wielders of ice are myself, Bi-Han and Frost. It isn't an unreasonable assumption to make, given our connection to the Lin Kuei, that we could be descendants of Ice ourselves."

"That would make sense... How did your family come to be a part of the Lin Kuei?"

"Following the discovery of Takeda's survival, the Lin Kuei largely forbade its members from starting families. Mine was one of the rare exemptions."

"No doubt, they wanted to cultivate your power and keep it as an asset for as long as possible."

"Most likely, yes. Three generations ago, my great-grandfather and his twin brother were abducted from their family once the Lin Kuei heard about a pair of young boys with the power to control ice. They took the boys away and their parents are not mentioned again, most likely killed in the process of abduction. The boys were trained as Lin Kuei, adopting the names 'Frostbite' and 'Tundra'.

"Frostbite's son, my grandfather, was the first Sub-Zero. He passed it on to his son, who served as a Lin Kuei sleeper agent in America. He married and had Bi-Han, myself and a daughter while operating over there. When called back to the Lin Kuei, he brought Bi-Han and me with him."

"I had no idea you had a sister."

"We didn't know her for long. At the time, I was five years old and Bi-Han was six. She was younger, around three. We were practically made to forget about her and our mother as we grew. I barely remember their names or faces now."

"I would ask why your sister wasn't brought along with you, but I suppose she was likely too young to have manifested any cryomancy by then."

"Most likely. It is entirely possible that she manifested that power... later in life..."

"What is it?"

"It... is likely nothing. Just something I need to look into later."

"I see. Well, I can piece together the rest: you and Bi-Han were brought to the Lin Kuei, Bi-Han inherited the Sub-Zero mantle while you took up your great-great-uncle's name Tundra, and you inherited the Sub-Zero name after I... killed Bi-Han."

"That is about the full story, yes. It does seem likely that the Lin Kuei either found Ice's descendants and brought his bloodline back into the clan, or found another family that they believed had ties to him due to the power they exhibited, and brought them into the fold for the same reason."

"Laying this whole story out like this has me wondering: the Dragon Medallion has been the symbol of the grandmaster for as long as you can remember, correct?"

"Yes?"

"And it boosts your powers and it did Frost's as well, since they're the same. But can it boost other powers, or only cryomancy? If the latter, then where did it come from?"

"I'm hesitant to test it with others, especially after Frost submitted to her desire for power around it. But you do raise some intriguing questions. It is possible that it originally belonged to Ice before his death; it could even be a Cryomancer artefact. But I doubt much will be resolved by speculating. I will need to look into it, along with the other matter. Still, this discussion has been enlightening. I am ashamed to admit that I hadn't considered the possibility of propaganda tainting the historical records of the clan before now. While there may be some Shirai Ryu bias, I feel inclined to trust your version over any influenced by Sektor."

"It may well be that neither version is entirely correct. Or that both are entirely fabricated. A more thorough examination of historical records on both sides may be in order to reach the correct conclusion."

"Quite so. Still, I feel that this exploration of our clans' shared history has drawn them closer together."

Hanzō nodded in spite of himself. "Yes. This honesty and openness are... something I think both our clans have long needed."

"Indeed. The Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu are dead. Our clans may continue the names and iconography, but they are entirely new entities, completely removed from the goals and dynamics of the old. There is no reason for them to inherit the old rivalries, especially when the two grandmasters have long since moved on."

"You say 'long since'-"

"We all slip on our paths to enlightenment, Hanzō. Only those who recognise such and hold the perseverance to push forward regardless are wise enough to reach the end of the path. Each time you have slipped, you have found your way back onto the path and worked to redeem yourself for your stumbles. Your fatal flaw is not an inability to learn or a susceptibility to straying; rather, it is your inability to recognise your successful redemptions. You place greater stock in a fight with me from years ago than you do in your key role in my restoration only a month ago. That self-doubt is the final manipulation of Quan Chi, and you must put it down if you are to be truly free of his influence."

Hanzō chuckled. "Sometimes, I forget that you are younger than Bi-Han and I."

"It is a wisdom we both share. You simply have yet to recognise it within yourself. And I am more than willing to help you do so."

Kuai Liang rose to his feet and formed a dagger of ice in his hand. Using the blade, he cut open his palm as Hanzō rose to his own feet. He held out the blade for Hanzō to take. Hanzō pushed the blade aside with two fingers before drawing the one blade he had brought on his journey: his rope dart. Using the sharp edge of the kunai, he cut open his hand in the spot this very weapon had once been able to shoot out of his body. The two grandmasters clasped their bleeding hands together, their intermingling blood dripping down onto the table between them.

"From this day forth, the Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu are brothers," Sub-Zero declared.

"Where one requires aid, the other will be there to provide it," Scorpion asserted.

"When Earthrealm is in danger, both clans will move as one in its defence."

"And should one fall, the other will be a home for those that remain."

"I'm glad to see we're on the same page here, Hanzō," Sub-Zero smiled. "Now then... tell me about this Tarantula..."


This is one I've had planned for a long time. The idea of taking every version of Scorpion and Sub-Zero's backstories outside of the original one established by MK Mythologies and amalgamating them for Takeda's story actually predates MK 2021, which took influence from Legacy. Naturally, I sourced a few specific details from 2021 too. I wonder if anyone can identify the source of every detail I drew on here.