Sub-Zero: Origins

Of Sponges and Squirrels

He wasn't certain how long he'd been asleep, yet at some point Kuai Liang found himself fighting his way back to the waking world. However, he soon discovered it was more difficult than he thought getting there. His rest was troubled because he told himself he should wake up, but his brain simply laughed at him and plunged him back into nightmares of recent events. Once, however, it allowed him to open his eyes, and though he couldn't be sure if it was a dream or reality, he saw Annalise flipping through a narrow binder at the foot of his bed. In a haze, he imagined she'd traded her scrubs for a tight white t-shirt and jeans that accentuated the fine curvature of her body. Kuai Liang wanted to touch her, but when he lifted his arm, he found it was too heavy and it flopped weakly onto his bed once more. She looked up and smiled at him, her face radiant in the artificial light, but he unwillingly drifted back asleep once more.

At least now, however, his brain let him dream of her.

Sometime later, he pried his eyes open again and took a moment to let them adjust to the dim light. His lungs still burned like they did when Shao Kahn crushed them with the hammer, but at least his breathing came a little easier now, his effort aided by the oxygen rushing into his nose through tubes and his bed adjusted to a forty-five degree angle. He saw that he was dressed in a loose gown, and he promptly lifted the hem to his chin to see if part of his rib cage still floated inside his chest, but the only thing he could see was a sea of white. From his belly to his clavicle, there was nothing but thick padding and surgical tape. The Cryomancer shifted slightly in his bed and felt something move between his legs. Suspiciously, he lifted his blankets and saw that someone put a catheter in him, and the knowledge that a stranger saw and touched his genitals while he was unconscious humiliated him. If Tomas were here, he'd be having a field day making jokes. He grunted in weary annoyance and then dropped his covers back into place.

"Hey, look who's finally awake!" a voice cried enthusiastically. Kuai Liang looked to the doorway and saw Johnny standing on the threshold, waving for someone in the hall to come to him. The Cryomancer rubbed his eyes tiredly. Not Johnny. Anyone but Johnny.

A moment later, Liu, Kitana, and Jade wedged through the doorway as well. "Hello, Sub-Zero," Kitana greeted first. She had traded her scanty outfit for a purple sweater and black slacks. Beside her, he noticed Jade's arm was wrapped in a cast from her fingers to her shoulder. She too had traded in her indecent clothes for a sheer green blouse and black skirt.

"How are you feeling?" Liu asked as Johnny plopped into the chair in the corner.

"Alive." He paused. "Where am I?"

"You're in a military hospital in some secret base called Ft. Albany," the actor explained. "Very hush hush. We had to get special clearance from the big-wigs just to come see you all. I think Jax pulled some serious strings, but even still, we get an escort from the gate all the way to this hall, and there's a guard outside to make sure we stay put. Stryker and Nightwolf are here too. Their brains were scrambled, but they're a lot better now."

Kuai Liang remembered how Shao Kahn stunned them with some sort of magic, and then the other events surrounding the invasion surged through his memory at once. He looked at his teammates. "What's going on out there? Is everything...back to normal?"

"Well, after Raiden defeated Shao Kahn, all the invading squads retreated," the Shaolin monk explained. "But there have been a lot of casualties. And of course, a lot of things got destroyed. It's going to be a while before things really get back to normal."

At the mention of the Emperor's name, the Cryomancer remembered Annalise. He sat up straight, ignoring his ribs' angry protest as he did. "Annalise! Is she safe? What-"

"Dude, the naughty nurse is alright," Johnny stopped him.

He scowled. "Don't talk about her like that," he snapped. "And don't call me 'dude.' Where is she?"