The young woman enters the living room carefully, she shuts the front door slowly as not to disturb the peaceful, sleeping newborn and calm toddler strapped to her chest.
The ancient, but powerful and bulky looking man gives a warm smile, he rises to greet her.
She places the older of the two on the couch next to her very carefully, then she places his younger brother beside him.
They embrace quickly. The woman then picks her newborn up again.
"It is good to see my stepdaughter... and my grandsons again, whispers the man."
The toddler shifts his focus to the voice, curiosity in his eyes.
The mans old and battle-weary face softens in realization.
"Where is my son? Should he not be overjoyed that his newborn is healthy?" He questions with a whisper.
The mother's gaze shifts to the floor, Li had duties with the L-"
"Lin Kuei" Interrupts the grandfather, in a disappointed, but not angry tone.
"As Grandmaster I would never forbid a parent from seeing their child, especially their newborn." Comments the man, disgust clouding his words.
The toddler's expression shifts to one is concern.
The former Grandmaster notices and softens his tone.
"Wu has not been the grandmaster I had hoped he would. He has already broken Lin Kuei tradition by assigning himself and descendants the title 'Sektor' not even a month after exchange of power."
"But Lin Kuei politics are not why I came to visit tonight.", States the mother, hoping to redirect the conversation back towards her children.
The mother's expression shifts to one of mild concern.
He hasn't been Grandmaster in decades.
She corrects him internally. Her expression quickly shifts to a warmer one.
"Little Kuai is going to be a week and a half soon, and I want my sons to spend as much time as they can with their grandfather before he's gone." The mother comments, shifting her gaze to both children.
She carefully removes the newborn from her shoulder strap, smoothly passing him to his grandfather as he sits back in his chair.
The man holds the newborn close to his chest, looking down at the baby's serene face as he sleeps soundly.
Tears well up in the corners of his eyes. He chuckles very quietly.
"I told myself I wouldn't cry a second time, but he is so-"
"Perfect, innocent, and pure." Both swoon in unison.
The woman picks up her older son, placing him next to his brother on his grandfather's lap.
The older of the two squeels quietly and smiles as he looks at his grandfather and younger brother.
"You three stay put, I'm getting the camera." Smiles the mother, she hurries to the other room while being silent on the wood floor.
-
Over seven minutes have passed, a looming dread fills the elderly cryomancer. His stepdaughter was never one to doddle, and he could not rid the feeling of danger lurking outside the house.
Perhaps it was age effecting my perception of time, or maybe a baseless, intrusive thought. He assures himself internally.
The elder brothers happy squeeks stop, he looks around, with concern in his features, unsure why the chair was no longer rocking soothingly.
The man rises very cautiously, placing both babies on the couch, he gives a careful kiss to both foreheads.
"You two sit tight, Papa will be back." He whispers, almost silent.
He exits the living room, enters the kitchen and turns right, stealthily walking upstairs.
He enters the storage room, weaving silently through the neatly packed shelves.
He gazes inside the walk in closet where the camera is stored, his step daughter lies bound and gagged on the floor.
In the blink of an eye he begins to start untying her, but she shakes her head rapidly, trying to tell him to stop through the gag.
His heart halts, and restarts three times faster.
My grandsons are unattended.
As stealthily as possible he exits the storage rolm and sprints down the stairs and through the kitchen
As he enters the living room, a devastating sucker punch turns the former Grandmaster's legs into jelly, he stumbles into a corner table and knocks a priceless jade artifact to the floor, shattering it.
The noise startle both children, who begin crying.
Two Lin Kuei enter through the window, sending shards glass everywhere, they grab both boys and sprint out the door into the darkness before Sub Zero's head can clear.
Tunnel vision takes over, the cryomancer sprints across the living room, he gets body checked hard by the remaining Lin Kuei before he can reach the door.
The assassin unsheathes his dao, slashing at the former Grandmaster's back.
He recovers in time and pivots, summoning an ice dao of his own to parry the blow and counterattack, breaking through the armour, but not enough to do notable damage.
The asassin slashes aggressively for the head, Sub Zero ducks underneath and counters with a powerful straight right, sending the assassin stumbling backwards, leaving the sword lodged in the aged log wall.
The Grandmaster summons another sword and slashes to the midsection, which the Lin Kuei narrowly avoids. He shifts his stance and lunges with with an upward cut, connecting clean enough into the chest to draw blood through the armour.
The Lin Kuei growls, angrily unsheathing his jian, he thrusts recklessly for the chest and stomach.
Sub Zero parries each as he retreats. As he nears the wall, Sub Zero pivots towards the door in time to avoid the thrust and tackles the assassin from the side.
Both men land hard and Sub Zero postures up, raining punches and and elbows with a primal rage, dislodging the assasin's hood and cutting his left eyebrow.
The assassin uses Sub Zero's sloppy attacks to sweep him and return to his feet, wiping the blood from his eye.
The Grandmaster capitalizes, he throws a powerful right cross, but the assassin parries and lands a counter hook, that splits his lip and stumbles him backwards.
The assassin lunges with a dagger and stabs Sub Zero in the gut as he attempts to sidestep and counter, landing with a hook. Keeling the elderly man over and knocking the young warrior backwards in a daze.
The Grandmaster tears the blade from his stomach, his legs buckle from the pain as he seals the wound with a blast of ice.
The men circle eachother in the destroyed living room, knowing whoever attacks first will likely receive a devasating counterstrike.
Sub Zero fakes a jab, the Lin Kuei warrior falls for the feint and reaches for his knife, leaving himself exposed long enough for Sub Zero to throw a powerful left hook that knocks the assasin unconscious.
As the assassin hits the ground the primal rage overtakes the stoic former Grandmaster. He jumps on the unconcious man, connecting with a devastating elbow.
The cryomancer postures up, he throws a barrage of elbows and punches, each has an extended windup creating a disgusting thud against the Lin Kuei's head and the floor.
The tears become full fledged sobbing as the punches weaken, and stop. The assassin's face now a bloody, caved in mess.
The ancient man's breathing is rapid and laboured, but he forces out a yell of anger.
As he begins to calm, Sub Zero returns to his feet and hobbles through the kitchen, clutching his torso. He let's out a pained exhale each step up the stairs.
He enters the storage room, collapsing in front of the closet, using the last of his strength to untie his step daughter and embrace her tightly.
"I-I'm so so sorry, Vanessa, they took your boys..."
Vanessa rises to her knees, embracing her step father as she weeps into his shoulder.
"You did everything you could. Perhaps L-Li can help, once you recover." She answers uncertainly.
The elderly cryomancer nods solemnly, as only one thing echoes through his mind.
I failed you, Bi Han, I failed you Kuai Liang, and I failed you Vanessa, all I hope is you can forgive me.
This chapter was both fun and overwhelming to write, because of how little canon material there is, it meant I could go wild with creative liberties, but it meant the chapter might feel less grounded in MK lore than the others. While it is probably more likely that the original Sub Zero had already died by the time Bi-Han and Kuai Liang were born, I decided to make him a very elderly man having lived for at least 350 years (I headcannon Cryomancers live 300-400 hundred years max because there is no canon lifespan for them, but that would put the original Sub Zero just under halfway through his life when he trained Shujinko. As for Bi-Han and Kuai Liang's parents, I had so many possibilities because all we know is that the father was a cryomancer and their mother was chinese american, I leaned into the father having more Chinese influence because he was Lin Kuei and the Mother having more American influence to balance them out.