Breaking Silence

Dear Son of K'etz,

It has been days since the leadership in Outworld returned to its rightful owner. While most citizens are still in a state of unrest, I can assure that my appearance will be more than enough help them transition into our new way of life. Onaga sought to enslave the realms. Shao Kahn sought to conquer the realms. Shang Tsung & Mileena sought to establish a legacy for our realm. Kotal K'etz sought revenge. Those who've sat on the throne have fallen to the curse of the One Being. I am the only one who hasn't been affected due to the use of Sindel's vile.

You may also be wondering where I have been in the past 15 years. That is a story too complex to write on paper, but the truth will be revealed to you one day.

With that, I would like to request that both you and Mileena accompany me at a cabin in the Living Forest near the outskirts of Sun Do. We have terms to discuss so that we may officially end this feud.

Warm Regards,

Queen Kitana

"You cannot possibly consider going there Ko'otal." D'Vorah shouted.

"Mileena could never construct such a letter." Kotal responded as he lowered the paper below his chair.

"This is Outworld. Everyone speaks of myths."

"You must learn to take allies where possible, D'Vorah. Our people have learned this lesson the hard way." He sighed. D'Vorah places a small maggot onto Ko'otal shoulder. It burrows its way deep into his skin. D'Vorah proceeds to walk in front of him.

"Not everyone is like us. We've made plenty of allies before, but not once can this one think of an ally who was once our enemy."

"Have you forgotten Ferra & Torr?"

"A Mutt and his flea are hardly what this one would consider an ally." She rebuked.

"I thought you of all people would understand the meaning of forgiveness, D'Vorah." he stated.

"My people have never known forgiveness Ko'otal. We have always preferred solitude. Conflict did not arrive until Tanya did." She recounted. Kotal stood up walked to the opening of his tent.

"If she truly wants peace, then we should accept it." He stated.

"If not?" she asked.

"When the time comes, you'll know."

*Earthrealm, China: February 2008*

Chan was taken back by how far China had come over the past 15 years. Touch phones, heavy airport security, and more new locations. Many people spoke of the Financial Crisis occurring in the United States and the United Kingdom. To his understanding, Russia and China have been working together now after the event of the Russian kidnapping incident years ago. Chan felt proud to know that his efforts could have a positive impact on his country.

As Chan arrives to the Shaolin Grave site, he spots a darker toned male paying his respects to Lui Kang and Kung Lao. The man looked back and noticed the young monk. He smiles as Chan does the same.

"It's been a long time since you've seen me, hasn't it?" the man joked.

"Kai, right?"

"Yeah." He responded. Chan reached his hand out as he greeted Kai. The two shook hands and walked from the graves.

"How was your quest for 'enlightenment'?" Chan asked.

"I was able to use my time well." He responded. His expression became a bit more serious. "When I heard the news about Lui Kang, Kung Lao, and Raiden…"

"You didn't have to put your life on hold for them." Chan responded.

"I know. It's just…I guess in the end we can't change the past." Kai looked toward the temple. "I spent the past few years rebuilding the White Lotus Society. The progress has been all but successful."

"What happened to everyone? During the tournament, we only had four warriors representing Earthrealm. One was a self-proclaimed Shaman, the second was a Special Forces soldier, and the third was Johnny Cage."

"The Actor?"

"It was as ridiculous as it sounds. He won his first match, but he lost the second against a sorceress named Tesla."

"The name sounds familiar." Kai responded.

"The shaman killed her in the Tournament."

"You mean Knightwolf? I heard she became the Champion." Kai confirmed.

"I was wondering why we haven't merged with Outworld." Chan responded in relief. "What else can you tell me?" Chan and Kai stopped walking as they returned to the entrance of the Shaolin Temple.

"To answer your original question, I was told Lui Kang was supposed to go at it alone. The rest of the society was informed to refrain from revealing themselves in the tournament. I'm guessing plans changed since you replaced him. As far as everything that occurred after the Tournament, you'll have to ask someone else."

"Thanks for the information. If you find out anything else, let me know." Chan responded as he prepared to leave. He turned around and instantly remembered something else.

"I forgot to ask, but would you happen to know two Shaolin warriors named Kira & Kobra?" he asked.

"I've never even heard of them." Kai responded. Chan looked to the ground in disappointment.

"Thanks."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find them. And if you ever need anything, you know how to find us." He stated as he left.

"I really don't…" Chan whispered.

*Earthrealm, Russia: February 2008*

Cassandra Cage is knocked on her back. She winced in pain as she grabbed her left back shoulder. She looked up at her two opponents, Masters Daniel and Carlos both known under the moniker of Mokap. Master Daniel was shirtless and donned Johnny's shorts while Master Carlos wore Raiden's white outfit and signature hat. Many others stood around the room and watched as the students of the Special Forces continued to face off against the two. Jacqueline held onto the injured Takeda as they both held one arm out to defend themselves.

"CUT!" Johnny shouted. The crew relaxed and went about their day.

"Why did you stop it?" Sonya asked.

"They're not ready yet." He confirmed. "They have to start over."

"No…we can keep going..." Cassie flinched. Johnny simply shook his head.

"That's not how this works, Cassie."

"She's right, we can keep fighting!" Takeda shouted.

"So can they." He retorted. "Sometimes you gotta know when to hold 'em and when to rethink your strategy. Making irrational decisions can prove fatal in a real situation."

"Dad, we're fighting Motion Capture stunt actors. Why can't we just wear those same "mystical" clothes and be just as powerful as them?" she mocked.

"If it was that simple, do you really think I'd pass on the opportunity to be a Lord of Thunder?" Johnny joked. Sonya elbowed his shoulder as she walked towards the children.

"The people here are part of our rehab program. There's a reason they wear these clothes."

"You never told us what happened years ago." Takeda stated.

"I already know." Jacqui boasted.

"Who told you?" Takeda jealously questioned.

"Dad."

"Right, Dad." He responded.

"Why haven't you told us?" Cassie asked.

"It's not for any of you to know." Sonya darted her eyes to Jacqui. "Even if you were told."

"Why don't you two trust us? We can't go after the Black Dragon. We can't fight in Outworld. We can't know about the tournament. You won't even let us come here without a blindfold." Cassie ranted.

"Cassie…" Jacqui whispered. Sonya preformed a quick sweep to the back of Cassie's ankle, causing her to fall on her back. She then pulled out her gun and aimed it at her.

"SONYA!" Johnny shouted. She looked over to him and smirked. She looked back at Cassie who seemed frightened.

"You see this? This is how a gun in your face feels! It happens to me every day!" She fussed.

The motion capture team stares in silence. Johnny walks up to Sonya and grabs her wrist to move the gun away from Cassie's direction. Sonya focused on the redness of his face. She looks around the room and notices the different looks on the faces of the mokap crew. Jacqui frowned and Takeda hovered his left hand over the kunai on his side. Her expression drooped as she realized what she was doing.

"I…apologize…" She put her gun away as Johnny released his grip on her. Jacqui and Takeda picked Cassie off the ground.

"Alright everyone, let's call it a day." Johnny commanded. Everyone continued with what they were doing. Cassie walked over to her mother and hugged her tightly.

"It's fine mom. It's fine."

Meanwhile, Kotal traverses through the hidden forest of Outworld. Along his travels, he spots mysterious ripples behind many of the trees. As he reached for his Tecpatl, he notices a cabin in the distance with Kitana standing on the porch. He moves his hand away as he approached her direction. He cautiously looked around the forest as well as the sky. He felt the uncomfortable stares of dozens of individuals as he walked through the forest. However, he also felt safe in the vicinity of Kitana for some unexplained reason.

Kitana turned away from Kotal. While adjusting her tiara, She mumbled to herself quietly as if she were reciting a speech. After softly combing through her hair with her fingers and brushing off her loincloth she returned her attention to him.

"I see you've gotten my letter. It's a pleasure to meet you in person." Kitana greeted. Kotal said nothing, instead opting to simply nod. Kitana was a bit disappointed but she kept her composure and smile in check. "Shall I address you by Ko'otal or Son of K'etz?"

"Kotal Kahn." He responded. Kitana's smile slowly faded. "I honor my father's name and the position he held."

"Kotal Kahn it is." Kitana agreed. Kotal continued to look around the area. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"I was informed that Mileena would also be part of this meeting." He responded.

"Her letter stated that she should arrive before dawn. Strangely enough, I haven't heard from her since…" Kitana closed her eyes and bowed her head in shame. Kotal struggled to contain his anger as he maintained a straight face.

"When it happened, you peered down upon us both as if you were just as surprised. You even went as far as to send your condolences, money, and even the Shokan to assist in the burial of my father." Kitana looked into his eyes and folded her arms.

"I wish to give you my apologies for everything that has happened, everything that can, and everything that will happen to you. In return, I would like to make a deal with you. 25% of Outworld in exchange for you undying loyalty to both Mileena and I." she negotiated.

"Before we discuss any terms or agreements, I need to know the truth."

"There are no loopholes or tricks within this agreement. You have nothing to worry about." She interrupted.

"That is not what I was asking?" Kotal responded.

"I'm guessing it's a question about your father?"

"He may have been a coward and a disgrace to our people, but he was far too arrogant to give up the throne so easily. What exactly did you do?"

Kitana smiled as she rested her palm on her chest. She used her other hand to push the cabin door open. Kotal turned his head and looked inside. He spotted a large decayed corpse sitting in a chair. It seemed to be fresh in terms of how long it's been decayed—seemingly around the time of K'etz' death. It wore the warlord helmet and in the hands of the corpse was the wrath hammer, a weapon known to only be wieldable by K'etz and Shao Kahn. Kotal took a moment to stare at the corpse in disgust before returning his attention to Kitana, whom smiled gleefully at the sight of the corpse.

End of Chapter 13

(Upcoming—No Hard Feelings)

*WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR MK11 BELOW. PROCEED WITH CAUTION OR SKIP ENTIRELY.*

With the recent release of MK11, I noticed that many elements of the plot were very similar to what I planned to do with this story. Specifics include balancing light vs dark (as seen with Chan's Yin and Yang in Redemption), multiple timelines influenced by a being (as seen in Anomaly: MK), Kitana becoming Kahn (which already occurred the previous chapter), reuniting Outworld (which was already occurring since chapter 1), Raiden being more powerful outside of Earthrealm when falling to darkness, and an ending almost exactly like the absolute ending to MK Resurrection (which hasn't even had its first chapter yet) where Chan and Kitana would be hand-in-hand as rulers of the new timeline (or Universe) created by Chan as was done by Lui in MK11.

Because I don't want to write a story so similar to that nor do I want ideas from MK11 to be integrated into the story, a lot of future plot points will be altered, rearranged, or removed altogether. The main changes will come from portions of chapters 14-20, over 80% of Chapters 21-30, the removal of the entire Netherealm arc in Resurrection (with chapters being added to flesh out the other arcs), and the ending of the trilogy which will be changed enough to not be spoiled by my recent statement nor too closely related to the MK11 ending. One last thing to note is that the twist revealed in MK11 nor the titans (like Kronika) will be implemented into the story as they were never accounted for when this trilogy was being written.