Jacqui whirled away from the body to go to Jin and Raiden's staff, but Takeda and Cassie stayed near it.

"What the fuck," she whispered under her breath. "I feel like . . . like I want to be sick but I'm not even . . . like, surprised."

"I know what you mean," he said. He left all of his revulsion back with Sub-Zero, in the snow with all Sub-Zero's gore and blood. Now he just felt an immense sadness that weighed down on his shoulders, and another layer of dread of what was to come. With each new surprise they found, his hope that Kenshi and Hanzo were alive dwindled and wavered. He already felt dangerously close to the edge of not believing they were alive.

A small twinge of defiance wouldn't let him give up, yet, but it was a small flame and the Krypt was a gust of wind.

"I'm starting to question if this mission is worth it."

She said it so quietly, he almost could have mistaken it for the murmurs of the caves. He processed the words that she said, and they sunk deep into his heart, jolting him. "What?!"

"I'm not saying to abandon it yet!" she said quickly, as though that would make what she said better. "I'm just saying it's crossed my mind once or twice-"

"It one-hundred percent is worth it!"

"No, no, it is!" she said. "It is. I'm just saying-"

"I know what you're saying, and I really don't appreciate it."

"Come on, Takeda. It's not like I would abandon them like that," she said, snapping her fingers. "I'm just saying, we're hitting a lot of dead ends here and-"

"Jin. Jin, don't do that- Jin!" Takeda heard Jacqui hiss.

Takeda turned and saw Jin's staff discarded on the ground in front of him. He had Raiden's staff in his hands, pointing it towards the other end of the cave where they came from. Jin's eyes were closed, clearly feeding power into it, and Raiden's staff glowed blue with his trademark energy. Little arcs of electricity jerked and jumped from one end to the other and down the length of the shaft. They grew larger and larger, to the point where Jin was having a hard time controlling the staff with each jump.

"Woah, woah! What are you doing?!" Cassie yelled, and her voice echoed through the cavern. She ran over to Jin and slapped the staff down, pushing the end down into the water. The power dissipated, and the crackling and humming dulled into nothing.

"He's trying to 'make it do something,'" Jacqui mocked, putting it in air quotes and lowering her voice to imitate Jin.

Cassie's eyebrows furrowed and her face slumped down into an angry expression. She roughly pushed Jin's shoulder. "Don't be an idiot. This is Raiden's - you don't even know how to use it."

"Come on, let me try! Supposedly, it can give the wielder the power to teleport. Which, first of all, would be really cool, and, second of all, would be a really awesome advantage to have. It can't be that hard!" he protested. "The Shaolin have training in connecting with each element. The body has chi points that correspond to the elements and nature. I can probably figure it out."

"No, you can't! You'll probably bring down the whole cave. Give me that!" She lunged forward to grab it from Jin, but he turned away, holding it away. She ran after it, and he turned again. The butt-end swung around and almost hit Jacqui's hip, but she wormed out of the way.

"Jin, stop it!" she huffed. "Come on, guys!"

"Give me the staff, Jin!" Cassie reached for it again and he spun it in his hands, twirling it away from her. With a growl Cassie leapt from the ground and dove straight towards Jin. She wrapped her legs around his torso and latched on like a leech. She tugged and pried at the staff, trying to detach it from Jin's iron grip.

"CASSIE!" Jin yelled, flailing wildly. He backpedaled straight into the wall behind them, slipping and stumbling on loose bones and rocks. They ripped layers of webbing that stretched from the floor to the ceiling, and it clung sticky to their clothes and to Cassie's hair. Jin's back hit the wall and he turned, pressing Cassie into the wall instead, pinning her with his body weight. He gripped the staff with both hands again, and somehow managed to charge it with enough power to make it glow.

"Don't-" Jacqui tried, but before she could try to intervene a bolt of electricity shot from the end of the staff. It sailed across the room, sucking all light from the cave in a flickering strobe. The back-pressure of the staff zapped, and little arcs jolted straight into Jin's arms. He recoiled, stiffening from the electricity, and the staff tumbled from his hands. He cried out and so did Cassie, and Takeda saw her arms and legs stiffen too from underneath Jin.

Jin collapsed, his dead weight tumbling down into the water, and Cassie's dead weight landed on top of him. Takeda heard all of Jin's air leave him, and the bolt exploded. Chunks of stone and debris broke apart from the wall of the cave, and a shower of rocks tumbled down from the ceiling. Dust flew outwards. A hot gust of stale air blew Takeda's hair and headband tails back, and he shielded his eyes from the aftermath.

The entire cave trembled, visibly shaking from the force of the explosion. The webs vibrated, flapping back and forth, and the hanging body swung wildly. Its abdomen curled and uncurled, looking violently alive for a moment before it ripped free of the webbing. The tearing of paper-thin, fragile flesh accompanied the rumble of the cave, and the top half of the body tumbled from the lower half. It slapped against the ground, and with a wet squelch, all the little boils were crushed and burst in a shower of blood. Skeletons jerked and trembled, and Takeda heard squealing and scraping as spiders' legs scrambled for purchase against the ceiling. They screamed as they fell - three, four, five spiders - falling on their backs and curling up, or falling on their feet in the water, stumbling drunkenly to orient themselves despite the tremors in the cave.

"Jin, you FUCKING IDIOT!" Cassie yelled over the roar.

After what seemed like an eternity, the cave stilled. The sounds of rocks breaking loose and spiders falling ceased. Takeda still felt the vibrations in his knees as he pulled himself to his feet - he didn't even realize he had fallen. He felt off-balance and awkward, but still managed to reach down and help Jacqui to her feet, too.

He looked across the cave, over the bodies of spiders, and could clearly make out a cluster of rocks blocking the entrance where they came. The skylights managed to survive, he thought bitterly, as they illuminated all five spiders that failed to hold on to the ceiling. The one closest to them flipped itself over and turned towards them, its eyes locking onto the four of them. It decided that they were the source of its troubles, and it let out a whine. A tinny, high-pitched sound of rage. It rushed towards them, front legs up in the air.

Takeda backed away from them to make space, closer to the recess where the hanging body was, and released his whips from his sleeves. He lashed them out, slicing across the spider's body. They scraped uselessly on its tough exoskeleton, but he was only hoping to distract it and separate it from the group. It veered towards him and hissed, and flecks of spit and what he could only assume was thick, sludgy venom dripped from its mouth and fangs. He couldn't stop the shudder from crawling down his spine, but he lashed his whips around himself, issuing a warning of his own. If the spider was any kind of intelligent - or, perhaps, self-preserving - it would retreat.

It was a selfish hope.

His adrenaline surged, and knots began to twist in his stomach, worming around inside of him. He squared off with the spider, juking to the left and right to test its reaction time. It barely moved, instead twisting around its position on the floor to keep its eyes on him. His heart leapt into his throat and beat hard against the bottom of his windpipe, shortening his breath. He gripped his whips so tightly, the leather of his gloves chafed against them.

The spider lifted a leg on either side of its face, each joint curling and uncurling and swaying delicately through the air. It almost looked like a dance until the spider lunged. Takeda ducked under the legs, they curled in the air where he had been standing, meant to clamp down around his shoulders and drag him towards its gaping mouth. It retreated, facing off with him again, legs hoisted in the air.

Then, everything went dark.

The natural light in the cave blotted out, and Takeda's fear surged as he thought some rocks collapsed over them. Blinded, he lashed his whips wildly, unsure if the spider moved at all in the dark. He crossed them and twirled them, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He felt like more had come, that they were all around him, closing him off, ready to pounce-

The light was uncovered. A hairy leg crossed over the hole, and the spider it belonged to crawled across the ceiling. He tried to keep his eye on it, but the spider on the ground in front of him lunged for him again, snapping its jaws. Takeda spun, hurling his whips around and dashing them across its face. The whips jarred in his hand, and he heard a wet sucking sound when they connected with something sensitive. The spider retreated, curling its legs around its body and squealing.

The spider on the ceiling peered down at him, and its legs bunched around it. It launched itself from the webs right at him, twisting in the air like a hairy parachute, but Takeda rolled to the side. It landed and rolled away into the darkness. Takeda backpedaled away from where it disappeared, but suddenly two legs snaked around his body and clamped down on either side of his chest, dragging him to his knees. His knees popped painfully, he dropped into the water, and was dragged backwards. He rolled onto his back in the spider's clutches and saw two fangs rearing up over him. Takeda reached up and grabbed a hold of one of the legs around him and threw as hard of a punch as he could into one of the joints. The limb jerked and loosened around him, and he reached down to his belt for the handle of a plasma blade. He unsheathed it, activating it in the same motion, and sawed through the same joint. The leg went limp, ripping free of the spider's body and flopping down on top of him.

The spider screamed and reared back but didn't let go, so Takeda passed the blade to his left hand and sliced up into the underbelly of the spider. The heat of the plasma cut through its exoskeleton like butter, hissing as it cauterized the flesh. The smell and sound of meat sizzling reached him, and as he dragged the blade up towards its mouth as far as he could reach, wet gore spilled out of the spider's belly, spattering all over him and splashing into the water next to him. The next smell to reach him was that of sewage, and he gagged.

He hacked away wildly at the tangle of limbs above him, praying that it would flop down dead soon. When it finally did, all of its weight pressed down on his chest, and all the breath he had left hissed out of him. He craned his neck back and braced the top of his head against the water, staring at the cave upside down for the sight of the other spider. It had abandoned him for favor of the others, but when it caught sight of him, defenseless, it saw an opportunity. It crawled towards him and turned around, and Takeda paused, caught off-guard by its behavior. It drew closer and closer and Takeda struggled to get the weight of the dead spider off of himself. When it finally raised its behind over him, the skin retracted, and a sharp, curved stinger emerged from the folds.

The spider stabbed it down towards him, and he turned away. It thumped in the water, splashing him in the face. Takeda swiped at it with his blade, but the reach wasn't long enough. The spider compensated, inching a bit to the side, this time to catch him in the neck. Takeda freed his other hand and flicked his wrist, shooting his whips and embedding them into its body closer to its face. He grabbed it hand over hand and tugged with all of his strength, hauling the spider's face towards him and its rear away from him. He twisted the spider around almost completely before he called on Hanzo's training. The heat of Netherrealm fire seared into his flesh, and he visualized the place where he knew he needed to go. The fire manifested around him, cloaking his body, burning more of the spiders' hair, and when it had built up enough, Takeda released it. He teleported next to the other spider, tearing his whip free, and he pinwheeled his arms, slashing them down on its body as hard as he could.

They cut straight through. Its scream cut off as its rounded body slumped pathetically in the water. The spider's legs instantly curled around it, before it flopped over and gave one final twitch before lying still.

He spun to check on the others, right as Cassie emptied her clip into the last spider's face. She collapsed to her hands and knees with a sigh.

"You alright?" Jacqui asked, breathless from fighting. She ran over to Cassie and knelt next to her. Cassie looked up at the three of them, and Takeda saw a deep gash on her face, stretching from the corner of her mouth to her ear. Blood poured down her face, dripping from her chin to her jawline. She also sported a few tears in her suit from the legs scratching across her, and each one was stained with red blood that soaked into the fabric. Takeda quickly took stock of Jin. He looked to be alright, but from the way his chest heaved, he was short of breath, and had some red stains all over him. Spider gore. Takeda was sure he looked the same. His suit felt wet all over, and his face felt coated in sweat - or worse. He resisted the urge to gag again.

"Oof. That's gonna need stitches," Jacqui said, cupping Cassie's chin and turning her face all around. "Who has the first aid kit?"

Cassie waved her off, hauling herself to her feet. "I hate you," she muttered, stomping towards Jin. When she got close enough she pushed him hard. He staggered back. "I fucking hate you."

"Well, sorry!" he huffed. "It's not like I was trying to do that!"

"You always gotta do something stupid, don't you?!" she cried. "For once in your life can you not be an impulsive idiot?!"

Jin rolled his eyes, not even bothering to grace that with a reply. He shoved past her, and they engaged in a small pushing match before he tore himself free and pounded back over to Raiden's staff. He picked it up from where he ditched it earlier and braced it on the ground. "Whatever, Cage. I was just trying to figure out how to use it to give us an advantage. But fine. If you'd rather just leave it here then we will. It's no better off to us than that if we decide not to use it."

Absolute rage flared in Cassie's eyes. Her jaw clenched, her fingers twitched, and her elbow flared out at her side. Jacqui's eyes widened and she shared a glance with Takeda, and both jumped into action. Takeda stepped between her and Jin, an extra body blocking her from him, while Jacqui grabbed Cassie's shoulders and turned her away. "Let's get your cheek stitched up. Don't you have the first aid kit-"

"It's fucking fine," Cassie hissed. "I don't want to be in their nerve center if Jin decides to be an idiot again." She snatched the glowstick from Jacqui and stomped over to an inlet that receded on the left side of Raiden's staff. "You better pray to whatever god you monks believe in that there's another way out of here, Jin." She walked into the inlet, and the light of the glowstick illuminated a round doorway, blocked by a loose pile of rocks that fell when the cave trembled. She whirled around and rushed Takeda and he tensed, unsure if she was going to attack him next. She reached for his belt but he grabbed her wrist.

"What?"

"Kunai."

"You can't blow that up," he said. "We could bring down more parts of the cave-"

"Do I look like I care right now?"

"Cass," Jacqui said slowly. "Calm down, okay? I'll take care of it. Takeda?" she sent to him.

"Yeah?"

"Try to calm her down. I got this."

Takeda scanned Cassie's mind, but all he received was a wall of emotion in the image of a red, boiling anger that mixed dangerously with thick, black fear. It almost repelled him immediately but he burrowed through, drilling a hole in her anger with his mental power. He knew that she was more than just angry with Jin. He knew from when he read them above the Spider Caves that she was afraid of this place and afraid of what they could find down there. He knew she was wanting to abandon the mission and resented still being dragged down there. He even sensed a tiny bit of blame on him and Jacqui for insisting that they complete the mission.

He breathed deeply, calming himself as much as he could, and wrapped his influence around her emotion, imagining his power to be a slow, cooling drip of water that he poured over her mind. "Cass," he said, "stay calm. Okay?" He stared hard into her face, and when their eyes met he opened his mind, pulling at hers and drawing her in just like he did to General Blade when she had him tied up. Cassie's eyes widened and she resisted, blinking hard and trying to force her mental walls down to block him out. "Stop," he said. "I know you want to be angry, but now's not the time. We have way more important things to worry about." He poured more of his calmness over her mind, and he could feel her tense body relax. "Let's get your cheek stitched up. Who has the first aid kit?"

Cassie drew in a huge breath, then let it out slowly. "It's in my bag," she said, shuffling it off her shoulder.

He led her over to the wall where they found Raiden's staff and he had her hold the glowstick to her face while he opened the first aid kit and dug out some antibacterial wipes and the suture kit. While Jacqui punched and shot at the rocks with her gauntlets, occasionally letting out a cry of exertion, Takeda slowly stitched the cut on Cassie's cheek closed, tying the stitches when he was finished.

"How's that?"

"Feels great. Thanks."

"Jacqui, you doing okay?" Takeda asked, when he heard Jacqui take a break.

"Whoo! Yeah!" she said. "Almost through. Just a couple more rocks."

"Time check," Cassie grumbled, still not keen on speaking to Jin.

Takeda sensed the snark before Jin opened his mouth. He put a hand on Cassie's shoulder and pretended to inspect his needlework so she wouldn't be able to get up.

"Ask me nicely," Jin sneered.

"Shut the fuck up, Jin. Give me the time."

"Eight hours, thirteen minutes."

"Okay! We're through!" Jacqui said.

"Hah! Awesome," Cassie muttered dryly. She dragged herself to her feet, groaning with the strain, and instantly made for the tunnel. She nudged past Jacqui and made her way into the tunnel before Takeda was finished packing up the first aid kit.

Cassie lifted the glowstick high and peered into the blackness. "It makes a sharp left," she said, "then it makes another left." She inched forward, leaning over and back around the corner to make sure she could still see them. "I think the caves open up some more aro-"

Cassie was pulled to the ground and slid out of sight around the corner.

And she screamed.