The dreadful silence in the air was broken by a scream. All around, there where rivers of blood and fire, from where pillars of brimstone emerged from. The wails of the tortured ocassionally cried out. In the middle of this hellish sceneario, Sub-Zero fell to the ground. He tried to crawl away, only to be draggen back, screaming, by his attacker. The Lin Kuei warrior raised himself to his knees, and, in a desperate attempt, begged for mercy. In front of him was the ninja he had been seeing so often: a pale man, with yellow stained clothes.

"How ironic... How ironic it is, that once, it was I who begged for mercy... And it was you who stared upon me with cold eyes, your heart as cold as the ice you manipulate..."-The figure said, with a hateful tone-"And now, our roles are reversed... But the situation will repeat itself. You did not show mercy... And neither will I!"

Sub-Zero saw the figure grab a kunai and lunge at him, and then his vision went black.

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-Sub-Zero's Room- ; Nightime

The Lin Kuei warrior had awaken from yet another nightmare, like he had done in the past few nights. His nightmares involving the yellow ninja had become more frequent, and more terrifying.

"Damn it..."-Sub-Zero cursed-"What is the meaning of these dreams?"

As he laid down on his bed once again, Sub-Zero tried to focus.

"I must complete my mission... I will not let myself be bothered by this..."

He then heard a gong play in the distance, and instintively new what it meant.

"It is time..."

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-Courtyard- ; Morning

As Sub-Zero arrived at the courtyard, he saw Shang Tsung give yet another of his grand speechs. Trying his best not to think about his nightmare, the warrior took his place among the crowd. As Shang Tsung finished, Sub-Zero impatitently waited for the names of the next two warriors, and was shocked when they where finally spoken.

"Now, The Lin Kuei Sub-Zero will face Raiden, God of Thunder!" Shang Tsung announced.

As both warriors stepped into the arena, they both eyed each other.

"FIGHT!"

"So it has come to this, old friend..." Raiden sadly said.

"I've told you, I'm not your "friend"!"-Sub-Zero said coldly-"I have a mission to do here, and I will not rest until it is completed."

Both warriors ran at each other and threw a punch, their fists colliding.

"A mission? I'm interested. Tell me more!" Raiden asked.

"Do not get cocky, Raiden! I've beaten gods before and I can do it again..." Sub-Zero replied.

Raiden tried to punch Sub-Zero, but the chinese warrior caught the fist in his hand.

"Ah, yes! Your little adventure. I recall that caused quite a situation..." Raiden remembered.

"Like I said before, I was just earning my living!" Sub-Zero replied, getting annoyed at Raiden's comments.

As Raiden jumped back, Sub-Zero tried to roundhouse kick him, but the thunder god teleported behind him.

"You where also dooming the entire universe!" Raiden sarcastically reminded him.

"Well, after that, I DID journey into that horrible place to get your precious amulet back..." Sub-Zero reminded him, before triying to punch the thunder god.

Raiden ducked under the blow and blasted Sub-Zero away with a bolt of lightining, but the Lin Kuei warrior quickly got up and covered his feet in ice, sliding towards Raiden and knocking him down. As Raiden got up, Sub-Zero charged a blast of ice in his hand, freezing the thunder god, and then kneeing him in the chin, shatering the ice and seending him flying away. Raiden quickly did a mid-air recovery, and, as he landed, flew towards Sub-Zero with his arms and legs outstretched, pushing the Lin Kuei warrior through the air, before leeting go of him and jumping back.

"This match will sadly end in the dead of one of us. You have ignored my warning. If you die now, you know what will happen..." Raiden explained.

"I will not lose!" Sub-Zero said, getting up and rushing towards the thunder god.

Both warriors continously tried to attack each other, both blocking each others attacks, until Raiden hit Sub-Zero what a blast of lighting, sending the warrior stumbling back. As Sub-Zero recovered, the thunder god teleported behind him and elbowed him in the back, before teleporting again in front of him and delivering a powerful chop to Sub-Zero's head. Focusing lighting on one hand, Raiden then shot it towards Sub-Zero, blasting the warrior away. After a little difficulty getting up, Sub-Zero tried to regain his breath.

"You just don't give up, do you?" Raiden teased.

"Give up? I've faced beings more mighty than you!"-Sub-Zero said, rushing towards Raiden.

As the thunder god jumped over Sub-Zero, the Lin Kuei warrior extended his arms backwards, and, with a well timed ice blast, froze the thunder god just as he landed. Sub-Zero then hit Raiden with a backhand, breaking the ice. As the thunder god recovered, Sub-Zero gathered his power and formed an ice blade on his hand, slashing the thunder god across the face, and then repeating the slash. Raiden recovered, albeit with two cuts on his face, and kicked the chinese warrior with both feet, seending Sub-Zero stumbling back. As he recovered, he was hit with a kick to the face, before being grabbed. With a yell, Raiden charged electricity through his palms, eletrocuting the assassin. Sub-Zero, however, managed to regain his strenght, and, while being shocked, grabbed the thunder god with both hands and threw him across the arena with great strenght.

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Back in the audience, Johnny's sunglasses fell off.

"Holy fuck..." He muttered in awe.

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Raiden got up, and shotted a barrage of thunder bolts against Sub-Zero, who, with great skill, evaded all of them, and jumped towards the thunder god, hitting him with a jump kick. As Raiden stumbled back, he tried to hit Sub-Zero with a roundhouse, but the assassin caught his foot. Thinking quickly, Raiden used his other foot to jump and air roundhouse kick Sub-Zero in the face, making the Lin Kuei warrior let go of his foot and fall to the floor. Getting up, Sub-Zero backfliped away and prepared another ice blast, but Raiden leaped towards him and, just as Sub-Zero fired the blast, teleported behind him, before grabbing the chinese warrior and blasting him away, stunning him briefly. That brief moment, however, was all it took for Raiden to uppercutt him, sending him flying through the air.

As Sub-Zero got up, Raiden ran towards him, but Sub-Zero shot an ice blast towards the ground, making Raiden lose his balance and fall. As Raiden got up, he meet with a shoulder charge, followed by a punch to the stomach so powerful Raiden felt his ribs crack. To finish the combo, Sub-Zero headbutted the thunder god, sending him stumbling back.

As Raiden tried to recover from the powerful blow, Sub-Zero once again formed an ice sword and tried to slash at Raiden, but, thinking quickly, the thunder god punched the blade, shattering it, before grabbing Sub-Zero and flying to a great height with him. As Sub-Zero tried to free himself, Raiden start to plunge head first into the ground.

"How noble of a god, to kill a mortal..." Sub-Zero commented, as they quickly approached the ground.

"The image of a perfect, unsinful god is man-made, my friend. A flawed depiction created by mortals..." Raiden explained-"I am sorry..."

"Sorry for what...?" Sub-Zero sarcastically remaerked as he created a dense ball of ice in his hand.

"You have the talent of survival..." Raiden remarked before the ball of ice expanded, freezing him a mere two meters from the ground. As Sub-Zero freed himself, he fell to the ground with a loud "tump". Behind him, Raiden fell afterwards.

As Raiden got up, Sub-Zero did not. Luckily the Lin Kuei warrior had landed on his side. After much effort, Sub-Zero pushed himself up.

"Damn it..."-Sub-Zero complained.

"A fall that high can cause you injuries, you know..." Raiden commented.

"Yeah, well it did not work for me..." Sub-Zero said, still weak.

As Sub-Zero assumed his fighting stance once again, Raiden kicked him in the side of his face, following the kick with a punch, which Sub-Zero blocked. He could not block the knee to the gut, however, an attack which Raiden followed up with a punch and, lastly a knee to the side. After recovering from the series of blows, Sub-Zero hit Raiden with an elbow strike, before pulling the thunder god's arm and hitting him with a karate chop, which caused Raiden to drop to one knee. Raiden, however, used that stance to counter-attack and hit Sub-Zero with a punch to the gut, following by a knee to the chin. As the Lin Kuei warrior was sent flying though the air, Raiden grabbed his foot and slammed him into the ground.

Sub-Zero once again got up.

"Well, the thunder god is more of a challenge than the other four were..." Sub-Zero said.

"I'll take that as a compliment..." Raiden joked.

The thunder god kicked Sub-Zero in the side, and then followed up with a sweep, making Sub-Zero trip. The chinese warrior quickly got up and tried to kick Raiden, but the thunder god dodged to the side and blasted Sub-Zero, before teleporting and hitting him with a powerful elbow to the back.

"Can you still fight?" Raiden said, panting.

Sub-Zero said nothing, and tried to hit the thunder god with a backhand, but Raiden caught his fist and hit him with a knee to the back, before grabbing his arm and spinning him around, only to hit him with a punch directly in the face. Raiden then followed by jumping into the air and kicking upwards, hitting Sub-Zero in the chin and making him fall on his back. Before he landed, the thunder god then blasted Sub-Zero with lighting while in the air, slamming the Lin Kuei warrior into the ground.

To the surprise of Raiden, Sub-Zero managed to get up yet again. Not losing time the thunder god hit Sub-Zero with an air spin kick, followed by a kick to the gut. Managing to regain his balance, Sub-Zero tried to punch the thunder god again, but was hit instead by a punch. As Sub-Zero felt his vision go blurry, he fell to his knees.

Panting, Raiden spoke:

"Are you giving up...?"

"I cannot fight anymore..." Sub-Zero aknowledge-"You have won thunder god..."-Sub-Zero admitted-"Come close...-"

Raiden did as told, and dropped to one knee, his face nearly touching Sub-Zero's.

"My mission in this tournament... is to assassinate Shang Tsung..."-Sub-Zero explained-"Your words... your warning... You said my soul was tainted with evil... Years ago, I did as you asked and stopped a great evil... Now, I'm here to stop another. But I've failed... Kill me now. I would rather go to hell than be a helpless soul in that sorcerer's collection..."

"But..."Raiden tried to speak, but was interrupted.

"Do it! After I've done the deed, I was planning to retire, live a quiet and peaceful life. But we both know Mortal Kombat ends in death..." Sub-Zero sadly said-"It's like you said at the beginning of the fight... This battle would end in the death of one of us..."

"FINISH HIM!" Shang Tsung ordered.

"Very well..." Raiden said, and focused lighting into one hand. As he closed his eyes, he shot his hand forward.

There was a great flash, and after the light had faded, Sub-Zero was nowhere to be seen. There where only bits of ice who quickly melted.

Shang Tsung narrowed his eyes, before announcing:

"FATALITY!"

Raiden climbed down the stairs, a sad look in his face. At the middle of the stairs, he suddenly realized something. As he looked back at the water left in the arena from the pieces of ice, he smiled.

"You clever bastard..."