Sub Zero gawked at the sight before him. The younger Bi Han was still completely oblivious to him and giving a distant stare his baby self. The shadow is what disturbed Sub Zero the most. It wasn't merely long cast; it had muscles, armour, different clothing. It was what the boy was meant to become.
"Bi Han..." Sub Zero touched the child's arm.
The child slowly turned his head towards Sub Zero. His eyes were a brilliant blue, just as Bi Han's were. They looked so distant and detached. Suddenly someone grabbed Sub Zero's arm! It was the boy's fully grown shadow, featureless except for it's outline. It gripped Sub Zero's arm like it was the boy's guardian.
Leave! The shadow snapped.
Suddenly everything went black, or Sub Zero became blind momentarily. Either way, when it subsided the shadow, the boy, and the baby were gone, having moved off into the distance. Sub Zero ran after them.
"Wait!" He pleaded.
As he ran the cries from the blurry cradles grew in intensity and numbers. As Sub Zero ran he noticed two things; the boy and the shadow. Bi Han's young form looked more distressed, with a frown on his face. The shadow became three dimensional. Sub Zero was inches away when the world went black again, and in that instant he heard someone demand "Go!"
Once again the trio had moved, and Sub Zero kept running. The events around him began shifting. Now blurry images and muffled sounds of what must've been fighting children surrounded Sub Zero as he ran. He noticed one image of a child, thoroughly thrashing the others. That child had a shadow, not unlike the one he was chasing. Sub Zero almost reached the trio once again; young Bi Han was sobbing into his hands now and the shadow had fine details like armour indentations, and a mask.
Lost!
Once again everything went black and they moved. Sub Zero could only keep running. He now had an ocean of images around him; children, teenagers, men. They were fighting, sleeping, interacting, and in every group one had a shadow accompanying it. Sub Zero lost count of how many there were.
"Stop running!" Sub Zero demanded.
Bi Han was now on his knees, clawing at his head and weeping. The shadow charged Sub Zero suddenly.
"Come on!" Sub Zero challenged.
The two of them clashed, stopping each other. Sub Zero grunted as he put his weight against the shadow being. Just then, eyes appeared on it's face. Pale, dead eyes.
"You!" Sub Zero exclaimed.
Me...Saibot answered.
The shadows accompanying the silhouettes of the children, teens, and adults started abandoning their counterparts. They began closing in on Sub Zero, starting to resemble Saibot.
Me, me, me, me!
Sub Zero managed to push Saibot off. The shadow demon didn't press the attack, it instead kept itself between Sub Zero and the younger Bi Han.
"How can you be here? Answer me!" Sub Zero demanded.
You're in my thoughts, my memories, my dreams, my mind. You can't get away from me.
"I am in Bi Han's memories,"
My memories. Saibot interjected snidely, almost snickering.
"You damned creature, even here you infect his memory!"
Saibot laughed condescendingly. It took a step back and crouched down to the young Bi Han. It rubbed the boy's head as he sobbed uncontrollably and pressed his hands into his head. Saibot stared cooly at Sub Zero while it did this.
I'm very in touch with my inner child, ha ha ha ha!
Sub Zero clenched his teeth and prepared to attack, but his intuition told him to turn. A gang of identical clones of Saibot were encircling him.
Kill!
The clones stepped to Sub Zero. Suddenly, a ray of light came down from above onto Sub Zero. The white limbo he was in before suddenly became pitch black, like an illusion had finally fallen away. Nightwolf's avatar appeared at Sub Zero's side.
"We need to leave!" Nightwolf warned.
Sub Zero could only see the eyes of the clones staring at him. He turned and could barely make out young Bi Han in the dark, his crying suddenly silenced. Saibot stood and approached the pair in the cone of light.
You aren't going anywhere!
Saibot stepped into the light but was suddenly burned, and slowed by an invisible barrier. Steam came off its body the longer it stayed in the light. Saibot must've screamed, but it echoed all around them. Saibot backed out into the darkness.
"Sub Zero, now! I can't keep it out forever." Nightwolf said.
"I can't stop now, I'm so close. Its the child, I need the child!" Sub Zero said.
Sub Zero moved to leave but Nightwolf grabbed him, making stop just short of crossing into the darkness. Saibot's eyes widened with anticipation.
Come on, come and get him...
Sub Zero grunted and moved out of Nightwolf's grip slightly, coming closer. Saibot suddenly plunged it's hand into the light cone, and grabbed Sub Zero's head. Sub Zero's mind was suddenly assaulted by feelings of anger, remorse, vengeance, and fear. Such an overwhelming sense of fear. Sub Zero fell and scooted backwards, breathless from the experience. Saibot stared at him as it slowly pulled it's hand back, ignoring the burning this time.
"Sub Zero, if you don't leave now this demon can potentially invade you as well. I'm sorry, we can't do anything more."
Sub Zero, very reluctantly, conceited. He stood and took Noghtwolf's hand. Nightwolf looked upwards into the light and they began levitating. Sub Zero looked down at Saibot and the clones staring at him, and then to young Bi Han.
"I will return for you brother. I promise." Sub Zero said.
I'll be seeing you soon...brother. Saibot said sardonically.
Sub Zero weakly opened his eyes. The displays reactivated in his visor, and his breathing reverberated inside his helmet. The slight whirring of the machinery assisting his limbs to move kicked up as he shifted. The green grass and cool breeze meant nothing to him again in this body.
"Nightwolf..." Sub Zero said groggily.
The shaman remained seated, collecting his thoughts. Blood dripped from one of his nostrils.
"Are you okay?" Sub Zero asked.
"That was quite the intervention. It took a lot out of me. I'll be fine." Nightwolf reassured.
Sub Zero nodded his head and noticed the ground where Noob's blood had been placed. The grass was dead and decayed.
"A piece of the demon, or whatever that thing is, was found even in there. I hadn't anticipated that. My apologies." Nightwolf said.
"Don't apologize. Is there anything we can do? I was so close, can I go back?"
"I wouldn't recommend it. For one you would need to acquire more blood, and I suspect that the demon is wary of you now. It may be waiting next time."
"That can't be it!"
Nightwolf sighed. He pulled a vial of water from his pocket, and then yanked some of the dead grass from the ground. He dropped the grass into the vial of water, then whispered an incantation into it. The grass whirled around in the water for a moment and then dissolved, turning the water grey. Nightwolf capped the vial and handed it to Sub Zero.
"This...is all I can offer you. Its a potion that will allow you to access Bi Han's mind, while he's conscious. You'll be going in with him. If he can be saved as you say, then he may keep the demon at bay himself. Return to him, force him to drink three quarters of this, then you drink the rest. Finish what you started then."
"Thank you Nightwolf, for all of this."
"Don't thank me yet. You only had the demon to deal with this time, the shadow. When you go in with Bi Han, if the master sides with the shadow, your safety is much less...guaranteed."
Sub Zero didn't know how to respond, so he saluted Nightwolf in the Lin Kuei manner and left. He tried to stay positive.
"At least I know where Bi Han is." He said to himself.
Sareena stood her ground despite her loss; the four Lin Kuei members, the four people that Smoke had confided in her to keep safe, were dead. All around her. They had scouted ahead of the army to ensure the coast was clear. The plains were close, and had nothing to indicate enemy presence. Sareena was certain things were finally getting better until each of the ninjas beneath her started dying.
One had his neck broken. Another had his guts ripped out, then another got his throat slashed. The last had his sword swiftly stolen and plunged into his back. All the while the assassin was never seen or heard, the perfect killer. Sareena focused and listened, waiting for the tiniest slip up...
The shifting of some pebbles was her answer. She ducked and turned, hearing the whoosh of something narrowly avoiding her head. She sliced outwards with her knife and hit flesh. She heard a pained growl and hiss and noticed green blood on her knife.
"Reptile..." She whispered to herself.
Reptile walked a few steps away and made himself visible. His picked at the wound on his thigh and eyed Sareena like a hungry predator. The sadistic glee of a hardened killer showed when he crouched down next to one of the dead Lin Kuei and removed his mask. Acidic drool dripped from his mouth and burned away at the corpse, defiling it.
"It makes the meal easier later." Reptile explained.
"You'll pay for this, I'll make sure of it." Sareena proclaimed, getting into a battle stance.
Reptile put his mask back on and touched his claws to the ground. He slowly dragged them along the rock, scratching the stone.
"Really? We'll see."
Tremor lumbered through the canyon, not in any particular rush. He could sense the foot travel of the army despite being several yards away. Mileena's plan didn't require him to wipe them all out, yet. He also wanted to test his tracker.
"When are you gonna catch up?" He shouted back, still walking.
Jade slowed her jog slightly in case some kind of attack was coming. None did.
"I could take a nap and still catch up to you before you leave, you're slower than a rock." Jade mocked.
Tremor stopped and finally turned to her.
"My fist is harder than one too." Tremor threatened.
"I think a different part of you is hard, especially for that illegitimate, freak of nature psycho Mileena!" Jade insulted.
Tremor's playful attitude shifted darkly. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and when they opened, Jade thought he looked fully awake for the first time.
"You, Kitana, and your friends will all die here. I'm gonna turn this entire mountain into your tombstone!