Mortal Kombat 9: Ember Edition

Chapter 25: Fire Extinguished

Sub-Zero traveled down his section of the temple, a blinding light shining from a compartment in his head. So far there was no one other than the rest of the warriors, nothing that he saw gave him reason to worry, but he remained on guard.

An odd feeling washed over him, making the cyborg stop mid-step. He could sense someone that shouldn't be there, was nearby. This feeling wasn't a result of one of the radars or sensors going off, but rather from what intuition he regained from his restoration.

Standing still, Sub-Zero listened for any sounds that would give away one of Shao Kahn's minions, a loud footstep or a shuffle of feet. But there was only silence, that lasted for little over a minute.

"HEEEEELLLLPPP!"

The cyborg stopped, startled, and processed the noise.

"HELP ME!! PLEASE!"

Getting a better hear, Kuai-Liang ran forward, not caring for the stealth that was imprinted in his mind all those years by the Lin Kuei.

He recognized that voice and a mixture of dread and anger fueled him. Turning on his heat sensor, Sub-Zero examined his surroundings until he found the unmistakable heat signature. To his confusion, the radar picked up a pool of dark blue rising around the bright red figure.

The curiosity was put aside and he kept running until he got closer to a light at the end of the corridor.

"Ember!" Sub-Zero gasped, dashing to the cage. "What happened?! What is this??" He interrogated despite the panic-stricken look on his sister's face.

All she had to say was Quan Chi's name and Sub-Zero understood. Hastily, he tried to freeze the glass and punch it, but the glass remained at room temperature and there wasn't even a crack on it when he punched. Next he took an ice bomb from his chest cavity. "Step back." He ordered before hurling the bomb at the glass.

There was the sound of ice crackling, and a sheen of ice obscured both of their vision, but when the sheen dispersed the glass remained the exact same.

Even though she knew he was trying everything he could to get her out, Ember couldn't stop herself from telling him to hurry, the water was rising.

She watched as ice and fists assaulted the cage and she leaned against the wall farthest from the locked door, staring at the water pooling around her feet like deadly snakes.

When one of the seats scattered around the room was smashed against the cage, Ember jumped, not having paid attention to what her brother was doing. The chair broke, not leaving a mark on the glass.

Noticing that he was taking stuff from around the room, Ember forced herself to look away from the water, which was up to her mid-calf, and look around.

"Kuai-Liang, the chandelier!" She shouted, a finger pointing at the extravagant light fixture dangling above her. Sub-Zero glanced at her, concerned that the chandelier might crush her too if it broke the cage. Nevertheless he shot an ice bomb at the chain keeping the fixture hanging.

The chain snapped and the chandelier quickly fell, making a grand scene as it smashed on the cage into a million pieces, sparks from the candles flickered harmlessly on the floor. Sub-Zero had instinctively protected himself with an ice shield as shards of glass and flame flew past him.

It was a chorus of sharp sounds, amplified ten-fold in the large room. There had been some silence throughout the temple beforehand, so when the light fixture hit the cage and ground, it resembled a student dropping a textbook on the floor while everyone else is quiet.

When the show was over, Sub-Zero stood up and broke his ice shield, checking to see what became of the cage.

To his frustration, the cage still stood, unaffected; and other than how terrified she already was, Ember wasn't harmed. She gave him a confused and frightened look, her breath quickening with every milliliter the water rose.