Chapter 7: Hunting Sektor
After Frost's training, Sub-Zero has made her his apprentice alongside Smoke. He originally thought about Cyrax as an apprentice rather than Smoke, but Cyrax turned it down, believing himself to be unworthy, given what has happened to him in the Old Era. While they are not perfect, they have grown from their past mistakes. Sub-Zero is at least pleased to have everyone back in the Lin Kuie except for his brother Bi-Han for his arrogance and betrayal to Quan Chi, and Sektor for dishonoring the Lin Kuie by wanting to replace them with cyborgs. He remains free. As a result of improving the timeline to ensure every hero would be alive and retain their memories and in certain people's case, keep their children. Because of this, villains such as Shao Kahn, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi and Sektor ran free but not without consequences of their own.
Frost was not even born at the time, and is aware of what happened before but is aware of the Lin Kuie's alliance with the Shirai Ryu, which Frost is fine with, unlike in the Old Era. Fortunately for them, Sektor does not remember anything from the Old Era up until his death during the time war. Sub-Zero swears to bring him to justice and kill him for what he has done to the Lin Kuie.
"As Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei, we must continue forward with our future for generations to come. Someday, a successor will rise. But our future is threatened with Sektor. He still remains in hiding, still aims to replace us with Cyber Lin Kuie. He has dishonored us. We cannot let that slide." Sub-Zero said.
"Grandmaster. What do you suggest we do?" Smoke asked.
"We must hunt him down and bring him in to answer for his crimes before giving him a suitable punishment. If all else fails, he must be killed to ensure Earthrealm's safety." Sub-Zero said.
"There is no replacing souls and free will. These Lin Kuie that were transformed involuntarily do not deserve to lose said souls and free will even through hypocritical convincing." Frost said.
"Indeed. Sektor and his father know nothing of the true Lin Kuie." Sub-Zero said.
"Do we know of Sektor's last known location?" Cyrax asked.
"Yes. One of my scouts has tracked Sektor to an abandoned temple and revived it in his favor. Thankfully he does not know where this temple is, thanks to our fighters and some of the stealth tech the Special Forces lended to us." Sub-Zero said.
"Should we call for backup just in case things go wrong?" Frost asked.
"I appreciate the idea, Frost. But we cannot at the moment. I have received word that Outworld has taken Edenia back and killed Shao Kahn. The Special Forces have returned home to rest after two long missions. It is best to respect their wishes." Sub-Zero said.
"I understand, Grandmaster Liang." Frost said. "When do we leave for the temple?"
"As soon as possible. Thankfully, the scouts has gotten good analysis on the temple and what we should do." Sub-Zero said. He brings out a drawing of what the temple looks like.
"I remember this. This is one of the temples from when the Lin Kuei was founded. Our former grandmaster ruled the place before he was killed." Smoke said.
"Taking the Cyber Lin Kuei for himself is not a wise move, given that he is just as dishonorable as the original grandmaster." Cyrax said.
"It does not make things any different from here. Regardless, he still shows a threat to Earthrealm." Frost said.
"Here is what we should know." Sub-Zero brings out the drawing of the old temple. "From what the scouts have seen, it is not as big as this one. Sektor is there without a doubt. Despite being a cyborg, he still retains his personality, wanting to follow in his father's footsteps and make his wish come true. There are three entrances. Taking the front entrance is too risky. I would prefer that we keep casualties to a minimum from our clan. There are two other hidden entry points not as heavily guarded. Me and Frost can take one entry point."
"No one will see us coming." Frost said.
"The other entry point I shall leave to Smoke and Cyrax." Sub-Zero said and they nodded. "There has been word that Sektor is holding something valuable. He has traveled somewhere mysterious and we need to find out what he discovered and recover it."
"What do you think it could be?" Cyrax asked.
"I do not know. But whatever it is, it cannot be used in the wrong hands, especially in those metal hands of Sektor." Sub-Zero said.
"Otherwise, it would prove to be a threat to the Lin Kuie. Or worse, Earthrealm itself." Cyrax said.
"Yes. That is why we must stop him. We shall head out immediately." Sub-Zero said. The four of them bow their heads to each other before gathering their Lin Kuei clan to move out and stop their Cyber rivals from whatever they are planning.
Sub-Zero and the Lin Kuie begin their way to Sektor's factory to capture him and make him answer for his crimes. Since he is the only one who controls the Cyber Lin Kuie, if they kill him, then they could end the threat to them forever. It will not be an easy task, as Sektor has been killed once before and then resurrected from the past by Kronika. They have no idea what else Sektor could be planning. They spotted the temple and how well-guarded the place is.
"Remember the plan. We cannot afford to take the main entrance. Doing so will result in our capture and assimilation." Sub-Zero instructed and the other three nod.
"Taking the other entrances will be easier and shouldn't take up too much time. We don't want to get spotted." Frost said.
"That's why we have stealth on our side. We can take them out one by one." Smoke said. "We will have to be fast about it though like Frost said.
"Because Sektor is known for changing plans ahead of schedule." Sub-Zero said. "Let us hurry and find Sektor."
Sub-Zero and Frost head off in the west direction while Smoke and Cyrax go in the other direction. They are careful enough to know that the cyborgs, while not having wills of their own, are smart and can know trouble. Considering that the Cyber Lin Kuie knew how to easily find Sub-Zero in Outworld and capture him for assimilation, that makes them a big threat. However, thanks to the Special Forces lending them some of their stealth tech that Sonya and Alex provided, the Lin Kuie are well hidden so the cyborgs have no choice but to travel on foot to find them.
Sub-Zero and Frost hide behind cover as well as Cyrax and Smoke. They study their pattern and learn from them. The four of them take out one by one while maintaining their stealth. They made absolutely sure that there were no cyborgs left around before heading in and meet up. Frost stops and sees a map and Sektor's plans.
"This was the original grandmaster's home. I studied about it during my training." Frost said.
"Where do you think he's hiding?" Smoke asked.
"He's in the original throne room of the grandmaster where the Cyber Lin Kuie are being finalized." Frost said before she finds something. "It says here that Sektor has sent some of his to find something and bring it back. It has nothing to do with the Lin Kuei."
"That does not make sense. What would Sektor find that he could possibly deem useful to him?" Cyrax asked.
"Sektor can have his reasons. If it is something that benefits him, he will use that reason. There is no telling of whether this is aimed towards just us or not." Sub-Zero said.
"We can only hope that he isn't holding any surprises for us and lay down a trap." Smoke said.
"That is why he must not be allowed to escape. If he does, then we may need to turn to the Special Forces or Outworld in hopes of finding him. We all share common enemies as we had before." Sub-Zero said.
"It's now or never." Frost said.
"Agreed, Frost." Sub-Zero said.
The four as well as the Lin Kuie clan sneak from different directions without being spotted. On the way, they see four cyborgs carry a box. What's in it is anyone's guess.
"What is in that box?" Frost asked.
"I don't know. It looks unusual for someone like Sektor. We must follow and gather as much information as we can." Sub-Zero said.
The four follow the cyborgs quietly without triggering any alarms. As they do, they wonder what is in the box. It looks old and wooden instead of being part of advanced technology. Sektor is normally not interested in mystics and magic, but this is something new. The one thing that he is interested in is the Cyber Lin Kuei prevailing over their worst enemies, the Lin Kuei and the Shirai Ryu.
The four fighters slowly sneak into the throne room and hide behind pillars and remain unseen, where the cyborgs are being lined up and assembled like an actual military army. There seems to be more than dozens of them. Then they see Sektor walk out from behind a wall and stand before his cyborgs.
"My Cyber Lin Kuei. With the Lin Kuie on to us, we can no longer stay here. We must commit our contingency plans. I have received word that my partner is spying on the Red Dragon. It'll only be a matter of time before she abandons them, so we must act. My second plan will be ready in case I were to fall." Sektor said. The four cyborgs bring in the old box and lay it down. Sektor opens it and pulls out a book. It appears to be special. Looks like it belonged to a sorcerer.
"I don't recognize that book. Could it have belonged to someone like Shang Tsung or Quan Chi?" Smoke asked.
"Who knows? They're the most intelligent sorcerers anyone knows or at least heard of. They are unpredictable." Cyrax said.
"Regardless, we must know why Sektor wants that. For now, we must take them all out. Leave none of them functioning." Sub-Zero instructs.
Sub-Zero signals the clan and they jump right down from the ceiling and start attacking the cyborgs. The Lin Kuei proceed to beat up and cut down as many cyborgs as possible. While the original clan has been doing a good job destroying alot of them, some of them have unfortunately fell victim to the hands of the Cyber Lin Kuei. Sub-Zero, Frost, Cyrax and Smoke confront Sektor.
"Sub-Zero. I have been expecting you to arrive here. And you brought three of your best students." Sektor said.
"Sektor. You killed your own father, the one who wanted to corrupt the Lin Kuei by taking away their souls and free will. Why could you not see that?" Sub-Zero said, glaring at his archenemy.
"Killed him? Kuai Liang, my friend. You don't seem to understand. He has asked me to kill him." Sektor said.
"Why would you do that?" Smoke asked.
"Because he knew that he was not going to make it before his assimilation. I was tasked to put him out of his misery. He allowed me to authorize the Cyber Initiative and take command of the Lin Kuei." Sektor explained.
"Then you are nothing but lost cause." Frost said.
"Frost. My young Frost. If only you knew of the hypocrisy of the Lin Kuei. They refused my father, allied with the Shirai Ryu. How can you not see the truth?" Sektor said.
"You lie! My grandmaster has told me the truth about you and the Shirai Ryu. You are the one who can't see it." Frost said.
"Perhaps. But if you will not accept the truth, then you will suffer the same fate as I have. I will show you what I mean after. I will promise you that." Sektor said, bringing forward more Cyber Lin Kuei. They begin to target Cyrax, Frost and Smoke. "Kill them. Sub-Zero is mine to deal with." The dozen cyborgs start attacking. Cyrax uses his small explosives to kill some of them. Smoke uses his fighting skills and teleportation to deal with some of them. Frost was easily able to handle them thanks to her training and years with the Lin Kuei. Sub-Zero and Sektor confront each other and fight.
"You will never learn, Sub-Zero. How long do you believe that you keep holding the Lin Kuei together?" Sektor asked.
The two masters fight. Sektor teleports behind Sub-Zero but he ice slides away. He fires an electro net but Sub-Zero uses an ice wall to block it and it gets crushed. Sub-Zero slide charges and punches Sektor across the torso, chest and uses an ice sword to cut his right shoulder. Sub-Zero elbows his chest, chops his right shoulder, and shoulder bashes and ice punches him in the metal head. Sektor recovers and fires missiles at Sub-Zero, who uses ice clones to take the hit. Sektor suddenly appears beside him and elbows his right rib cage, the right side of his face and punches his forehead and uppercuts him. Sub-Zero makes an ice slide and lands safely. He flips over Sektor and knees his back and bashes it with the end of his ice axe and double kicks him back. Sektor uses a cyberized portal under Sub-Zero's feet and he falls, allowing Sektor to uppercut him, slams his fist onto his chest, cracking it and front flip kicks him down and bounces off the floor, allowing Sektor to throw him down by the ankle. Sub-Zero jumps back, ready to end the battle. Sektor brings out a built-in blade and swings at Sub-Zero but misses. He ice slides, scooping the robot master off his feet, and doing two palm strikes to the chest, bending and damaging it and sending him backwards. As Sektor tries to recover, Sub-Zero uses his powers to freeze his entire body except for the head.
"They will live as long as you are dead, Sektor." Sub-Zero said. They both see that all of the cyborgs have failed to destroy Sub-Zero's friends and more than several of his members have survived with only a few casualties. "Talk, Sektor. Where did you acquire that book? Who was your partner?"
"You are not as bright as you think, Sub-Zero. I was prepared in case I were to be defeated." Sektor said, looking at the book being launched by magic by two Cyber Lin Kuei. Then they put in digital codes and bring out a bomb and the countdown starts by 30 seconds.
"What is this?" Frost asked.
Before she could ask more, several more Cyber Lin Kuei appear to guard Sektor, preparing to take him away. "You have two choices, Kuai Liang. You can kill my guards and kill me, or save your own lives. Your choice, but I promise you will regret either one." Sektor said as more come in and surround the place.
Sub-Zero looks around and realizes that they are surrounded and see that they have no time to kill Sektor and flee. He reluctantly makes a choice. "We must depart."
"What? But we're so close." Frost said.
"That's an order. We must leave immediately." Sub-Zero said before he glared at Sektor one more time before they quickly escaped as fast as they could.
Sektor and his clan have teleported away to an unknown place. Thankfully, this was not a nuclear bomb this time. Smoke helps the four get a good distance from the temple that has just went up into flames and the entire temple has collapsed to the ground with nothing left.
"Thank you, Smoke. No idea what to do without you." Cyrax said.
"My pleasure. Though we failed to kill Sektor." Smoke said.
"We could've had him." Frost said.
"You are right, Frost, but I would not dare endanger the Lin Kuei to sacrifice their lives. As Grandmaster, it is my responsibility to ensure the survivability of the clan, yours included. Next time we see Sektor, we will all kill him together." Sub-Zero said.
"Apologies, Grandmaster. I had no idea that being a grandmaster is harder than I believed." Frost said, bending her head.
"Nothing is easy, Frost. But nothing is impossible either." Sub-Zero said with a hand on her shoulder.
"What do we do now?" Smoke asked.
"We must wait until a couple of the Special Forces' friends return from their journey. It is best that they all want to hear this." Sub-Zero said.
Somewhere near the mountains that are nearly above the clouds is the Fire Village, one of the homes of the Shirai Ryu. Out of nowhere, Skarlet suddenly appears out of nowhere and looks up in the sky and sees what is coming. She sees the book slowly descending down and she grabs it. Skarlet smirks as she recognizes what it is. Skarlet realizes that Sektor could not rendezvous, so he improvised. Skarlet opens the book and finds the one spell that she needs before closing it. She looks down at the cabin where Jacqui and Takeda are sleeping and sees the Fire Village. Skarlet smirks one more time before vanishing once more.
Alex is stranded in the middle of a forest, covered in rain. He hears fighting going on, hears screaming going on. He quickly starts running to the source of where the sounds are coming from. At the edge of a lake, he sees two dead bodies. They both resemble a man and a woman. They lay there motionlessly. As soon as tries to touch them, they immediately disintegrate before he could even see their faces.
"Mom?! Dad?!" Alex yelled in horror. He is not expecting another voice to appear. A voice he hated hearing ever since.
"They are dead, Alex." Kronika said, descending down on him. She is wearing the crown on her head. "They do not deserve you. You belong to me. I want you as my son instead."
"No! You should be dead!" Alex said, standing in defiance.
"My boy. I cannot die. I sm still here. You are mine. Be part of my family. Come and do the ritual with me." Kronika tells him.
"NO!" Alex yelled in anger. He activates his powers and jumps up to attack her, only for her to use her telekinesis and throw him to a tree. She uses her powers to hold him in place. Alex tries to use his powers to break free, but he couldn't move an inch.
"Forgive me, my son. I promise you a better, happier life with me and your new siblings. You will grow to love it." Kronika tells him. Kronika cups Alex's face and she starts glowing and just when she starts transferring copies of her soul, powers and spirit into his body, he starts screaming.
In the real world, Cassie wakes up to her husband yelling in his sleep and begins to shake him. "Alex, wake up!" At that moment, he screams and wakes up rapidly as he sits up. He stops and sees he's in his room with Cassie. He continues to hyperventilate.
"My god. Not this again." Alex shakingly said.
"Alex? Are you okay?" Cassie asked, feeling worried about him. "Was it the same nightmare about your parents again?"
"Y-yeah." Alex nods, feeling scared. Cassie pulls him in for a hug and holds him
"Shh. It's okay. You're here. She's dead. I promise you're here with me. Are you okay?" Cassie asked, holding him for a hug.
"No. Why? I don't understand. Why do I keep having this nightmare? Just why?" Alex questions himself. From time to time ever since he killed Kronika and helped start the New Era, he has had on and off nightmares about Kronika killing his parents. It isn't very often, but coincidentally, it only happens the same day he gets very angry or stressed out and whenever he does, his eyes briefly match Kronika's eyes before they revert and no one notices. Not even him.
"I don't know, sweetheart. But my best guess is you're having PTSD." Cassie said.
"H-how do you know?" Alex asked, still catching his breath.
"Because a lot of people carried it, regardless of whether it was a soldier or not. Ask mom or dad. Even Raiden knows that feeling. He blamed himself for how Liu Kang and Kung Lao originally died. And you remember the first time in the Netherrealm. When I lost mom." Cassie reminds him. Alex understands her, but he still has a feeling of guilt.
"It's my fault they're dead. If only I wasn't such a burden, they would still be alive." Alex looks down.
"Hey, don't say that." Cassie holds his face, making him look at her. "They protected you from her. She sent that message to the Elder Gods and forced Kronika to hide you. It's better than raising you to be her tool."
"That still doesn't explain why I couldn't bring them back. I tried everything. I just wish I could see their faces. Just this once." Alex feels guilty.
"You will one day. If there is anything else wrong, let me know, okay? I can help you with sessions if I need to." Cassie offers her help.
"Really?" Alex looks at her.
"Hell yes. Besides, I have a feeling deep down that they would be proud of you. That you make everyone happy. You made my life happier." Cassie said. She caresses his face and leans in and kisses him. Alex smiles as he kisses back.
"Thank you, Cassie. I love you." Alex whispered.
"I love you too, my love." Cassie replied. "I think I know what might cheer you up."
"What's that?" Alex looks at her.
Cassie kisses him once more as she climbs on top of him, making him chuckle. He grabs hold of her ass as she sits on his lap and kisses him while holding his face. They continue to make out as they consummate.
Note: So Sektor has returned. And we briefly see Skarlet grabbing a mysterious book that will later play an important part in the story. Alex's sudden nightmare appearing? Even though he killed Kronika, he is still haunted by her for what she did to him and struggles to fight them. They're not just a coincidence. Next chapter, we will see Takeda and Jacqui return from their trip in the previous story.