*Title: Ash and Frost* The Netherrealm wind howled like the souls trapped in it. Scorpion stood at the edge of the obsidian cliff, kunai chain coiled at his hip, watching smoke rise from the crags below. Sub-Zero stepped from the frost. Where his boots touched, black stone turned white. His breath didn’t fog – it crystallized and fell. “You called me here, Hanzo,” Bi-Han’s voice was cold as the Lin Kuei temple. “Speak. Or freeze.” Scorpion didn’t turn. “I did not call you.” “No. But your rage did.” Sub-Zero raised a palm. Ice crawled up the cliff face toward Scorpion’s boots. “The Elder Gods want us dead. Quan Chi wants us as puppets. Yet here we are, pulled to the same cursed place.” “Then we finish it.” Chains rattled. “Get over here.” The kunai flew. Sub-Zero slid sideways, leaving an ice statue in his place. The blade shattered it. He countered with a blast of frost – Scorpion ducked, rolled, and the ground where he’d stood became a spike field. They clashed in the middle. Fist to gauntlet. Fire to ice. Steam screamed between them. “You killed my kin,” Scorpion hissed, flame dancing behind his mask. “My clan. My son.” “And you killed me,” Sub-Zero answered, catching Scorpion’s wrist, freezing the flame at its source. “But we were both lied to. We are blades swung by dead men.” For a heartbeat, neither moved. Frost crept up Scorpion’s arm. Fire licked Sub-Zero’s chest plate. The cliff groaned. Then Bi-Han did something Hanzo did not expect. He let go. “Kill me, and Quan Chi wins. Again.” Sub-Zero stepped back. “My brother Kuai Liang… he seeks peace. He would end the Lin Kuei’s blood debt. I cannot. I am too far gone. But you…” Scorpion’s flames dimmed. “Why tell me this?” “Because the Netherrealm remembers. It showed me my own hell.” Ice formed a mirror between them. In it: Sub-Zero’s hands, around a child’s throat – Hanzo’s son. Quan Chi laughing behind him, pulling the strings. “I was his weapon. You were his fire. We were never enemies. We were tools.” The mirror shattered. Silence, save the wind. Scorpion sheathed the kunai. “The Shirai Ryu are ash. The Lin Kuei are frost. Ash buries frost. Frost preserves ash. We cannot be allies.” “No,” Sub-Zero agreed. “But we can choose our enemy.” From the chasm below, a shriek rose – Quan Chi’s scouts, sent to ensure neither left alive. Dozens of red eyes lit the dark. Scorpion looked at Sub-Zero. Nodded once. “Then let it be him.” They turned their backs to each other and faced the horde. Fire roared to Scorpion’s fists. Ice formed blades on Sub-Zero’s arms. The first demon leapt. It was met by a spear of flame and a shard of frost at the same time. It didn’t scream. It vaporized. When it was over, the cliff was glass – half melted, half frozen. Two warriors stood in the center, breathing hard, not looking at each other. “Next time we meet,” Scorpion said, walking into the smoke, “I will still try to kill you.” “I would expect nothing less,” Sub-Zero answered, vanishing into snow. Behind them, ash and frost swirled together, and for the first time in centuries, neither consumed the other