Disclaimer: Everything in the fic is owned by Midway.
For no confusion the entire story is written in Sub-Zero's POV.
I grunted in pain and frustration as I hauled the body of my frozen student over my shoulder once more. The craggy, uneven surface of the mountain I was scaling wasn't really making anything easier. My feet slipped from time to time or bumped into some big rock or got caught in a ditch, but it really didn't matter at this point in time. Not that it ever did, but under these hellish circumstances I really had nothing else to lose. I groaned, exhausted, my heaving breath seemingly making the burden feel even heavier. My entire body was sore and my mind was in a struggling wreckage. I looked down at the atmosphere below, Shang Tsung's palace off in the distance with a glowing green beam shooting into the heavens from the peak of the roof. I assumed it was the Soulnado that led to Shang Tsung's endless supply from the Heavens, as Raiden suggested the sorcerors were conspiring to create in order to set their partnership in stone.
His fist slugging across my jaw felt like I'd just been slapped by a bag of bricks. I coughed up more blood from the holes in my mask as I stumbled backwards groggily, my vision in a daze, this killer ache splintering away at my head. My eyes regained focus and the ninja spectre was running straight for me, those blank eyes locked on me. I leapt aside and tried to regain my defensive posture, and he threw that damned spear of his. I leaned backwards in an attempt to dodge while he took advantage of this distraction and burst out of sight in a cloud of fiery smoke. An instant later he reappeared behind me and kicked me so hard in the back of the head it nearly twisted. I cried out in agony as I dazily trudged in more blind footsteps, swinging harmless punches in futility. As soon as I was fully conscious once more he had his katana aiming for my heart, jabbing it forward as he yelled angrily. I quickly formed a Kori Blade and parried the attack, but he punched me across the face. A moment later his blade barely scraped my face, creating a nasty gash that would forever stay with me. I hollered, the excruciation searing through my face, as I tore off my now useless mask and threw it to the ground...
As I once more rested to regain my breath I had scaled the spiral of the mountain a little higher. I was definitely up there, but could still see some things pretty clearly. A huge swarm of Tarkatans had arrived to reinforce those slain as the heroes of Earthrealm raced to confront the Deadly Alliance. Occasionally small figures of a very bright white would ascend up the beam emanting from Shang Tsung's palace. A grim chill permeating the kinks in my spine told me that they were the heroes, perishing one by one. A few minutes later some of the Tarkatans lagging behind had spotted me up on this mountain, and pointed them out to the generals. They commanded a small squadron to follow me up here and kill me, but I wasn't that worried, for by the time they would catch up to me I was sure I would regain strength and beat the snot out of them. However, their attempt came in early vain. A humongous explosion of a holy essence destroyed the palace and wiped out everything alive in the fields beyond it. A violent tremor shook the mountain and I was flung against the wall. I released a dry moan of pain, the exhaustion in my back combined with the solid collision of the rocky mountain proving to sting badly.
The Lin Kuei were outraged. I was disgusted by their new method of turning men into machinery, and refused to take part of it. The Grandmaster demanded that I be assassinated, and each and every member sprung at me with every chance they got. It was really hard to fight them off, let alone the devastation of my entire clan turning on me like this. I felt intense regret in being forced to kill those I had once proudly fought beside, but I didn't really have any other choice. These ninjas of the same code, creed, and lifestyle as I, once idolizing me as a legend, were now desperate to get at my throat. As I continued my escape I caught a glimpse of the dehumanizing process; two Lin Kuei warriors once incredibly well-known and vital, Sektor and Cyrax, sacrificing their natural bodies to replace them with brainwashed gears and nuts and bolts, nothing more. What was so important to the Grandmaster of late which made him desire to change us in such a sick manner as this? Is it really a glorifying exchange to turn one's life around so cruelly?
A cave near the peak of the mountain welcomed me with safety and shelter. I let out a sigh of relief upon taking my first footsteps in the chilly housing; that in itself seemed to lift a great burden off my back. However, upon journeying further into the cave, I found very peculiar things... The inside of the cave was surrounded by ice... Snow draped the structures where cloth would normally lie, the floors were paved with ice and monuments from five generations of warriors sat in display among a collection of hallways... In the heart of this cave, an icy throne lay, and I found a group of coffins clad with a strange symbol in the center, and for some incomprehensible reason it felt very familiar... These people seemed to have had the ability of generating ice and other things related to the cold during their time of life, the same powers that I inherited naturally upon birth... Astonished and bewildered by this absolutely strange similarity, I scanned the rows of coffins for perhaps an empty one that would serve as a proper burying place for my unfortunate pupil...
Adrenaline coursed throughout my body. Breath played it's cruel game with me as I dashed as fast as I could throughout the living forest. The cyborg assassins were closing in. I never dared to look back once, remaining cautious only by sound of their attacks to know whether or not I was surely endangered. I made several ice clones of myself which would stop Sektor's missiles or Cyrax's nets. Soon, a bomb stopped in front of me, and I forced myself to quit running, instinctively manuevering throughout the foliage. I leapt by the trees and sprang off a single branch as another of Sektor's missiles soared in my direction. It whizzed past my foot at a seemingly impossible speed as the stream of smoke faded into the air accompanied by the scream of it's engine. A collossal explosion shattered the wood of various trees in that direction, and I braced myself for the impact...
Soon after laying my unfortunate comrade to rest, I began to search the other mysterious mementos that this cave seemingly had destined for me to find. Some cryptic symbols turned out to be the story of the origin of the Cryomancer, an apparent race that had, for as long as existence, harbored the skill of the cold. All along, I was convinced that I had always originated from Earthrealm, was a regular man with a supernatural gift... No, an entire race was now bound to my shoulders. There have been none found since Frost and my brother; and if that is true, then I am the last one left... I remember an enemy warrior who struggled with the same burden... Reptile, I believe... Though he dedicates his life's servitude to things that may be sadistic and sinister, and I contrast with the noble intention of peace and harmony for Earthrealm, near exctinction of your kind is always something I can sympathize with. I had wondered if he ever felt the same way, constantly fighting under the Outworld Emperor Shao Kahn, ever discovering if the same man who forced him to kill in his name also slaughtered his kin to genocidal numbers...
I made my way safely into a seperate direction of the forest some time until stopped by the third cyborg assassin - Smoke. I stopped in my tracks, staring in awe. The irony of the hypocrtical deeds he were about to perform due to his human will being stolen made my heart drop into my gut. As soon as he attacked I instinctively snapped into action. A door-like panel on his chest opened and a harpoon shot out. I manuever out of it's way and it latched into the mouth of a living tree. Regrettably I took this for granted and punched Smoke into the sky with all of my might. He came crashing down through three tree branches, then disappeared in a cloud of smoke as he had done when fighting enemies for the Lin Kuei. I got lost in thought over how Smoke could ever allow himself to be mutilated so when he reemerged from the ground behind me. I had formed an ice clone and leapt out of the way just in time, trapping him as I took my flight. No, I had no intention of harming my closest friend, even if he was permanently brainwashed to try and kill me...
As I kept looking on the other remnants of the Cryomancer civilization, thoughts raced through my mind. It seemed as if slowly, but surely, the world was plunging into peril. The Earthrealm Heroes were sure to be killed in that blast if not already taken by the Deadly Alliance as I had originally speculated. I could only hope that those two bastards were killed as well, but I was unsure... If they could kill Shao Kahn and Liu Kang, their combined powers must prove to be incredibly formidable. I would know, having my violent encounters with both sorcerors at seperate times... Shang Tsung may have been the target of which my brother failed to collect the bounty for, but Quan Chi was responsible for bringing the most misery to the Sub-Zero name. His cruel treachery in making my brother endanger the realms through opening it to Shinnok will no doubt remain one of the most shameful events in my mind, but still, he was an honorably man while he was still alive. I just wanted to always make sure that the same would never happen to me, that I wouldn't make mistakes and endanger the realms like he did...
No matter how far I ran Smoke was the closest of the three. He would always reappear in a cloud of smoke in some spot in front of me and attack, and I could only do my best to evade. Eventually he had me caught in a collection of trees gathered in a circle by a small, muddy creek, and I was forced to fight. He jumped forward and tried to kick me in the face, but I evaded and hit his back, causing him to hit the ground. Again he dismissed his faults by using his smoke transportation to get back on his feet and took a couple of swings at me. I ducked them all and shoved a palm strike up his chin, hard, causing him to stagger backwards and clutch the wound, rubbing it sorely. I released a furious battle cry as I jumped towards him and drop kicked him onto the ground. Smoke, angered, leapt to his feet and tried to dispatch me with various strikes, but I was prepared, and too much for him to handle. With remorse for our now broken friendship, I turned him around and disabled him by tearing out some wires in his back.
When my elder brother returned from his escapades of turning Quan Chi's conspiracy around and once again trapping Shinnok and his higher priest, he told me of a sensational feeling he experienced among one of the sorceror's personal assassins. A demon, by the name of Sareena. Upon sparing Sareena's life due to his being intrigued by her beauty, they aided one another in pursuit of the hellish sorceror and fallen god. Over time his affection grew, and his concern over guarding her became more important than his own life. Though this was forbidden to the Lin Kuei, it was always in the back of his mind, and I could tell by the way he would perform deeds in the morning that it still affected him. The Lin Kuei had reproached me for several activities a regular man would do any time of the year, but I was bound to them no longer. When the world was at peace the curiosity of a woman's touch hung in my mind... To be idolized, to be admired, to be cared for, to be important, to be... Loved, what was it like? How did it feel? Was there anyone of the kind at all who would be interested in me, an inhuman warrior departed from a shameful organization?
Quan Chi summoned a huge pile of green skulls underneath my feet, the mass of it skyrocketing into the air. The trembling of the unstable pile gnawed at my balance, but I kept my body focused and gradually leapt down each set of skulls. He tried to dispatch me by hauling fireballs my way, but I had dodged them, only to have them collide with the skull pyramid and further complicate it's descent. Soon I was near the last three steps of the skulls and I had leapt forward and kicked Quan Chi in the face just as he had shot a final fireball to completely destroy his earlier creation. He choked slightly and growled, wiping the blood from his lips and glaring coldly at me. I attempted another kick, but he smacked aside my foot and used his other arm to punch me in the forehead. I reeled back briefly, taking the blow in it's entirety, my determination stronger than my endurance. I persevered through Quan Chi's several attacks and managed to strike a well-placed chop to his neck before blasting his chest with my palms, knocking him face down onto the floor.
Upon surveying the rows of catacombs that my ancestors and their hereditary race, the seeming earliest corpses, lining all the way up to that of my father, were surrounded by miniature shrines within their coffins of their most valuable possesions, as well as honorary attire of the Lin Kuei and remnants of the Cryomancer culture. Futher inside this mountain's cave I discovered a set of armor pridefully placed on a shrine next to several sets of ceremonial garb that bore the same shade of blue as the Lin Kuei, yet the attire was unfamiliar. I assumed that these were the clothes of some kind of Cryomancer royalty, perhaps someone wealthy, like a nobleman? Or even the seasoned follower of their ways, a clergyman? Maybe involved in the culture government, a shaman, a politician? Whatever the case may be I was next to clueless. The walls of this chamber were gracefully lined in illustrations in the style of heiroglyphics, depicting the daily activities and festive rituals that the Cryomancers engaged in. This intriguing mystery now unveiled, accepting myself as it's sole witness, brought mixed thoughts and feelings to my soul. What did this all mean? Where do I belong in this?
I kicked the Dragon Medallion out of Sektor's hands and drove him off with a powerful backfist. The cyborg clenched his face in pain before retaliating with a roundhouse kick. I quickly dodged the attack by ducking before leaning in to strike Sektor in the gut. Again he was hit, and started swinging at me in fury, but to his misfortune I had managed to stop and evade these strikes. The Lin Kuei members, despite their savage treachery years ago, were cheering me on. I was deeply insulted and infuriated by this; such blind loyalty they held to a grandmaster of any kind that they would rather turn on their ally before risking their life was a disgusting concept, and I wanted no part in it. Sektor caught my attention by firing a missile, which I had managed to kick on the tip just in time for it to spring up into the air and explode harmlessly by the clouds. Sektor tried to hit me with a hook punch, yelling charismatically, but I was too much. I stopped his arm and twisted it once before kneeing him in the gut and unleashing a series of strikes to his neck and throat before dispatching him with a sweep kick. When I walked across the area to retrieve the Dragon Medallion from the patch on snow in which it was planted, Sektor had fled in defeat.
I began to put on this cobalt armor, the helmet's mask in the seeming design of marble. Draping the chain mail over my torso and sliding down my arms to their end, I wondered just how old this material was. It was very tough and protective, but seemed badly aged. As confusing as it was the matters at hand prevailed to raid my thoughts commonly in spite of the intriguing armor. I may be well protected in this state, but what of myself when it came to fighting? Surely, whatever threat had eliminated Shang Tsung's palace appeared to menace us all. The explosion was widespread, as if attempting to reach throughout Outworld in it's entirety, but failing to do so. I had to be as prepared as possible; no longer could I count on the aid of an ally. Of course, this was not the first time I had learned to place my trust carefully. The female Cryomancer who earlier attacked me, Frost, seemed hungry for the power of the Dragon Medallion. I could not blame her; it was not desire that I was immersed in upon recieving it, but a unique sense of duty, an urge to make an oath to use the medallion's powers for the best cause possible. Too often to individuals let powers like this go corrupt through the tranquility of their will, and take advantage of unfortunate, weaker people. I refuse to become one of those.