Kung Lao kicked Liu Kang across the face, sending him into a wall.

The Shaolin got up, wiping the blood trickling from his lip. Kung Lao had a cut running from the shoulder of his right arm to the wrist, as well as having his hat missing. They then ran into each other, throwing punches at the others kidney's. Kung Lao broke it up, and slammed his head into Liu Kang's. They both backed up, grabbing their heads, when Liu Kang roundhouse kicked Kung Lao in the shoulder.

Kung Lao was thrown on his back, clutching his injured limb. He looked up at Liu Kang, who had raised his foot, preparing to bring it down on his head. Kung Lao quickly rolled out of the way, able to avoid getting his skull crushed by Liu Kang. The Shaolin's foot slammed into solid concrete. Liu Kang looked towards Kung Lao, as his former friend stood to his feet. Liu Kang rushed Kung Lao, tackling him to the ground. Kung Lao used the momentum against Liu Kang, sending him onto his back. The Shaolin got up, but was sent back down by Kung Lao's fist to his back.

Grabbing his back, Liu Kang groaned in frustration. Kung Lao said, "Liu Kang, this is getting us nowhere."

Liu Kang ignored him, instead jumping at his former friend. Kung Lao stepped out of the way. As Liu Kang passed him, he grabbed his arm, and flipped him over. Liu Kang was sent to his back once again.

Kung Lao continued. "You have to stop!"

Liu Kang wiped some blood from his lip, and said, "I beat you once before, I can do it again."

Shaking his head, Kung Lao said, "I am much stronger now, both pyshically and mentally.

"You are still the same traitor you once were," Liu Kang shot back. He got to his feet, and charged again. Kung Lao avoided the mad punches easily, and then sent his elbow into Liu Kang's abdomen. He was staggered back, but he did not fall. He said, "I should have killed you at the temple."

"You mean the run down hotel we were using as a hideaway?" asked Kung Lao. "If you believe that to be a true temple, then you are farther lost to our original causes than I had previously thought."

"Enough!" shouted Liu Kang, swiping his hand away. He pointed at Kung Lao. "You will pay for your insolence."

Kung Lao looked down at the ground. "In the past year, I have lost my best friend, who now wishes nothing more than to kill me. I just want him back."

Liu Kang sneered in disgust. "You should have thought of that when you disobeyed our cause."

"You mean murder?!"

"No!" shouted Liu Kang. "I mean justice! Our own set of justice, our own laws, that others must obey if they want to live."

"You mean give up our own free will?"

Liu Kang shook his head. "You still do not understand." He stepped forward, but stopped. Liu Kang shook his head again, and said, "The next time you see me, our fight will be to the death." He quickly dashed away, leaving Kung Lao alone.

A voice behind him spoke. "You spared him."

Kung Lao looked behind himself, and saw Raiden standing with Johnny Cage and the one called Smoke. Smoke was currently flexing his arm, currently looking distraught. His arm was bandaged, making Kung Lao wondering what had happened. He decided against it however, feeling as though it was a personal problem. Johnny Cage, on the other hand, looked exactly the same as six months ago, minus the goatee. Johnny was looking rather uncomfortable, scratching the back of his neck.

"Why?" asked Raiden.

Kung Lao looked over to the Thunder God. "I didn't. I fully intended to kill him." He flopped down to the floor. "I'm just tired."

Elsewhere, two floors above the streets,

"I'm so sorry," said a strange man in the feetle position. "I tried to kill him. I truly did." He crawled forward slightly. "But he was too strong. Too fast. But I promise, the others will die by my hand, or me by theirs."

Blaze had been up on that rooftop, begging to 'them.' His burned mask was now gone, his horribly scarred face showing to the world. No one was around to see it but the birds. And the Gods. He strapped the miniature flamethrowers to his wrist. He had made these a few days before he was thrown in jail. He only discovered one obtained by his temporary master.

Shang Tsung had thought that they seemed like a sound idea, and aloud Blaze to use one. The crazed man had found the other one... somewhere. The degrading state of his mind, he forgets the unimportant things rather quickly. The only things he cares is who he needs to kill. And how many. Blaze had finished strapping his last flame thrower.

"I will not fail this time, my masters," he murmured. He then screamed to the top of his lungs. "Do you hear me?! I will not fail!" He leaped off the rooftop, landing on a car, laughing the whole time.

Jax pulled into the destroyed police station, easing Alex out, who had gone unconscious. Sonya had just finished tying up Baraka, who had cut all of the other bonds, when Jax arrived.

"Sonya," Jax called out. "I've got an injured over here."

Sonya quickly jogged over, and saw the bullet wound in Alex's leg. "Has she lost any blood?"

"Not much," answered Jax. "The bullet blocked most of the blood."

Sonya nodded. She then noticed someone missing. "Where's Stryker?"

"Gone after Shang Tsung," stated Jax.

"Is he crazy?" asked Sonya. "He thinks he can take him on alone?"

"After what that bastard did to Kenshi, are you surprised?"

A long silence soon followed. However, that silence was soon interrupted.

"I can tell ya where they are," said an Austrailian voice.

Whipping her pistol out, Sonya pointed it to the man who spoke. "Kano."

The man in question, Kano, chuckled. He was twirling one of his knifes, leaned up against of piece of the building. "'Ello, love. How's my sweet thing been?"

Jaz stood behind Sonya ready to assister his partner. She hissed, "Go fuck yourself."

Kano held his chest in faux pain. "Babe, that hurts. And ta think, I was gonna help."

"And why the hell would you do that?" asked Jax, cracking his knuckles.

Kano kicked himself off the rubble, and said, "Well, we're all giving away Shang Tsung's location, might as well. Plus, there is something in it for me."

"Like what?"

Kano chuckled again. "Immunity from the law."

Sonya laughed openly at that. "You think we can just do that? No one is above the law, not even us."

Kano waved the response away. "I know that. What I'm saying, is that you let me go. Ignore all my records, and let me move to the Philippines, or something."

"Even if we did do that, how do we know you wouldn't be lying?" questioned Jax, arms crossed against his chest.

"You can't." Kano started walking away. He had them right where he wanted them. Without his information, the two cops wouldn't have a clue.

"Wait!"

Kano smiled. He turned around, and saw a very angry Sonya. "If we do this… you will leave. You will never come back to our city." She got closer, slightly intimidating him. "Because if you do, I will find you… and I will kill you."

Laughing nervously, Kano nodded.

A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek. The flaps of Kenshi's blindfold danced in the wind behind him. He gripped his pistol tightly. Normally, his finger would not be on the trigger, as if it was, the chance of shooting someone on accident went up dramatically. However, Stryker had every intention of gunning down each and every human being in whatever building that bastard was in. He knew that was not the right way to think. But he was not thinking about any of that right now. Truly, he only wanted to kill the old man. But he would kill anyone who stood in his way.

Two cyborgs walked down the streets, scanning the surroundings. They were each a dull gray color, meant to blend in with urban environments. Stryker noticed their boots changed into the color of the ground they walked upon. Of course, that wasn't going through his mind at the moment. Robots? he thought. Now they've got robots? What is wrong with these guys?

The cyborg's heads snapped to the right, thankfully not in Stryker's direction. However, he silently prayed for whoever did get their attention. As the two cyborgs drew closer to whomever gained their attention, Stryker holstered his pistol. He grabbed the M4, aiming down its sights. He changed it to fully automatic. He guessed it would take an entire clip just to take one of these things down with the armor they wore. Or was it their skin? Stryker didn't know.

The cyborg on the right morphed its hand into what looked like the barrel of a gun, whilst the other cyborg's hand was morphed into a blade. Stryker's eyes widened at that, unable to comprehend the kind of technology capable of doing anything like that. The cyborg with the gun hand raised the gun, firing into the alleyway. Stryker heard a screech. It sounded masculine.

He was right.

A man in his mid-thirties walked out into the dim light, holding his shoulder. He walked closer to the cyborgs, who simply stood there, watching. He fell to the ground, a pool of his own blood formed beneath him. He looked up at them. "Please," he begged. The cyborg who had morphed his hand into a blade raised said blade, bringing it down upon the man.

Blood splattered onto the cyborg's face. Stryker quickly ducked back behind his cover, careful not to make a sound. Firing upon the cyborgs would be useless, and only cause attention. The cyborgs, once done with the act, walked away in silence, still scanning the area. Once they were gone, Stryker stood up, stretching his back. He mumbled some curse words to himself, rubbing his back.

He looked over to the lifeless body. His eyes narrowed, full of hate. It's only been several hours, and they had already taken over Decon. Whenever Stryker's mind wandered there, he could never comprehend it. It was not possible. There was no way a group that size could take over the city in that amount of time. At the very least, it would have taken months. Unless... unless they had been planning for months, planting the seeds. Stryker cursed himself. This was started since before the tournament.

He heard footsteps. He whipped around, finger on the trigger, ready to fire. The barrel landed on his target's face... which had a goofy grin. A nervous grin, but it was still goofy.

Johnny waved his hands. "Whoa! We're on your side, remember?" He formed a 'T' with his hands.

Stryker looked behind Johnny. That Smoke guy was there, along with the 'Thunder God.' Personally, he still called bullshit. But, beggars can not be choosers, and when picking your allies, you cannot be a beggar. He noticed someone familiar. He was there. At the tournament. He was drunk, but he was there. Stryker lowered his gun. "Kung Lao?"

The Asian man nodded. "Officer Stryker. Long time." He bowed. "I'm sorry for your loss."

That struck a nerve. "Yeah?" asked Stryker, a little too aggressive for his taste. "'Sorrys' aren't bringing him back." He knew he was being selfish. For all he knew, Kung Lao could've lost his best friend. But Stryker was still grieving. He forced back the tears threatening to burst, but he won't. For Kenshi.

Kung Lao narrowed his eyes. "I know how you feel." Yup. Stryker was right. "Although my friend is not dead, he might as well be."

Stryker looked off to the side. "We should get off the streets. We're not safe here." He then noticed Smoke. The former Lin Kuei had not looked up, only looking at his covered arm. Funny. He didn't have that before. Stryker looked at Raiden with questioning eyes, but the Thunder God shook his head. So, that's a touchy subject as well.

Johnny was the only one who could truly talk without bringing up something depressing. "Now, I don't know about all of you, but dying doesn't seem like fun. How about we find a decent place to hide, hmm?"

They all nodded.

Earlier,

Smoke was looking down at his arm in horror. For the past three years, he was fighting the cyborgs. Every waking moment of his life was spent to stop the Lin Kuei's Cyber Initative. If his memory served correctly, Sektor was the first to be turned. Then came Cyrax, who was very out spoken about the whole ordeal, but nonetheless went willingly. All of this was under the direction of Bi-Han, also known as Sub-Zero.

Well, he was known as Sub-Zero.

Now the world had one less evil in it, thanks to Scorpion. Tomas had thanked the Shirai Ryu everyday for the past six months, although he wanted to deal the killing blow himself. That being said, Smoke understood Scoprion's feelings for revenge. Another thing he, Cyrax, and Kuai Liang, Bi-Han's younger brother, adamantly challenged against was the massacre of the Shirai Ryu. That was the straw that broke the camel's back for Smoke. He and Kuai Liang fled the Lin Kuei, evading them for five years.

Then, Scorpion attacked.

In a fit of rage, the final member of the Shirai Ryu brutally murdered Kuai Liang, mistaking him for Bi-Han. The attack left Smoke in a coma for two years. After those two years went past, he awoke, feeling stronger than ever. Despite what Scoprion had done to Kuai, Smoke did not feel a need for revenge against him. His vengeance was aimed towards the same man, Bi-Han, the catalyst for the entire event.

For those three years, he had thought Sektor was the first to be automated.

His cybernetic hand told him otherwise.

While the advances in cybernetics the Lin Kuei made could have made a new arm for his, as it was entirely possible he lost his arm without realizing it, why would they? He was their enemy, or so he had thought. But what Raiden was telling him now... it proved it wrong.

"Tomas, are you listening?"

Smoke fell to his knees. He clutched his cybernetic arm, wanting to crush it. It all made sense to him now. Why he had not suffered a broken bone since his awakening, why he could remember only ten years prior to his awakening, among many other things. He could now feel the metal inside his body, the wires keeping him alive. Did he too die that day, only to be brought back by the Lin Kuei?

"Yo, ninja dude? Are you alright?" The actor.

Smoke murmured, "How long?"

Johnny raised an eyebrow, and looked over to Raiden, who asked, "How long what?"

Smoke jumped to his feet. He shouted, "How long have you know about this?!" He held up his arm.

Raiden narrowed his eyes. "That information was not important-."

Grabbing Raiden by the collar, surprising all three of them, more specifically Raiden, Smoke hoisted him above the ground. "Don't give me that bullshit! How could you not tell me I was one of them?!"

Raiden, calm as ever, said, "Smoke, I know you are angry, understandably so, but you need to understand, I kept this from you for a reason."

Smoke threw the Thunder God to the ground. "Then you better start explaining what reason that is."

"It created a placebo effect,' replied Raiden, getting to his feet. He dusted himself off.

Johnny asked, "How wouldn't telling him he's a cyborg create a pla-something-or-another effect?"

If looks could kill, Raiden would be dead. Smoke looked into his soul with eyes that burned through. "It would stop him from breaking out into uncontrolled anger."

Not taking anymore, Smoke threw a punch. At Raiden. The Thunder God fell to the ground, a tooth flying out. He started to raise from the ground. Smoke shouted, "You had no right to keep that from me!" He grabbed Raiden by the collar. He hoisted him up again, and threw another punch. "I'm suppose to be dead! They brought me back, and you didn't tell me?!" His screams of rage had become cries of sorrow.

He started to sink to his knees, still gripping Raiden's collar. Normally the Thunder God would punish any mortal who would dare lay a finger on him. However, he could not hope to imagine what Smoke was going through. The two punches Raiden had received were well deserved. "They didn't bring you back."

Smoke looked up at Raiden. "W-What?"

Though his nose began to bleed blue, he ignored the pain. It would go away in a few minutes, and all cuts and bruises would be healed. "The Lin Kuei did not bring you back, Tomas." He knelt down next to Smoke, who was now a quivering mess. "They saved your life. You had not crossed over to the other side, unlike Kuai. Therefore, while what they did to you was an act that is unforgiveable, it did not break any rules. That is why I did not tell you sooner."

Smoke began muttering, "Why?" to himself.

Johnny, who had been nonessential personnel at the moment, had been sitting back, watching the scene unfurl. He stepped closer, and said, "Guys, I'm not entirely sure if I'm right, but we might want to leave, so we don't get caught by the Termin- Sorry, Smoke."

Smoke stopped muttering to himself enough to stand. Raiden reached into his pocket, and gave him a glove to cover the hand. Smoke nodded, and slipped the glove on. Without warning, Raiden raised his arm, and they teleported out of the area.

Quan Chi drummed his fingers against the desk. He let out an exaggerated sigh. Scorpion had been gone far longer than was necessary.

Shang Tsung had gone to reconfigure the rest of the cyborgs, as only three of them, discounting LK-520, had been formatted to serve them. He mentioned something about it only taking a few minutes, but that was well over an hour ago. Plus the stench of tobacco had not left.

That aggravated the necromancer to no end. It reminded him too much of the Netherrealm, that barren place. Not many know this, but the smell of Hell is similar to a cigar's smoke. He had never discovered why that was, but Shinnok could not be bothered with such rubbish.

Shinnok. His 'master.'

The fallen Elder God is known by many names. Diablo, Lucifer, Prince of Darkness, Satan, Devil, all of these are synonymous with Shinnok. Quan Chi could never figure out why. All he did was sit in his throne, a shadow of his former self. He still had the power to level a city, but lacked the will. That left when the other Elder Gods denounced his status. That brought a smile to Quan Chi's face every time.

He heard a burst of flames. Scorpion had returned. His lackey was kneeling in front of him. Quan Chi turned to face him. "Have you found anything?"

Scorpion shook his head.

Quan Chi's expression turned grim. "Very well. Nobody said finding them would be easy." He turned back. "The Tarkatans would be little more than useless in this situation." He scratched his chin. "Scorpion, remain here. I will return shortly." He got out of his seat, and left the room.

However, when he left, Scorpion uttered a single, almost unheard word.

"Hanzo."

A/N: Finally, after a month this chapter's fucking done. Honestly, for the first week, I had little to no interest in doing this chapter. Now, I come to you with this.

So, the stage is being set for the big finale. That hopefully won't be for, at the very least, another five chpaters. Don't mark in on the calendar that's when Legacy's ending. It might go for longer, it might be longer, point is, the stage is being set.

And yes, Scorpion will have slightly more of a presence later in the story. I don't want him to be like the MK movie version. I do like that costume, though.

Spino, out.