With Shinnok's defeat bringing a newfound sense of peace throughout the realms, this only meant that it was time for "spring cleaning".

The fallen Elder God's attack on the Jinsei had managed to damage certain areas of the world; this meant that almost every available Special Forces soldier had to attend to these disaster areas, leaving the base unguarded.

However, the aftermath was not without its triumphs. In defeating Shinnok, Cassie had rendered the god useless that his control over the revenants had been dissolved completely. They had recently awoken, recovered from their wounds. After a week of stabilizing mentally, they had left to accomplish their own individual tasks.

Liu Kang, Kitana, Jade, and Sindel had all gone to counsel Kotal Kahn about Edenia's fate. They were unable to unmerge the realms but managed to divide Outworld's territory such that the land of Edenia was restored. Liu Kang, Kitana, and Sindel ruled over Edenia, while Jade was engaged to Kotal Kahn, surprisingly. Everyone would be invited to their wedding two months later. Kabal and Stryker had agreed to join the Special Forces in their responsibilities with cleaning up the world. Kung Lao had retreated to the White Lotus with Raiden to clear his mind of the past.

However, Tomas had decided to give up his life of violence and fighting, settling down in Edenia. He had joined Kitana and her friends and had obtained living area for him.

This decision affected Kuai the most, as he wanted desperately to reconnect with his friend, but was unable to give up his duties. They promised that they would keep in touch, and said their temporary goodbyes.

Sonya had kept the kids at the base to recover from their wounds. She was always on a mission, helping people from the "suddenly occurring natural disasters" with Johnny, Kenshi, and even Jax, who had agreed to help temporarily.

This, of course, had resulted in little supervision of the Special Forces base. Because of this, Sonya had asked Kuai and Hanzo to supervise the base while they were away. Kuai had also lent some of his students to aid the Special Forces, as well as Hanzo.

Which was why he was sitting in the Special Forces "living room", reading a book that he had brought with him from his collection. Hanzo was sitting across from him, fully recovered from his own wounds inflicted by D'Vorah. He had his arms crossed, a reminder of his earlier rant.

Kuai remembered it clearly. The man was upset that he was reduced to the rank of "babysitter" for the Special Forces, but Kuai had a sneaking suspicion that he was upset about his earlier actions; killing Quan Chi and almost preventing the revenants from coming back, as well as allowing Shinnok to be freed.

He sighed, putting down the book. There was no point in reading it now if his mind was troubled about this. "What is on your mind, Hanzo?"

The Shirai Ryu General looked up, glaring slightly. "Nothing. I am fine, Sub-Zero," he replied defensively. Kuai rolled his eyes. "For the last time, it's Kuai. I call you by your name, the least you could do is call me by mine."

Hanzo turned away, and Kuai sighed again. "Look. There's no use in denying that you're bothered. But I can't help you if you won't tell me, Hanzo." The Shirai Ryu turned back to face him, anger gone. "I'm certain that you've already deduced what has been bothering me, Su - Kuai Liang."

Kuai nodded, both at the use of his name and to agree with Hanzo's statement. "You let anger get the better of you again. At least it was for a good cause this time. Yet, Hanzo, you place unnecessary blame on yourself."

The former hellspawn shook his head. "What unnecessary blame? I allowed Quan Chi to obtain the amulet, and he freed Shinnok because of it." Kuai nodded again. "Yes. This did happen. But Cassandra Cage and her team were able to defeat Shinnok. The world is safe now. What point is there in reminiscing on the past?"

Hanzo stayed silent.

Kuai, seeing that he was getting through to him, pressed on. "Besides, if you're going to get back at me for what I did, you're going to need to be in better spirits."

Hanzo nodded, staring off into space, before jumping up in his seat slightly. "What did you mean?" Kuai matched his look of confusion with his own look of mischief that only Hanzo and Tomas had seen. "You know what I'm talking about, Hanzo! I released those birds in your temple about a week and a half ago when I came to visit!"

The Shirai Ryu General, who had accepted that Kuai Liang was more mischievous than Johnny Cage, stared at him for only a few seconds before getting out of his seat. (It had taken him a full five minutes the first time before he had reacted. Kuai had kept count on a stopwatch.) "You dick!" Hanzo shouted. "Do you know how long it took me to get them out without severely harming them? Fuck you!"

Kuai snickered as he watched the other man rant. "Are you done now?" Hanzo stared at Kuai, who was failing to keep a grin off of his face before he himself broke off in slight chuckling.

"Okay," Hanzo said, "that was actually pretty good. I'm still a little mad, but that was good. It was pretty funny to see my students run around trying to get those birds under control."

The "all-professional" Lin Kuei Grandmaster looked around before leaning back, adopting a carefree stance in his seat. "Well, at least I can relax now. No one else around to be professional with. Do you know how hard it is for me to stay that way all day? All those missed opportunities of pranks I could have capitalized on..."

Hanzo snorted. "Poor you." He got up, leaving the area.

"Where are you going?" Kuai called out after him. "Plotting my revenge!" Hanzo shouted back before turning a corner.

Kuai picked up his book, opening it to the page he had marked. Well, at least I got him in good spirits again. Even if this development brings up issues for my future...

Takeda was restricted to the medbay.

He wasn't the only one; the rest of their quartet were also confined. They had monitors on their ankles, as they all had a previous history of not staying to fully recover. If they left the room, they'd be injected with a sedative and find themselves back in their bed again.

The boredom was not only affecting him. Kung Jin groaned for the eleventh time the past hour. "Guys. Come on, this is stupid. Can't we do anything?"

Jacqui sighed. "Sorry, Jin. Sub-Zero and Scorpion are supervising the complex. I don't know about you, but I'm afraid of what they're going to do if they find us misbehaving."

Cassie pulled out a tablet. "Well, what are they doing now?" Takeda looked over. "You have access to the security cameras?" Cassie smirked. "Duh! Let's see what they're up too..."

They scanned through the feed until they came across the living area camera. "Doesn't look like they're doing anything," Jacqui said.

Kung Jin frowned. "Whose idea was it to put those two together? Aren't they still hostile towards each other?"

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Keep up with the times, Jin! They're mutual allies now, or whatever."

Takeda could understand why Jin was so surprised. Their story was infamous. Anyone who fought for or against the Special Forces was aware of it. "They're talking. What are they saying?" Takeda asked.

Cassie turned on the volume, and their conversation was heard clearly.

"... last time, it's Kuai. I call you by your name, the least you could do is call me by mine."

Jacqui snickered. "Sub-Zero's trying to get Scorpion to call him by his real name? Good luck with that."

"Look. There's no use in denying that you're bothered. But I can't help you if you won't tell me, Hanzo."

"I'm certain that you've already deduced what has been bothering me, Su - Kuai Liang."

Cassie nudged Jacqui with her elbow. "He said it. Not so hard after all, huh?"

"You let anger get the better of you again. At least it was for a good cause this time. Yet, Hanzo, you place unnecessary blame on yourself."

"What unnecessary blame? I allowed Quan Chi to obtain the amulet, and he freed Shinnok because of it."

Takeda felt something shift uncomfortably in his chest. He knew all too well the guilt that rested on his master's shoulders. He knew how bad it could affect him, sometimes.

"Yes. This did happen. But Cassandra Cage and her team were able to defeat Shinnok. The world is safe now. What point is there in reminiscing on the past?"

Takeda spoke up. "We should stop. We're intruding on their privacy, now."

Kung Jin shook his head. "Shut up, Tak. There's nothing wrong with this..."

"Besides, if you're going to get back at me for what I did, you're going to need to be in better spirits."

All four of them had confused looks on their faces. "Get back at him for what?" Cassie asked rhetorically. Jacqui frowned. "What did he do?"

"...released those birds in your temple about a week and a half ago when I came to visit!"

The four stared at the screen for a split second before breaking off in giggles. "Sub-Zero did that?" Kung Jin said in amazement and shock.

"Wait! Scorpion's just reacting to it," Jacqui pointed at the screen.

"You dick! Do you know how long it took me to get them out without severely harming them? Fuck you!"

The four broke off in laughter. They stopped only when Hanzo started to chuckle as well. Takeda smiled at the image. It's good to see him happy and unstressed...

"Okay, that was actually pretty good. I'm still a little mad, but that was good. It was pretty funny to see my students run around trying to get those birds under control."

"Well, at least I can relax now. No one else around to be professional with. Do you know how hard it is for me to stay that way all day? All those missed opportunities of pranks I could have capitalized on..."

A snort. "Poor you."

"Where are you going?"

"Plotting my revenge!"

Kung Jin spoke up. "Did you record it?" Cassie smirked. "Of course. Who do you think I am?"

Jacqui shook her head. "Are we not going to talk about the fact that Sub-Zero has impulses to prank people, and that Scorpion just laughed?"

"He chuckled," Takeda corrected, "But it was close to laughter, I guess."

Sonya and the others had finished early.

They were on their way back by copter, talking amongst each other. "God, I'm so fucking happy to get back for some good, quality sleep," Johnny sighed into their headsets.

Stryker was in the front, piloting the aircraft with Kabal sitting next to him in the cockpit, but they both briefly acknowledged his statement.

Jax snorted. "For once, I agree with you, Cage."

Kenshi smirked tiredly. "I am also glad to get back. I hope Takeda has recovered well."

Sonya smiled at them all. After seeing Johnny in his weakened state in D'Vorah's cocoon, she only then realized how afraid she was of losing him. They made up, much to Cassie's delight.

After an hour, they were standing outside the front entrance. It had been raining in the area, and the ground was mushy under their feet. Kabal was about to open the doors when they opened from the other side.

Kuai had tackled Hanzo through the doors, both "men" wrestling in the mud and shouting obscenities at the other.

Kabal, who had fallen to the ground, stayed there as he stared at the scene. The others had similar looks of surprise and shock on their faces.

"You son-of-a-bitch!" Kuai shouted. "I can't believe you would do something like this, you little shit!"

Hanzo tried to shove him off. "You started with those birds in my temple! This is payback! (Ow! Stop biting, are you insane?!)"

Kuai punched at his gut. "I didn't bring you any physical pain, though! You had your students take care of it! You shocked me with a fucking cattle prod, you fucking asshole!"

Jax finally intervened, pulling the two apart by their collars. "Okay, kids. Break it up."

Kuai struggled to free himself, still pissed. "Let me go, or so help me, Jax, I'll make you my fucking bitch alongside that prick!"

There was a pause.

An extremely long one.

"... completely irresponsible of you two!" Sonya was saying.

They had gone inside, collecting in Sonya's office. Kenshi and Kabal stood behind Sonya, who was leaning over her desk to look at the two accused with Johnny sitting on the edge of her desk. Jax and Stryker stood at the doorway.

Kuai had his arms crossed, slightly regretting his actions (but not really). Hanzo held an icepack to his new black eye. Sonya glared at them.

"What were you two thinking, doing that? You had a job to do, you know!"

Kuai spoke up. "As someone who watches over a large group of people every day, I know how to incorporate fun into my supervision, general. Do you?"

Hanzo kicked Kuai under the table, but everyone saw it easily. "Shut up! What are you doing?" he hissed.

Kuai leaned back, speaking loudly and in a droll, dry tone. "Don't worry, Hanzo. I'm just getting us out of this mess that you dragged me into. I expect a handwritten thank-you afterwards."

Kenshi coughed, turning away and hiding his mouth behind his hand.

Sonya turned around to glare at him before looking back at the two. "You two are in big trouble. The complex could have been attacked due to your negligence!"

Kuai made a huge show of looking around, even getting up to feel out the walls. Hanzo hid his face in his hands, too embarrassed. "Wow, look at this," Kuai gasped in acted shock. "The still-intact walls of the still-intact Special Forces complex!" He sat back down, looking up at Sonya with a look. "Point is, your base is still intact. Everyone is safe. I didn't have to do this, you know. So, you're welcome."

He got up, nodding once. "I think I'm done here. Come on, Hanzo. We've spent too much time here." The Shirai Ryu slowly got on his feet, not looking at the expressions on the others' faces and exited the room after Kuai.

They went to the portals, inputting their respective destinations. Hanzo looked to his side at Kuai, a smirk now on his face. "Thanks," Hanzo said.

Kuai chuckled, looking over at him. "You can really play the 'embarrassed' act really well. And kudos to you for the prank. It still hurts," he winced, touching the small of his back.

Hanzo shrugged. "You had it coming."

They both went through their portals, leaving to their own respective temples.

Sonya shook her head in exasperation (and slight amusement).

"What the hell?" Stryker asked aloud. "What did we just see?"

Kenshi spoke up. "It seems that we may not know them as well as we thought."

Kabal snorted. "You think? When you guys told me that that Sub-Zero was stoic and composed while Scorpion was prone to anger, I believed you when I first saw them. Now, though, it's like I'm seeing two completely different people."

Jax shrugged. "Whatever. I could honestly care less; all I want to do is see Jacqui."

They all went to the medbay, opening the doors.

The four sat in their beds upright, shit-eating grins beaming on their faces.

"So," Cassie started, "we heard that you ran into some trouble with Sub-Zero and Scorpion. Wanna know what we got?"