Liu couldn't help but freeze in shock as Raiden tended to the others. They all looked horrible and it was amazing that they were even still alive. As he ran over to help them, he recognized the skull shaped burn on Jade's back and knew instantly what happened. He knew they would run into the deadly alliance sooner or later but he didn't think it would be this bad.

Raiden's voice shook him out of his stupor and he looked up to see the other man racing back toward the castle. "I'm going to get some medical supplies! They've all lost a lot of blood and they need to stay awake. Talk to them. Maybe they can tell you what happened."

Liu nodded and gently eased Kitana into a sitting position. "Kitana...can you hear me?"

"Liu..." She whispered softly. "Are the others alright?"

Liu looked over to where Jade sat weakly against the steel fence and where Kenshi still lie unconscious. "They've seen better days. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Reptile..." She whispered, her breath becoming ragged as she fought to stay conscious. "We were attacked by Reptile and Quan Chi." She noted Liu's widened eyes and look of concern. "Don't worry. I've seen much worse then this. I'll be fine."

"I have the supplies." Raiden said calmly as he knelt next to Kitana. "Hopefully this should help." He gave Liu half of the supplies before going to see to Kenshi. As he began to clean and bandage the swordsman's wounds, he noticed the familiar pattern of burns on his body. "Those burns..."

Jade's head weakly perked up at the sound of his voice, and she asked curiously, "Do you recognize them?"

Raiden hesitated. He wasn't sure he should reveal the information about his brother's soldier to the others without knowing more himself. It was possible that he could be mistaken. "I thought I did. I'm not sure anymore." He needed to know why his brother would send one of his best assassins after them.

Jade quirked her brow, but silently went back to bandaging her wounds. "Liu have you heard from the others at all?"

The monk shook his head. "Not at all. You were the first to make it back, and I can only hope that they didn't run into similar trouble."

"Me either. I'm sure Shang Tsung could give them a run for their money, but if he had help too..."

"I know, but we have to trust they'll be fine. There should be very few of the deadly alliance's allies still around Outworld at this time."

"That's...what you said before. I guess Reptile didn't...get the message in time."

Everyone's heads snapped over to the battered form of the swordsman. Kenshi still lie prone on the ground, his chest heaving hard as he took shaky breaths.

"Kenshi! It's good to know you're alive. You had Kitana and I worried for a while." Jade said in relief.

A ragged breathing sound which was supposedly a chuckle came from Kenshi. "I'm fine. I've suffered worse than this. Where are the others?"

"Hopefully on their way back. It's getting really late. I know they can take care of themselves, but still this is Outworld and I don't think we'd be welcome here, now or ever."

"Come on. Let's get inside." Jade said as she stood shakily. "We can talk more there."

Raiden gently eased Kenshi to his feet while Liu did the same for Kitana. They made their way slowly into the castle under the watchful eye of the guards. As they reached the library they were startled by a shocked cry from Sonya, who had been running toward them.

"By the Elder Gods! What happened to you?" she cried as she ran over to help Raiden with Kenshi.

"Quan Chi and Reptile got the better of us in the living forest." Jade said as she slid to the floor.

Sonya helped Raiden lay Kenshi out before she replied, her eyes turning grave as she spoke. "I know. Reptile was sent to the living forest after you guys and Baraka was sent after the others."

Raiden froze for a moment before going back to tending to Kenshi. Baraka was part of the tarkatan horde Kahn commanded in his army. If he remembered correctly, Baraka was the most bloodthirsty of them all. He needed to find out what was going on. First the acid burns on Kenshi and now this? Kahn was up to something and it was time he figured out what it was.

"This isn't making sense. What possible reason could both Reptile and Baraka be here?!" Liu shouted.

Sonya nodded, glancing at Raiden in the corner of her eye. "I know but we can't talk about it right now. We need to find the others and possibly come up with a new plan. Especially if we have new enemies to deal with."

Raiden shook his head and abruptly stood and began heading out the door. "I need to go. I have some...things I need to discus with father." He glanced back at the group. "I'll see all of you later then."

After the door closed, Sonya breathed a sigh of relief. "It's a good thing he's gone. It made it kind of hard to tell you what I learned from following Kahn all day."

"Well what did you learn?" Kitana asked.

"Baraka and Reptile are apparently Kahn's subordinates in this Outworld as well. He sent them after you, most likely on Shinnok's orders. Apparently we're more threatening to him then he led us to believe. He's even ordered them to kill Quan Chi and Shang Tsung if they run across them again."

"Explains why Reptile disappeared in the middle of the fight. He came back here to report to Kahn." Kenshi said.

"I think we may also have another problem." Jade began slowly. "It seems that Raiden may know more than we think."

A flash of anger surged through Liu's veins at her words. "What makes you say that?!"

"Forgive me, I do not mean to say that he sides with them. It's just...well earlier I could tell he recognized the burns from Reptile's acid and did you see the way he left after we mentioned them again? He knows more than he's letting on and I don't want that to be a problem for us."

"You should go talk to him Liu." Kitana said softly. "You're the one closest to him, in our time and here. He probably wouldn't be as suspicious if you were the one to mention it to him."

Liu sighed, turning away from the others and focusing on looking out of the windows and back to the courtyard, remembering on what had happened a few hours before. "I don't think I should be the one to do that. I'm not exactly Raiden's favorite person right now. I could blow our entire cover if I was to mention anything to him."

"Still, it would help to know why Kahn is suddenly so suspicious of us. If anything he should have went after Liu since he was the one helping Raiden with his training." Jade said.

"Who knows with Kahn? He maybe sees us as threats in his fight with Raiden." Sonya said. "That's definitely the impression I got. There's not much else he can do to us while we're all together. We just need to keep our guard up and be careful, especially since half of us are injured and the other half still missing."

"Alright Alright, I'll go talk to him." Liu said as he stood. I just hope he still isn't angry with me.

Raiden angrily marched along to his brother's chambers. He was going to find out why he had sent those assassins after the others. He knew father's rules, and this is one he thought not even Kahn would dare to break. He looked around suspiciously, the shadow priests were long gone which was unusual in itself. Even if he didn't need them, father usually forced him to keep them around.

He could hear voices coming from his brother's trophy room and forced the door open, startling Baraka and earning him a raised eyebrow from Kahn.

"Does father know you sent Reptile after those warriors today?" he growled.

Kahn chuckled, smirking at his foolish sibling. "Whether he did or not is none of your concern brother. You should be more focused on our fight. Especially if you need to get help from that monk you've taken a liking to. I wonder how father would react to that?"

Raiden's nails bit into his palms as he tried to keep his cool and not attack Kahn. "I don't need in help in defeating you!" He fought to keep his anger under control. "You know that no harm is supposed to come to anyone during the three trials. Those rules are just as sacred as the ones for the great tournament. I wonder what father would think if he knew you broke them?"

"Well it's not my problem if they were in the wrong place at the wrong time." His eyes narrowed and his voice lost the mocking tone and quickly became deadly. "You should go little brother, or the same things could easily happen to you and something tells me I don't think father would have to much of a problem with that."

With a feral growl, Raiden turned on his heel and began to leave. "Fine! But no more harm had better come to them between now and our match. You're not the only one capable of breaking the rules here."

Kahn looked on in curiosity as his brother sent one last glare in his direction. For a split second it seemed lightning had flashed through his eyes. He ignored it and the slamming of his door and turned back to Baraka. "Complete your report."

"Are you sure that was wise? Not informing him that one of them isn't as they seem?"

The tarkatan received a boot to the stomach for his words. "Silence! You should know better than to question me! Especially when something like this can work in our favor. If the traitor gets to Raiden, it saves me the time and trouble I would have to go through to kill him. As much as I would love to strangle my brother with my bare hands, if someone else is willing to do it for me, why fight it?"

"Should I still send out that group of tarkata to keep the others from making it back? They are already wounded. I managed to make sure of that before I returned here."

An evil smirk began grow on Kahn's face. "Go ahead, and this time, make sure none of them live."

As Raiden made his way back to the library, he found himself facing the one person he truly did not want to see. The monk that Kahn had so eloquently described as the "one he had taken a liking to". He really didn't want to deal with that right then.

"What do you want Liu?"

Glancing behind him and seeing one of the guards coming, Liu grabbed Raiden's arm dragged them back to their room, only to get a punch in the jaw as soon as they were out of the guard's sight.

"What was the meaning of that?!"

Liu glared at him as he wiped the blood from his lip, "There was a guard coming and I wanted to talk to you in private."

"If this is about what happened earlier-"

"It's not! Listen to me already! I know you know something about Baraka and Reptile and it's important that I find out what it is. My friends are possibly still in danger and you seem to know much more then you're letting on."

His eyes narrowed at the monk and he pushed passed him and sat on the bed. "I don't know anymore than you do." Raiden said simply.

Liu couldn't let himself get angry. He knew with the way he had rejected him earlier, he had lost some of his trust. If he wanted Raiden's help in finding the others, he had to make sure he didn't lose anymore.

"Raiden listen to me! I know you're angry, but I don't believe you would stoop to something as petty as this to get revenge. Especially when you know there are lives on the line, so please don't lie to me."

The instant Raiden locked eyes with him he knew he had made another mistake with his words. "I wasn't lying!" He whispered harshly, weary of the guards outside. "Reptile is one of my brother's assassin's and Baraka is just another one of his soldiers. When the others said who had attacked them, I went to Kahn myself. I had to know if this was something he personally ordered."

Liu couldn't help the look of shock that crossed his face. "What?! Why?" Liu knew Kahn's temper. If he had the chance, Liu knew that Kahn wouldn't hesitate in ridding himself of Raiden. Even though Raiden's strength was great for a human, he didn't know what powers Kahn still had during this time. Which was why he was shocked Raiden would confront him alone.

Raiden sighed before continuing. "You see, to force him to focus only on the three trials, father made a rule that no harm was to come to anyone in Outworld during this time. In turn, this forced him to freeze his conquests for the time being. That's why that wasn't supposed to happen. My brother's forces aren't supposed to be active right now."

Liu could still sense Raiden was holding back, "but..."

"Apparently my brother and father didn't trust you from the beginning and anyone they don't trust, they kill. I'm not sure why they acted so quickly. There's usually much planning involved before they launch any kind of attack, but if Kahn is after you, he won't quit until your dead."

A sudden thought struck Liu. "I need to go find the others. If Kahn still wants us out of the way, then the others are still in danger."

He charged out of the room with Raiden on his tail. "You guys!" He shouted as he reentered the library. "I'm going to go find the others. The deadly alliance may be out of our way for right now, but Kahn may have sent an extermination squad after the others if Baraka failed him."

"Baraka was with my brother when I went and spoke with him and Kahn didn't look too pleased. Your friends are most likely still alive, but for how long I cannot say."

"But you can't go alone, Liu." Sonya said. "I'll go with you. This is still unfamiliar territory to us and we don't need something to happen to you and you're alone out there."

Liu shook his head vehemently. "No, you need to stay here. One of us needs to be at full health to fight if necessary and the rest of you are too injured. Going back out to search in your conditions would make you easy prey. I'll just have to go alone."

"No you won't." Raiden said from behind him. "Sonya is right. Outworld isn't familiar to you and you will be lost trying to find your friends. Which make you easy prey for whoever my brother sends and what's already out there. You need me."

Kitana sat up weakly and attempted to grab her fans, "It's not a good idea for you to go. Those two sorcerers are still after you and we can't afford to place you in anymore danger. You need to trust us on this."

"Do you honestly think I care about that?!" He shouted as he grabbed his staff. "All of you helped save my life before. I think I at least owe you enough to do this."

"He's right." Liu said calmly. "If we want to find the others and get them back quickly, we need someone who knows Outworld well and Raiden is the only chance we have."

"Are you sure about this Liu?" Kitana asked worriedly.

"It'll be fine. I promised that I wouldn't let anything happen to him, and I don't plan on breaking that promise. Besides when we find the others, I'll have help in guarding him and hopefully the deadly alliance is as hurt as we are."

Raiden walked over to them armed with his staff, a small map, and a bag of medical supplies in his hands. "We'll be able to find them quicker with this. If my brother has sent an extermination squad after them we need to hurry. They have a head start on us and we don't know how badly your friends have been injured."

"Good luck you two and be careful. We'll try to stay on guard and watch out for the others in case they make it back themselves." Jade said.

Liu nodded and followed Raiden out of the gates. They only had one more day left before the fight and between the deadly alliance and Shao Kahn, Liu wasn't sure how this was going to turn out. As he glanced over at Raiden who was absorbed in reading the map, he only knew one thing for certain.

He couldn't let anything happen to the silver haired man. That was the one promise he refused to break.