It was nighttime in Outworld and in the Kuatan prison it was only a few minutes before the prison was scheduled to go into lights-out. Due to her previous position as warden of the Cobalt Mines of the Shokan, Sheeva was now aiding in the prison at the city of Kuatan itself. Prince Goro had instructed for Sheeva and her fellow guards who were previously assigned to the Cobalt Mines to now make more numbers to protect the prison, it being considered a safe strategy due to the champion of the Centaurs being in one of the cells. Sheeva approached Motaro's already heavily guarded prison cell with Motaro looking up to see the Shokan and immediately sighed after seeing one of the Shokan who aided in his defeat.
"You couldn't defeat me alone." Motaro commented.
"A war isn't fought so honourably as our people make it out to be," Sheeva stated. "And I never said I could."
"Why are you here?" Motaro asked. "To mock me?"
"To inform you that your fate lies with the Empress and not King Gorbak and Queen Mai," Sheeva told him. "And she wishes to bring peace between us… and maybe she's right. But either way this means your chances of getting out of here are likely. So stop trying to lash out at the guards, okay?"
"You'll have to put me in unbreakable chains to stop me from smashing you four armed freaks to pieces." Motaro said brutally.
"Then we will." Sheeva warned.
"I'll be out of here before you know it." Motaro said, his faith fully in his fellow Centaurs to rescue him.
"Sheeva!" Zenkaro called for. "A messenger told me that the King and Queen themselves want you to meet them in their throne room as soon as possible."
"Then I bid you farewell, Zenkaro." Sheeva said before taking her leave.
Motaro snickered. "You're the Shokan named Zenkaro?"
"You know of me?" He asked.
"Only the bad things," Motaro replied. "The gossip of you killing one of your own people. You're a disgrace."
"I…" Zenkaro stayed silent and stared at the floor. "I didn't mean to… I let my anger get the better of me."
"You think?!"
"Is this how you cope with your wounded pride?" Zenkaro harshly queried. "Talk to all the guards and insult them for their weaknesses? All while being blissfully ignorant of your own?!"
"Do not talk to me like that, boy." Motaro demanded as he clenched his hands around the iron bars, trying to pry them away which was frankly a possibility that worried Zenkaro and the nearby guards.
"You're a prisoner," Zenkaro reminded. "You had no right piping up in the first place!"
"And you have no right to still be accepted by some of your brethren!" Motaro argued. "You're a complete and utter disgrace!"
"Enough!" Zenkaro snapped and ran forward to boot Motaro in the face, knocking him off his feet and onto the floor.
"Watch that temper, boy." Motaro advised the other guards in the room restrained Zenkaro and dragged him out the cell block.
Nearby outside the prison itself, a small group consisting of Sergeant Eusilus and the duo of Nikala and Kavalry who had gained a reputation for being a strong pairing. They hid behind some trees as they waited for Skull and Raza who soon joined them. Skull and Raza had come up with a disguise where Skull would carry Raza on his shoulders while hidden in a large Shokan trench coat that they had bought from one of the city's tailors and used their combined pairs of arms to appear to be a Shokan messenger. This was to firstly look into the layout of the prison and to get rid of Sheeva who they knew thanks to Nikala's intel was a dangerous warrior that they had spotted heading into the prison upon their arrival to the city. They now watched Sheeva walk past and go on her way to the city's palace, leaving them in the clear to begin their break-in.
"How did that disguise work?" Kavalry asked quietly as they shuffled over up to the walls of the impressive yet imposingly tall prison.
"Four arms is all you need to trick those fools." Nikala replied.
"Quiet," Eusilus ordered. "We must keep focused."
"Where abouts is Motaro?" Kavalry had more questions.
"You sure don't shut up do you?" Eusilus remarked.
"Oh c'mon, Sarge," Nikala came to the defense of her friend. "That was a valid question."
"Okay then," Eusilus said as he turned to Skull and Raza. "You two, tell shortie and us where Motaro's cell is."
"Dunno." Skull answered calmly.
"Sorry?" Eusilus wasn't expecting such a response. "Did you seriously not find his prison cell, despite the instructions of our plans."
"They never let us past the visitor area." Raza clarified.
"Should've said so sooner!" Eusilus remarked. "Blast! If only they'd let Motaro see his visitors…"
"Shh!" Skull said to mock Eusilus' previous orders which he himself was now breaking.
"They're not complete idiots," Nikala reluctantly admitted. "They know that us Centaurs would attempt a breakout to save our Champion."
"Clearly." Kavalry said and Eusilus nodded to show his own agreement.
"Let's just hurry up and do something already." Skull was beginning to get impatient.
"I have an idea…" Eusilus said as his eyes fell on a Shokan prison guard who was busy with a visible set of keys on him trying to find the one required to lock the doors to the entrance of the visitor room.
"I like what you're thinking," Raza praised as he realized what Eusilus was looking at. "How about you, Skull?"
Raza went to turn to Skull only to find that he had already legged it to the guard and was now already in the process of stabbing his sword into the poor Shokans brain. He then dragged his body over to the trees they had previously been hiding in that lived to the side of where the prison stood and stole the keys of the corpse as well as his armour. Skull and Raza replicated their previous disguise of stacking atop of each other, now with the armour fitted on them. It wasn't the greatest fit but it was manageable and didn't look too ridiculous. Raza was now carrying Skull to present a different face to before and they headed inside the visitor room.
Having examined the direction Sheeva went in after they had informed her of their made up message, they unlocked the door to the prison block she had gone to as they considered it the first place to begin their search. They walked past the guards as calm as possible, none of them batting an eye at the new face seeing as there had been a lot recently due to the Cobalt Mines being under refurbishment and the prison needing higher security due to Motaro being amongst the ranks of prisoners. They soon found Motaro in one of the cells, it being noticeable by the amount of guards by it.
"Well?" Eusilus asked as Skull and Raza exited the prison a second time.
"Follow me," Raza instructed. "I'll show you where his prison block is."
They went around to a specific area around the east side of the prison walls. Upon deciding the wall that would lead to Motaro's with the help of peeking through a couple of the bar windows to the cells. Eusilus then retrieved a box of dynamite sticks that Kavalry had been carrying for the team on his back two hands.
"Now we're getting to the fun part." Skull said with a great level of excitement as he grabbed a stick of dynamite along with everyone else who began placing their sticks on the wall.
"One moment," Nikala said as she stood up straight on her hind legs while using her front hooves to rest against the wall as she leant forward to the metal bar window to peek through. "Psst!"
"Nikala?" Motaro had spun around and saw Nikala's familiar face peering through the barred window. "It is great to see you."
"You too," Nikala said with a smile though quickly wanted to get to the point out of fear of being caught. "We'll catch up later when you're free from this place."
"What's your plan?" Motaro asked quietly as he kept looking behind him to make sure no guards were looking or listening in.
"You'll see," Nikala assured. "Just move yourself forward towards the bars… there's going to be an explosion."
"Okay," Motaro complied. "I trust you."
"Thank you," Nikala replied before dropping down and facing the rest of her squad. "Let's do this."
"Not yet." Raza instructed.
"What are we waiting for?" Nikala questioned.
"Skull has ran back inside the prison," Eusilus explained in detail, a strong skill of his. "He wants to create a big distraction so our explosion and extraction of Motaro will go unnoticed for at least a short amount of time."
"Sounds like a fine plan," Nikala praised.
"I just hope Skull isn't getting himself killed." Raza hoped with some clear worry in his tone of voice.
"I certainly do not care either way." Eusilus commented.
"Hey!" Raza shouted. "Skull's the best person in our alliance!"
"Shut up." Eusilus demanded.
"Or what?"
"Do you want to get caught?" Nikala asked.
"Peace!" Kavalry commanded. "Let's stay focused."
"He's right." Nikala agreed.
"Indeed," Eusilus also admitted the truth in Kavalry's words. "Skull better hurry up."
"Have some patience." Raza demanded.
They stood in silence for a few moments and Raza was right and an explosive soon went off, prompting Raza to set alite their own dynamite that had been placed against the wall. Once detonated, Motaro leapt down from the now blown apart wall at the back of his cell. They began making a run for it to escape the city as soon as possible.
Skull meanwhile, had run past all the guards watching over Motaro and had led them to his own stick of dynamite which blew them back as he went to dart out the door to leave the prison in the visitor room only to be flanked by Zenkaro who grabbed him with his muscular arms and hurled him across a bunch of chairs and tables. Skull groaned as he staggered to his feet only to be backhanded by both of Zenkaro's right hands which knocked him against another table.
"What was the point of your attack?!" Zenkaro interrogated as he grabbed Skull around the throat with his upper right hand. "Tell me!"
"Aw c'mon man," Skull spoke back. "It was just for a laugh."
"Wrong answer." Zenkaro said as he chokeslammed Skull through the table that was behind him.
Skull hurried back up to his feet and went to attack Zenkaro with his sword but the Shokan warrior blocked it with his spiked gauntlets. He then followed up by punching Skull in the stomach with both his lower arms as he upper two were occupied with blocking the oncoming sword strikes. Zenkaro then managed to snatch the sword off of Skull before hurling it across the room and picking him up around his torso with his lower arms. He then began dragging the spikes on his gauntlets down Skull's torso in savage fashion, tearing through his black shirt. Skull would of course usually be wearing his infamous armour but he and Raza had left their sets with Reiko as they wouldn't want this incidence to draw any connections towards the Kahn Guard as well as the simple fact that they wouldn't be wearing the armour due to their plan of wearing disguises.
Despite the brutal wounds that Skull had suffered, he still fought back. He swung his head forward with a savage headbutt to Zenkaro which caused him to release his grip of Skull who took advantage of the momentarily stunned Shokan by throwing a punch at his head. Zenkaro didn't react to the punch and only seemed more annoyed with his enemy and wrapped his arms around him and mercilessly powerbombed him to the hard floor before grabbing him by the legs and effortlessly swung him around for a solid minute before launching him into a wall without breaking a sweat.
Zenkaro had made a mistake however, Skull had been conveniently tossed to the side of the room where both his sword and the exit to the prison was. Skull quickly grabbed his sword before scurrying to the door and slamming it in Zenkaro's face as he charged forth at him.
Skull tried making a run for it but Zenkaro soon got out of the prison and leapt feet first atop of Skull, nearly breaking multiple bones in Skull's beaten body as he crashed spine first against the concrete path. Skull was a resilient and experienced warrior though and stuck his sword into Zenkaro's foot before pulling it out and slicing his chest as he did so. Zenkaro fell on his backside which left him vulnerable to Skull who began smashing his forearm into his face and pounding multiple elbows and mixing it up by smashing the hilt of his sword into his eye, bruising it almost instantly. Zenkaro still had enough strength to swing a punch that was hard enough to knock Skull backwards but he couldn't stand up in time before Skull plunged his blade into his stomach and began twisting his weapon to further inflict pain.
Before Skull was able to further his own sudden burst of offense, the other guards had caught up to him after making it through the explosion he had created back inside one of the prison blocks. Seeing them approaching, Skull ripped his sword out of Zenkaro and sprinted as fast as he could though it was challenging due to the injuries he had suffered from his fight with Zenkaro. The Shokan were naturally slower than Skull however, due to them being much larger and thus heavier which allowed Skull to make a successful escape.
Elsewhere in the city, Sheeva had arrived at the palace where Kintaro was guarding the entrance. Being considered the second strongest of the Shokan behind Goro himself, Kintaro was considered more than fit to be the single guard at the doors to the palace for the foreseeable future.
"Greetings, Kintaro." Sheeva said as she approached the entrance.
"Hello," he greeted back. "What's your business here?"
"A messenger just told me that the King and Queen wished to see me." Sheeva explained.
"All messengers are off duty at this time," Kintaro informed her. "How recent was this?"
"About thirty minutes ago." Sheeva estimated.
"Strange," Kintaro commented. "Come inside anyway, I'm sure they won't mind."
"Thank you." Sheeva said gratefully as Kintaro unlocked the door for her.
"Have you ever been in here before?" Kintaro asked as he held the door open for her.
"I have not." Sheeva answered before stepping inside and being mesmerised by the fancy interior.
"Then allow me to escort you to the throne room." Kintaro offered.
"Thank you." Sheeva said again as she began following Kintaro.
They soon arrived at the throne room where Queen Mai and King Gorbak were about to leave to go upstairs to their bedroom for the night. They stopped upon seeing Kintaro accompanied by Sheeva.
"Is everything alright?" Queen Mai asked.
"An apparent messenger told Sheeva that you two wished to speak with her." Kintaro got straight to the point while he bowed along with Sheeva.
"Don't believe everything you hear," Gorbak advised. "Though this does raise the question as to why would someone have made such a lie?"
"Good question," Mai commented. "Probably just some foolish prankster."
"It can't be that simple." Gorbak stated.
"How so, my love?" Mai asked, raising an eyebrow in reaction to Gorbak's statement.
"Specifically Sheeva, our current warden to our prison, was targeted for this so-called 'prank'," Gorbak detailed with all four of his arms gesturing air quotations as he spoke the last word. "This means they were most likely aware of your status and wished to divert you for a scheme related to the prison…"
"You're overthinking things, darling," Mai claimed as she interrupted her husband. "Motaro being imprisoned is causing you needless stress."
"We must be certain that things are in order," Gorbak believed. "Return to the prison immediately! Go with her, Kintaro, you may need some extra arms."
"I don't think this is necessary, dear." Mai argued with a gentle politeness.
"It is." Gorbak said firmly.
"Do not worry," Kintaro chimed in. "We'll be sure to check with haste."
"It's no problem," Sheeva added. "Consider it done, my king."
"Thank you," Gorbak appreciated the compliance to his demands. "Now go."
"I actually would wish to speak with you later, Sheeva," Mai stated as the two warriors began leaving the room. "I'll have an actual messenger inform you of it later."
"I look forward to it, my queen." Sheeva commented as she and Kintaro departed to check on the prison.
"What's happening?" Goro asked as he came down the stairway, having been awoken from the discussion. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing at all, my son." Mai claimed gently with a warm smile.
"Potentially something," Gorbak was completely truthful with his son. "I am suspicious that an attack may have taken place at the prison."
"Then I must go be sure no dangerous prisoners like you know who have escaped." Goro stated bravely.
"No!" Mai refused. "You must rest! You have a busy schedule with your meeting with the Empress tomorrow."
"Your mother is right," Gorbak admitted. "Return to sleep. Kintaro and Sheeva shall handle it…"
They soon reached the prison only to see the damages left as a result of the explosions as well as a few wounded guards, including Zenkaro. The guards explained what events had unfolded and soon revealed that Motaro had managed to escape somehow in the mix of things. Kintaro rounded some fit guards to try and track down Motaro and whoever else was associated with him as Sheeva stuck around to tend to her wounded comrades.
"Are you alright?" She asked as she sat beside Zenkaro who was clutching onto her wounds on a bench in the ward.
"I failed again," Zenkaro said sadly. "I'm sorry."
"This was nobody's fault," Sheeva tried to reassure him. "You tried your best."
"And my best is not good enough." Zenkaro claimed.
"Nobody could've prevented this," Sheeva genuinely believed. "Not even the likes of Prince Goro could've seen this coming."
"If you say so," Zenkaro was feeling a bit better but still had much doubt in himself. "Well what do we do now?"
"See if we can catch him." Sheeva said plainly.
"You make it sound easy." Zenkaro remarked as Sheeva began examining his friend's wounds.
"It can't be too difficult," Sheeva pointed out, her confidence was something that Zenkaro saw as admirable. "Once found he'll be brought back in I'm certain of it."
"What if he isn't found?"
"He will be."
In actuality however, Motaro and company were long gone from the prison and were just heading out of Kuatan itself. Motaro, Nikala and Eusilus had galloped through the city as fast as they could with Kavalry and Raza who the latter rode on Eusilus and the former rode Nikala like how they've done many times in the past. Due to the Shokans lack of transport, they failed to catch up to the powerful steeds as they now set out for the Valley of the Dead due to how close it was to Kuatan.
The valley was actually a relatively risky spot for Reiko to have set up his camp for it was close to the two most powerful cities in Outworld: Kuatan and the newly named Sabar City. Motaro insisted on going straight home to the hills that belonged to the Centaurs but such land was nearly half way across the realm and they needed a rest as well as for Motaro to meet the rest of the Kahn Guard.
The journey was going perfectly fine for everyone besides Raza. Though those present could argue that his complaining was making the experience anything but fine.
"Instead of whining about your husband we'd really appreciate it if you could offer some directions." Nikala said as only Raza had previously been to the valley.
"You have a map," Raza reminded the group. "Use it."
"Your friend helped free me," Motaro acknowledged. "For that we'll search for him when possible."
"Why can't we do it now?!" Raza asked impatiently.
Motaro sighed. "Sargeant Eusilus, go back with the Outworlder to find their friend." He finally gave into the whining that had been going on for a solid fifteen minutes by now.
"Thank you!" Raza was overjoyed by this news, his entire demeanour suddenly changing. "Giddy-up, Eusilus! Let's go!"
"Cease the disrespect before I throw you off of me." Eusilus warned.
"If he has survived then you'll find him heading this very direction," Kavalry thoughtfully pointed out. "Unless he's completely forgotten the plan."
"Which is likely." Nikala added.
"We'll have a look," Eusilus promised as he turned around and prepared to go back the other way. "Farewell."
The other members of the group pushed forward and soon made it to the campsite in the Valley of the Dead where Reiko awaited them. They approached him as the Shadow Priest known as Talon was in his ear, filling the General in on what she had learnt from spying on Mileena's Union before vanishing with a dark purple energy which surrounded her as she departed.
"Ah," Reiko's attention then fell onto his new allies. "Gentlemen and Lady Nikala. I see you have succeeded. Though where is Skull and Raza? Oh, and that Sargeant."
"Skull got left behind," Nikala confessed. "But Eusilus and Raza will soon find him and return safely."
"They better… or else there will be problems," Reiko warned in a manner that intimidated both Nikala and Kavalry. "And where are my manners? Motaro! It is a blessing to see you're in grand health, friend."
"I thank you for arranging a mission to free me from that appalling place," Motaro thanked as he bowed his head in the presence of the General. "I know what you see from me and my people. I assure you that you shall have our support in whatever objectives you have."
"You wouldn't say that if you knew the full plan." Kavalry boldly chimed in.
"Is that so?" Reiko had overheard the comment. "Well Kavalry, you firstly do not know my complete plan. Secondly, your people will thrive once my plans succeed. I'm sure you recall how the late, great Emperor Shao Kahn favoured the Centaurs by the end of his reign."
"Of course," Motaro confirmed. "He finally saw sense that the Shokan are unreliable."
"Well as I look to finish what he started… I offer for you to return to the grand status you had earned before his death." Reiko promised which was an offer that greatly appealed to the Centaurs as a whole and more specifically Motaro.
"Perfect," Motaro said as he offered his hand which Reiko accepted as the two had a strong handshake to cement their partnership.
"I look forward to being your future Champion of Mortal Kombat."