Welcome back to Mortal Kombat Ryujin! Last time, Spyro teamed up with Kung Lao and Liu Kang as they raced to save the Wu Shi's Dragon Grotto, and the Jinsei of Earthrealm within. But alas, Geras got away with the goods. And as everyone returned, more bad news, Kronika revived Sektor and has brought back the Cyber Lin Kuei with him. As Spyro's temporal headaches are worsening, Cynder agreed to meet Sub-Zero and Hanzo Hasashi to put a stop to this new Cyber Initiative. So how's that going to turn out? Read on to discover...
(Our story resumes over some kind of quarry, where a man in blue and dark silver with a scar on his eye is observing the scene through a tiny spyglass. Spotting his quarry, the blue clad figure keeps quiet, as a yellow and silver clad figure sneaks up on him, but ultimately the two are made aware of each others' existence.)
Hanzo Hasashi: Your hearing is starting to fail you, Sub-Zero.
Sub-Zero: Your footsteps were unmistakable, Hanzo.
(As the two observe their target, Cynder quietly emerges from the shadows, unknown to Sub-Zero and Hanzo Hasashi)
Hanzo Hasashi: I'm guessing Sektor's in there somewhere.
Sub-Zero: This is the only assembly facility that has been reactivated since the timelines merged.
Hanzo Hasashi: Then let us dispatch him quickly. I will not let him threaten the Shirai Ryu again.
(Now Cynder makes herself known, standing right next to Sub-Zero, just out of his detection)
Cynder: I have to agree with your friend here, Sub-Zero. If what I've heard about this Sektor is true.
(Cynder's sudden speech catches both the hardened warriors off guard, to the point where even Hanzo Hasashi, the literal ninja here, has to stifle a cry of surprise)
Hanzo Hasashi: (Through startled breaths) Where did you come from?!
Cynder: My apologies for not introducing myself. My name is Cynder, my companion Spyro and I were brought here from another world.
Sub-Zero: You must be the one Cassandra Cage told me was coming. (Now seeing Cynder in full) I swear I recognize you from somewhere.
Cynder: Maybe in a dream.
Sub-Zero: It must have been.
Cynder: So, what are we up against?
Sub-Zero: Sektor has reactivated this assembly facility, and is using kidnapped members of my Lin Kuei to rebuild his vile Cyber Lin Kuei.
Hanzo Hasashi: Hence why you and I are here, Cynder.
Cynder: Keeping Sub-Zero here in check.
Sub-Zero: A full frontal assault would be ill advised.
Hanzo Hasashi: (Borrowing Sub-Zero's spyglass) Looks like there's a side entrance to the east. We could easily sneak in through there.
Cynder: So what's the plan once we get in?
Sub-Zero: I have a possible ally on the inside.
Cynder: I've worked with worse. Let's get going.
(With that, Cynder sinks back into the shadows and heads toward the side entrance with Sub-Zero and Hanzo Hasashi not far behind. As they approach the entrance, Cynder drags the Cyber Lin Kuei guard into the shadows, before sending parts of it back up to the surface and exiting the shadows herself just as her allies arrive and start to enter the facility)
Hanzo Hasashi: I will admit, I am impressed with her.
Sub-Zero: On that, we can agree. She would make a fine Lin Kuei.
Hanzo Hasashi: Or Shirai Ryu. We'll let her decide which, if she wants to join of course.
Sub-Zero: Agreed.
(As their discussion wraps up, the two Grandmasters catch up with Cynder, as all three enter the main room of the facility, strewn with dismembered corpses, heads in jars, blood everywhere.)
Cynder: What kind of massacre happened here?!
Sub-Zero: Cyberization. Only the brain and spinal cord are required to create a Cyber Lin Kuei. And the pain is excruciating.
Cynder: I can imagine.
Sub-Zero: I have no need to. Personal experience.
Hanzo Hasashi: (Seeing Cynder is confused) Long story.
(As Hanzo Hasashi is about to explain the story to Cynder, we see Sub-Zero holding a bloodied Lin Kuei medallion, as rage builds up in his heart, Hanzo Hasashi places a reassuring hand on his shoulder, with Cynder doing the same)
Hanzo Hasashi: Your clan will be avenged.
Cynder: You have our word on that.
Sub-Zero: (Getting up, then to Hanzo Hasashi) Only now do I fully understand the rage that drove you to become Scorpion.
(Just as things appear to be settling down, doors can be heard opening, and our trio of heroes searches around for a hiding place, ultimately hiding behind a console just as a yellow robot, not unlike Sektor in design, and the cloaked figure Kronika brought with her and Geras to negotiate with Shao Kahn, who we can now see is distinctively female, arrive. As they do, the cloaked figure places a strange cylinder into a central control panel, activating the facility, slicing displayed bodies apart, chopping off their heads and sticking them into robot shells. At this point, Hanzo Hasashi has put Sub-Zero's plan together)
Hanzo Hasashi: Your ally in here is Cyrax?
Sub-Zero: His conversion was unwilling. If we can disable the behavior modifiers controlling him...
Cynder: He'll be your ally again.
Sub-Zero: All of the Cyber Lin Kuei are connected to a central network. With Cyrax on our side, we'll be able to shut it down from within.
Hanzo Hasashi: And what about the woman in the cloak?
Sub-Zero: I don't know. Our focus is on Cyrax.
Cynder: Alright then. Let's do this.
(Now the trio sneaks into action as we focus in on Cyrax and the cloaked figure's conversation)
Cyrax: The last batch of candidates is almost exhausted. We will need more.
?: They will be provided. How long until the next generation is...
(She doesn't even get to finish as Sub-Zero freezes her solid with his cryomancy as the trio rushes into battle against Cyrax. Hanzo Hasashi attempts to hold him back while Cynder holds his legs down. But as they do this, the cloaked figure breaks free from her icy containment, revealing a familiar figure to Sub-Zero)
Sub-Zero: Frost!?
(Without saying a word, Frost blasts the ground with ice, separating Cyrax from Cynder and Hanzo Hasashi)
Sub-Zero: I gave you a home! Mentored you! And after all that, you ally with Sektor?! He corrupted the Lin Kuei!
Frost: Sektor corrupted the Lin Kuei?! Oh please, you corrupted it by making peace with this piece of Shirai Ryu filth! With Kronika's aid, I and I alone will restore the Lin Kuei's honor!
(Now Cynder steps up to the battle)
Cynder: You guys handle Cyrax. I'll take care of Susie Snowflake over here.
(As Sub-Zero and Hanzo Hasashi heed her advice, Cynder stares down Frost)
Cynder: If what you peddle is honor, then I side with Sub-Zero. His attempt to patch up old rivalries should be admired.
Frost: Spoken just like a Shirai Ryu. Sub-Zero could never understand what it truly means to be Lin Kuei! That's why he always held me back! Kronika sees my potential, and embraces it!
(With that, Cynder begins her battle with Frost. But ever the arrogant child, Frost is no match for Cynder's discipline and skill, and falls rather quickly)
Cynder: If Kronika sees potential in you, she needs her eyes checked.
(With that fight completed, Cynder rejoins Sub-Zero and Hanzo Hasashi in subduing Cyrax. But just as they get a good hit on him, he activates a few Cyber Lin Kuei.)
Sub-Zero: I take it this upgrade is Kronika's doing.
Cyrax: Indeed it is, Sub-Zero. Better protection, especially for Kronika as history is rewritten.
Cynder: So you're just a pawn in the chess game.
Cyrax: The pawn is one of the most versatile pieces in chess, as it can be promoted to almost any other piece in the game. We act to secure the Lin Kuei in the New Era.
(With that, the army of Cyber Lin Kuei immediately starts attacking Sub-Zero and Hanzo Hasashi, leaving only Cynder and Cyrax not in battle)
Cynder: Looks like I'll be the one checkmating you, Cyrax.
Cyrax: Do not be so sure of yourself. Once you are defeated, you will be made to serve.
Cynder: Been down that road once already. Never again.
(Now Cynder and Cyrax duke it out. And despite Cyrax having the mechanical augmentation advantage, Cynder has him on the mat in minutes.)
Cynder: Time to undo your mechanical corruption.
(With that, Cynder rips off the back of Cyrax's armor near the neck and removes a chip from it as Sub-Zero and Hanzo Hasashi finish off the Cyber Lin Kuei attacking them)
Cynder: Hope that's the right chip.
Sub-Zero: That's the one. Now we just need to wait for him to reinitialize.
Hanzo Hasashi: (Hearing running footsteps) That had better be quick. I can hear more of them coming already.
Sub-Zero: (Confused) I don't hear anything.
Cynder: Looks like you're the odd one out.
(With that, a strange shadowy energy attacks Hanzo Hasashi, before turning itself to Cynder)
Sub-Zero: Enough games, Sektor! Show yourself!
(However, Sektor does not appear. Instead materializing from the shadows comes essentially a living shadow, choked by ebony energy)
Sub-Zero: (Recognizing the figure somehow) Bi-Han?!
Bi-Han: Indeed, little brother.
Hanzo Hasashi: How is this possible!? You were killed in a soul storm!
Bi-Han: A creation of Quan Chi does not die so easily.
Cynder: Last I heard, Quan Chi was dead. So why are you here?
Bi-Han: Kronika offers me the leadership of a new clan, one who's shadow will darken the realms forever...
(With that, Bi-Han appears to split into two beings, with one being but a shadow copy of himself. As Sub-Zero and Hanzo Hasashi are about to attack, Cynder stops them)
Cynder: Grandmaster Hasashi, keep an eye on Cyrax. Leave tall, dark, and ugly to Sub-Zero and I
Hanzo Hasashi: Be warned, Bi-Han's shadows will suffocate you.
Cynder: Then it's time for a duel of shadows.
(Now assured of her skill, Hanzo Hasashi heeds her advice as Cynder and Sub-Zero stare down Bi-Han)
Bi-Han: You think your skill in the shadows is superior to mine?
Cynder: You only adopted the shadows. I was born in it.
Bi-Han: You delude yourself. I am the shadows. A power far beyond anything you or my failure of a brother could offer.
Sub-Zero: I have grown stronger since our last encounter, Bi-Han.
Cynder: And thankfully I have more than Shadow to offer.
(With that, Cynder and Sub-Zero face Bi-Han in shadow-to-shadow combat. But when Shadow proves useless against him, she switches things up and blows Bi-Han away with her Wind abilities as Sub-Zero freezes him)
Cynder: I can see why you despise him, Grandmaster.
(Just as the battle ends, Cyrax has finally reactivated, and upon getting up and seeing he's been cyberized, he freaks out)
Cyrax: No, no no no no! The bastard actually did it! He ripped out my heart, made me a machine!
Sub-Zero: All hope is not lost. I can tell you from experience, your soul is intact.
Cyrax: Wait, Kuai Liang? It can't be. You look so old. (Seeing Hanzo Hasashi) Scorpion?! (Now seeing Cynder) And... a dragon? Okay, who's she?
Cynder: You can call me Cynder.
Hanzo Hasashi: We haven't much time to explain what's happened.
Cynder: But you can rest assured in knowing the four of us share a common aim. Stopping this barbaric Cyber Initiative.
Cyrax: I can shut down their communications network. And take every Cyber Lin Kuei connected to it with it.
(Just as Cyrax starts to explain the plan, a fleet of missiles fly out of nowhere, which Cyrax stops with a holographic net. And after a few seconds, we see the source, Sektor)
Sektor: Frost warned me you had allied with Scorpion, Sub-Zero. And here I thought you had limits to your dishonor.
(Now seeing the one who's responsible for all this, Cynder steps forward again)
Cynder: Sub-Zero, help Cyrax shut this place down. (To Hanzo Hasashi) Shall we, Grandmaster Hasashi? I'll make sure he gets a few blows for your family.
(With a look of appreciation on his face, Sub-Zero and Cyrax in attempting to shut the factory down while Cynder and Hanzo Hasashi face Sektor, who attempts to burn her with his flamethrower arm, but Cynder keeps dodging, before using her Wind abilities to blow out his fire)
Cynder: You sold out the Lin Kuei to slaughter the Shirai Ryu for Quan Chi. I would say you're the dishonorable one here.
Sektor: From what Kronika has told me, you wouldn't know the first thing about honor. Especially to one's mentor.
Cynder: Malefor was no mentor of mine!
(Now angrier than ever, Cynder starts to beat the tar, or oil really, out of Sektor, who really never stood a chance to begin with)
Cynder: And that's for the Shirai Ryu.
Hanzo Hasashi: Harumi, Satoshi, I have avenged you.
(As Cynder rejoins the others, Cyrax has already connected himself to the facility, and is prepared to shut it down.)
Cyrax: There we go, I'm in. Now to shut this place down. (To Sub-Zero) It looks like this is goodbye, Kuai Liang.
Sub-Zero: Looks are deceiving, Cyrax. Hanzo and I are living proof of that. We will find a way to restore you.
Cyrax: Please, don't let it be as a machine. I can't keep living like this.
Cynder: Machine or man, it doesn't matter to me. I can see you have a warrior's soul and a poet's heart. You've earned my respect, and a place in our hearts.
Sub-Zero: And so long as I am Grandmaster, you will be welcomed back into the Lin Kuei.
Cyrax: Thank you. All of you. (Sighs) Well, this is goodbye.
Cynder: Hold on, it doesn't have to be.. How long would it take you to establish a backup link to the Special Forces network?
Cyrax: If I could find it, two seconds. Why?
Cynder: I'm not letting a warrior as noble as you just off himself yet. We need a way to track the Cyber Lin Kuei already active.
Cyrax: I see where you're going. Find the Cyber Lin Kuei, we find Kronika.
Cynder: Exactly. (To Sub-Zero) How did Cassie contact you?
Sub-Zero: (Pulls out his spyglass from earlier, and opens it, revealing a very small transmitter of some kid) Her idea, not mine.
Cynder: Cyrax, can you use that to connect to the Special Forces network?
Cyrax: Probably. Let me check. (Placing his finger on it, then spacing out for two seconds) I can't get in. It's password protected. At this rate, the only other way to stop me from dying upon shutting down the network would be to re-empower my soul directly.
Hanzo Hasashi: A feat only the Elder Gods could accomplish.
Cynder: (As Dark Aether courses through her veins) I wouldn't be too sure about that.
(With that, Cynder releases a stream of Dark Aether straight at Cyrax's chest. It doesn't penetrate him, but instead courses through his body as well, giving him a strange new energy)
Cyrax: Whoa. I... I feel like myself again! Aside from the... well... being a robot... How did you do that?!
Cynder: Call it a hunch. I'm not sure if this'll work forever, but that should empower your soul enough to get us out of here. Spyro can give a secondary transfusion if needed
(Just as Cyrax is feeling back to normal, Frost and Bi-Han return to the body of the massacred Sektor)
Hanzo Hasashi: If we're going to shut this place down. We need to do it now!
Cyrax: (Prying open a panel) Way ahead of you!
(As Cyrax rips some wires out of the wall behind the panel, the facility goes into red alert as Frost, Bi-Han, and Sektor are transported out by Kronika, and Cyrax stumbles backward slightly after losing his connection)
Cyrax: That certainly worked. The assembly is down.
Hanzo Hasashi: Good, now we need to pursue Frost and Bi-Han.
Sub-Zero: We have to inform Raiden first. And get Cyrax connected to Special Forces headquarters to begin tracking the Cyber Lin Kuei.
Cynder: Agreed.
(With that, the quartet leave as we transition to Kronika's keep, where Geras is walking down a hallway, with Young Erron Black, and the man with the metal eye)
Young Kano: Rest assured, Kronika will get all the service she could need. But I can't work up an estimated bill until I see the job.
Geras: In due time.
(Within a few minutes, the dark trio arrives at their destination, and sees Sektor's lifeless automaton shell on an examination table)
Geras: Can he be restored?
(Now Young Kano scans Sektor's body with his metal eye, revealing to him what steps are needed to proceed)
Young Kano: A bit of frame damage, but the circuitry's intact. Biggest problem you've got, someone wiped his software. That's going to be an expensive fix. But overall, I'd say yeah.
Geras: Good. Second Question. Once he is restored, can he be replicated thousands of times?
Young Erron Black: Now that is a tall order, hombre.
Young Kano: What my associate is trying to say is that anything's possible, with the right help.
Geras: Kronika can provide whatever is needed, in exchange for your service.
(And just as Geras says that, an older version of Kano walks into the room)
Kano: I suggest you take the deal. Though I know you're going to. Being me and all.
Young Kano: Whoa. I still look this good over 50? That's amazing.
Young Erron Black: There is still the matter of payment.
Kano: Kronika will make sure the Black Dragon come out on top in every market in the New Era, legitimate and otherwise.
Young Kano: Alright then, let's get to business.
(As the twin Kanos set to work, we transition back to the Special Forces base, where Johnny Cage is talking with Jacqui Briggs)
Johnny Cage: Still can't reach your father?
Jacqui Briggs: Cell network's still down. I'm betting he's climbing the walls nervous. (Looking at Jax) I still can't believe this is happening. It's like looking at a ghost.
Johnny Cage: I get the feeling. Except they're as real as real can be.
(With that, Cynder and company enter the room)
Cassie Cage: (Seeing their back) So, everything went well I'm guessing.
Cynder: Cyber Lin Kuei facility is shut down, and if we can get Cyrax here connected to the network, we should be able to get a bearing on where those automatons were going. (To Jacqui Briggs) How's it going trying to reach present day Jax?
Jacqui Briggs: Still no luck.
Cynder: Don't give up hope yet. (To Johnny Cage) Where's Spyro gone off to?
Johnny Cage: He went with Raiden to see how things were going in Outworld.
Cynder: (Concerned but not showing it) With Raiden?
Johnny Cage: My guess, he was hoping to meet Kotal, seeing how he made sure you got back safe and sound.
(With that, we transition to the Briggs Farm, where Commander Briggs is pacing the room, trying to find his phone to answer the call, but ultimately giving it up when he realizes he left his phone at his therapist's office by accident)
Commander Briggs: Of course, the one time I actually need the damn thing it's not even here! (Collapsing into a chair in frustration) Jacqui's probably been trying to reach me for hours. (Sighs) But would I even be able to pick up?
(Just as Jax ponders this question, the room seems to freeze as a breeze passes through stirring some papers around which freeze in midair as time stops, allowing Kronika to materialize in a flurry of sand)
Kronika: Jackson Briggs. (Seeing Commander Briggs is off put) No need to fear. I have come to offer you a new, better life.
Commander Briggs: You'll forgive me for being suspicious of this generosity. Seeing as we've never met.
Kronika: True, we have not met. But I know you, Jackson Briggs. Your valiant service, the horrific pain you've suffered. This was not the plan I had laid out for you.
Commander: Your plan? What do you mean "your plan"?
Kronika: You were supposed to retire in about three years, as General Jackson Briggs. And most importantly, Jacqueline was not meant to go into the Special Forces. She wasn't to suffer as you have. Right about now, your home is supposed to be a favorite spot for your grandchildren. But Raiden has destroyed that plan. Though it is not beyond repair. (Extending a hand) Help me, and it can be exactly as it should be.
(We don't get to see how Commander Briggs responds, as our tale cuts out as he contemplates)
And that seems like a good place to end for now. This chapter was one of my favorites to write, I'm just going to say that now. But now the story is getting interesting. And yes, I know Cyrax did not survive in the original game. But the story in this version is going to differ since Spyro and Cynder got involved in this version. So, Spyro is in Outworld, with Raiden, the one guy he doesn't trust. Why is this? Tune in next time to find out. Same time... same channel.