Far off into the outskirts of China; two warriors, clad in blue and black ninja gi, spared with one another outside the Lin Kuei temple. Multiple blasts of ice and freezing water collided with another, producing a white mist that evaporated as quickly as it filled the air.
Hydro, distinguishable by his blue hooded mask that covered all but his eyes, unsheathed his sword from his back and charged towards his opponent. Sub-Zero, who freely exposed his hair, the back tied into a bun and wore a black mask with silver metal pieces adorning it, raised his arms and swiftly caught the blade between his hands. Sub-Zero pulled Hydro forward and kicked him aside, forcing him to drop his Dao. Hydro slid back from the impact, quickly shrugging off the blow to his gut as he watched Sub-Zero violently slam his sword to the ground.
Stretching his arms forward, he forged an icy hilt in his closed right fist; his left palm gently moving to the side, forming an icy blade to adorn it. Hydro followed suit, water rushing from his forearms to his hands, solidifying into icy blades of his own.
"Do not hold back." Growled Sub-Zero.
"Against the Grandmaster's favorite? As if I would." Hydro scoffed, rushing towards Sub-Zero, his dual cryo blades dragging and scraping along the concrete ground. Sub-Zero charged in unison with his opponent and the two clashed their blades. One of Hydro's blades quickly shattered, but Hydro maintained his position, blocking each of Sub-Zero's strikes with his remaining sword. The two weapons locked, Sub-Zero moved aside, knelt down and attempted a leg sweep. Hydro quickly jumped, his blade melting, forming into a water whip. Hydro swung it mid-air, coiling the whip around Sub-Zero's forearm and freezing it. Once Hydro dropped down; Sub-Zero, with his free hand, shattered the icy tip of the whip with a powerful palm strike. Hydro retracted what remained of the whip, crushing it into multiple ice shards that he sent flying back towards Sub-Zero.
Sub-Zero moved back, producing a replica of himself out of ice which shattered upon impact with the shards. Freezing up his own arms, Sub-Zero aimed them to the ground and fired a blast of ice so powerful that it sent him flying up to the air and then descending down towards Hydro.
Unable to plan out his next attack, Hydro stood dumbfounded as Sub-Zero conjured up an ice hammer, raising it above his head. Hydro crossed his arms against his head, forming an icy shield. Sub-Zero swung the hammer, shattered the shield, the impact alone sending Hydro to the ground with minor injuries to his head. Regaining his breath, Sub-Zero raised himself up, looking down on his defeated adversary. Struggling to get up, Sub-Zero quickly helped Hydro to his feet.
Upon regaining his balance, the two locked eyes. Placing their palms against their fists, the two bowed out of respect.
"Once again, you impress me, old friend." Hydro said.
"Your time across realms was surely beneficial." He jokingly remarked. Sub-Zero maintained his gaze, his demeanor quickly turning sour.
"Be thankful that you didn't endure what I did." Sub-Zero said.
"I meant no ill against you, Bi-Han." Hydro added.
"I didn't realize that the Netherrealm affected you this deeply."
"Though it has been two years since….one does not simply forget such a place." Sub-Zero said. Hydro briefly looked away, cracking his right wrist. He soon began pondering on how to change the conservation to calm his friend.
"You must be honored to have been invited to the tournament. Your victory over the Elemental gods has certainly made you famous." Hydro said.
"Never forget that your fellow Lin Kuei are forever in your debt for relieving us of a rival." He went on.
"It was either him or all of us facing annihilation." Sub-Zero stated.
"Our feud aside….Scorpion fought valiantly to the bitter end." He added only for Hydro to quickly raise a brow in confusion.
"Not like you to pay respects to our adversaries." He mentioned.
"What am I to gain for speaking ill?" Sub-Zero asked.
"Besides, though he lacked any of our powers….he always managed to be on equal footing through his fighting skills alone."
The temple's doors opened and from the other side emerged a black-clad Lin Kuei warrior. The two turned to face him.
"The Grandmaster wishes to see you!" He cried out.
"It is time." Hydro acknowledged. Sub-Zero said nothing; briefly shutting his eyes and giving off a tiresome sigh, he marched towards the entrance with Hydro following close behind. Passing the many hallways from the training grounds, they reach the Grandmaster's throne room. Pushing the doors open, the two entered, standing atop a large Yin & Yang painting on the floor. The two bowed and then saluted their Grandmaster, in the same manner as they did each other prior.
"We live to serve, Grandmaster." Sub-Zero said. The Grandmaster sat atop his throne, admiring the two seasoned assassins. He distinguished himself from his mercenaries with a black and red robe with extended shoulder pads, baggy sleeves, and a red mask covering his face.
"Rise." The Grandmaster demanded; the two quickly stood up, and maintained their eye contact with him.
"The time is nigh. I hope you are prepared." The Grandmaster said.
"We have been training extensively, refusing to partake in new assignments." Hydro quickly answered.
"We are ready."
"I have no doubt of that, Hydro." The Grandmaster added.
"You two are some of my finest. The latest in a long line of powerful warriors. The Lin Kuei are fortunate to have those with your ... .unique abilities among our ranks. And now that you've been invited to the Mortal Kombat tournament. Truly, it's an honor; you will be the first representatives of our mighty clan to partake in such an event." He went on.
"I suspect there's more at play than our mere participation." Sub-Zero interjected.
"Indeed. Your second objective is to assassinate the tournament's overseer: Shang Tsung." The Grandmaster said.
"Complete your assignment and you will be paid handsomely." Sub-Zero and Hydro bowed once more before the Grandmaster.
"We will not fail you." Hydro confidently exclaimed.
"Of that, I have little doubt." The Grandmaster replied, taking notice of Sub-Zero's abnormal disassociation.
"Go now." He went on.
"Shang Tsung's boat awaits you in Hong Kong."
"For the Lin Kuei." The two spoke in unison, bowing a final time before exiting the chamber.
During their voyage, Sub-Zero and Hydro isolated themselves from the others. Remaining along the roof of the cabin, close to the lifelines; they watched the chaos unfold below between Johnny Cage, Kano and several other goons.
"Such imbeciles." Hydro scuffed, walking away from Sub-Zero who was kneeling down, observing the fight. He wanted to know as much as he could of their soon-to-be opponents before the tournament commences.
"C'mon Cage, say it!" Kano cried out, knocking Cage down with a right hook.
"I'll be back!" He continued to cry out, mimicking an Austrian accent. Recovering from the blow, Cage placed his hand along his cheek and spat out a small drop of blood onto the deck.
"That's not my movie!" Cage yelled back. Kano continued to laugh as he and several others were beginning to surround the actor.
"Get up Cage! Ain't no stunt men here to take a punch for ya." Said Kano.
Liu Kang, who sat on a stairway behind Cage, chuckled and quickly interjected, making his presence known to the others.
"I'd say the movie star is quite outnumbered. Truly an unfair squabble." Liu Kang said. Kano frowned with his one eye and growled under his breath.
"Rack off mate! Who the hell even are ya?!" He asked.
"My friends call me Liu Kang. And you are not a friend." Liu Kang answered.
"Thanks." Johnny Cage muttered, raising himself up.
"That's all I needed to hear." He said, sliding towards Kano with his left leg stretched out; several green silhouettes of the actor formed behind him and vanished in an instant as he kicked Kano across the face. Liu Kang was quick to leap towards the thug and send him flying back with a powerful kick of his own. The other goons were quick to advance on Liu Kang, but were quickly outmatched and disposed of by the monk.
"You saved my life. I owe ya one." Johnny Cage said, turning towards Liu Kang.
"The next time we do any fighting, it will be in the tournament." Said Liu Kang, "And it may be against each other."
Kano groaned in pain, lifting himself up. He turned to face the two with an angered glare in his eye as he bared his teeth like a rabid dog.
"Watch yer back, Mr. Hollywood 'cause you just made me your worst enemy." Kano said, staggering back up and walking away from the two.
Liu Kang turned to face Johnny, "Watch your back. Kano has lots of friends here. He will make the tournament quite difficult for you."
"I'll manage." Cage confidently said, as the two departed. Sub-Zero continued to survey them. He was most impressed by their skills and now saw them as his first true obstacle in this tournament.
An intense heat soon radiated near them, and in an instant flash of fire, Hydro bared witness to a flaming skeleton rising before them, moaning in agony and stretching out its hand to him. From that burning, skeletal hand, a kunai shot out in one swift motion; Hydro soon felt himself ensnared by the throat with the chain contacted to it. Sensing the flames coming from behind and hearing the muffled gags from his suffocating comrade; Sub-Zero turned to find an armored, yellow clad ninja ascending towards him.
"Lin Kuei." He said in a deathly whisper, grabbing Sub-Zero by his uniform.
"Look into my eyes." The ninja continued. Sub-Zero maintained his gaze, wrapping his hands around his forearm, horrified by the assailant's soulless, pure white eyes. His voice however, was most recognizable and the realization drove Sub-Zero into an uncharacteristically panicked state, for he had not heard Scorpion's voice since his incursion at a Shaolin temple.
"No—it…it can't be." He uttered.
"Yes, Sub-Zero! You murdered me two years ago. But my rage has brought me back, granting me the opportunity to avenge my death. I could kill you right now….but I am no murderer." Scorpion loosened his grip on Sub-Zero, dropping him on the wooden floor. He then retracted his chain from Hydro's throat, the kunai at the end slashing through Hydro's mask. Shaking off the blow, he quickly grabbed hold of his own throat, desperately gasping for air.
"We will meet again at the tournament. And then….you will pay for your crimes."
"You are a fool for sparing me." Said Sub-Zero.
"We shall see." Scorpion added before disappearing in a fiery blaze. Hydro desperately crawled over to his stunned friend.
"Sub-Zero!" He cried out, coughing and wheezing.
"What the hell was that?!" He asked. Sub-Zero stood stunned for a brief moment.
"Sub-Zero?" Hydro asked once more. After a few moments, the cryomancer regained his composure. Looking towards Hydro with noticeable terror and frustration in his eyes.
"That….is my undoing." He uttered.
Been awhile since I've updated this storyline lol. So Chronologically speaking, this chapter is supposed to be after the one meant to introduce Sonya Blade and Kano but I've recently been really invested in planning the storyline for the Lin Kuei clan in this fic along with Bi-Han due to how mishandled he was in the previous NRS timeline, so I ended up getting this one done first, and there might be several chapters published after the fact focusing on not only Bi-Han and Hydro but also Kuai Liang, Smoke, Cyrax and Sektor. I do also wish to add that if the MK1 [1992] chapters seem similar to the prequel comic by John Tobias, its because I'm loosely adapting it [along with the MK2 & MK4 prequel comics] into Interrealm Wars.