Having fled Raiden's forces and the massacre of the Brotherhood of Shadow, the small group of former revenants and demons had elected simply to keep running, until they were confident that they had achieved a safe distance from their potential pursuers.
Collectively tired from said running, the six all sat down with their backs leaned against a large rock formation, taking a few moments to collect themselves after their ordeal.
"So… this is… the downside… of having to breathe again," Stryker said through fatigued breaths, before taking off his hat and wiping his brow. "Dear lord, it's hot down here when you're not a corpse. How do you gals stand it?"
"For both the heat and breathing again, you get used to it," Jade explained. "Ok...not so much the heat." She removed her mask and began using it to fan herself.
"Perhaps this will help," offered Ashrah, removing her large hat and using it to fan them both.
Jade and Stryker both shrugged. "A little." They said in unison.
"We were born here," reminded Jataaka with a condescending sneer. "If we didn't get used to the heat, we'd be dead."
Sareena laughed awkwardly. "She's exaggerating… mostly. You see, we demons have a sort of natural resistance to extreme temperatures. The heat of this realm for example, or—"
"The cold of the ice your Cryomancer friend shot at us." Kia interrupted.
"Cryo—-whatnow?" Asked Stryker. "Wait, do you know Sub-Zero?"
"She knew his brother," Jade explained. "The one Scorpion killed at the tournament. Neither he nor I had met you yet."
"I think I remember him mentioning a brother," Stryker attempted to recall. "Wait, is this the same brother that—-Oh no."
"What?" Sareena asked.
"About two years after you left, Bi-Han was killed by Scorpion, just like your Earthrealmer friend said," clarified Jataaka. "After that…"
"He joined the Brotherhood of Shadow," Kia explained. "But disappeared during Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm."
"Joined the...what?!" Sareena exclaimed. "How could any of this have happened?!"
"Do you remember when Quan Chi mentioned something kind of deal he'd made with Bi-Han's Lin Kuei to wipe out their rival clan?" Jataaka asked.
Sareena nodded.
"He pinned the slaughter of that clan on Bi-Han," Kia explained further. "Making him a target for Scorpion's fury."
"I was at the tournament," Jade recalled. "It was… brutal. When Scorpion returned from well… here actually, all that was left of Bi-Han was a skull and spine. It was so heavily burned, that when he dropped it, it simply became dust."
"No..." Sareena said quietly, a rush of emotions filling her.
"That wasn't all," Kia clarified. "His soul came back here, became corrupted and he was turned into a wraith."
"Quan Chi lied to Bi-Han and said he was the one to resurrect him," Jataaka elaborated. "Same as he had done for Scorpion after this realm rebirthed him."
"Wraith…." Ashrah said as she became wrapped up in thought, lowering her hat, not like it had helped Jade and Stryker much anyway. Then, she put the pieces together: "Quan Chi's enforcer, Noob Saibot!"
"That was….." Sareena was struck with the sudden realization. "Oh by the gods…"
"My buddy Kabal fought that guy during the invasion fiasco," Stryker recalled. "Guessing you two had a run in with him as well?"
"Quan Chi sent him to hunt us down shortly after gaining this new enforcer," Ashrah explained. "After we managed to fend him off, Sareena said that he seemed almost familiar…..and now we know why."
"Well, you did most of the fending him off," Sareena said modestly. "Your blade was a big help, though I suppose that only makes sense: a weapon of light against a creature of darkness. But, wait, you said Bi-Han went missing?"
"Oh yeah…." Stryker recalled. "Buddy of ours..."
"A warrior named Nightwolf…" Jade was now starting to remember as well. "Kind of…"
"Sort of…." Stryker continued.
"What?" Sareena asked.
"Kicked him into a Soulnado." They finally both said.
"But…" Sareena paused. "A Soulnado would tear an undead apart!"
"Yeah…." Stryker confirmed. "We think that's pretty much what happened…."
"We're so sorry, Sareena," Jade sympathized. "Sub-Zero wasn't exactly happy about it either….we made a number of bad decisions that day.."
"It's...it's not your fault," Sareena assured. "It's just after all these years, I thought after escaping this place….I might get to see him again. Thank him."
"Quite honestly, we always thought Quan Chi recruited him to get pretty much this reaction out of you." Said Jataaka.
"To torment you," added Kia. "Which, at the time, we were all on board for."
"At the time…." Sareena repeated. "And...what now?"
"We still can't forgive you," Jataaka said frankly. "Not after everything we have endured."
"But...we think we can trust you…" Kia explained. "You didn't turn us over to the Earthrealm god. We don't think you were lying about wanting to help us either, we just—"
"Don't think it'll make up for...everything…" Jataaka finished. "Despite what we know is your best effort."
Sareena nodded slowly. "I understand…"
"In my humble opinion, so long as we can all cooperate for the greater goal of staying alive, we should be fine." Posited Stryker.
"I wholeheartedly agree." Added Ashrah.
"Well, thank you for trusting me at least," Sareena said graciously. "It….it means a lot."
Kia and Jataaka simply nodded.
"Wait…." Sareena said as what Jade and Stryker had told her of Bi-Han's fate began to click on her head. "You mentioned...Sub-Zero, but you didn't seem like you were talking about Bi-Han."
"His brother, Kuai Liang," Jade explained. "He took up Bi-Han's mantle after his death."
"I see…" Sareena responded. "Well, it's good to know that Bi-Han's memory is being kept alive, at least."
"Yeah….till he got turned into a cyborg, then died, then got made into a revenant like us, then—"
"Kurtis," Jade said to stop his rambling.
"Sorry…" Stryker apologized. "He's fine now. Raiden was able to bring him back to life, least that's what I heard."
Sareena nodded, trying to take in the convoluted story.
"Good…" she said simply.
"So, now that we're in the clear from Raiden, what's the plan?" Kia asked.
"Still looking to escape this realm, Sareena?" Jataaka added.
"Well, yes," Sareena said honestly. "But we've had trouble figuring out how to do that so far."
"Quan Chi had a few portals scattered throughout this realm," Jataaka recalled. "You, former revenant. Do you remember the location of any?" She pointed at Stryker.
He shook his head. "Fraid not, ma'am."
"I was a revenant a shorter time than Kurtis," Jade admitted. "But from what I remember, Quan Chi and Shinnok tended to transport us using their own power."
"Y'know I've been wondering about that." Said Stryker.
"I always assumed that their sorcery granted them such powers," theorized Jade. "Or Shinnok was able to traverse the realms since he was once an Elder God."
"No, that not," Stryker clarified. "I meant about you. How you were able to...shrug off what Shinnok did to us."
"In my experience, you are both noble souls," complimented Ashrah. "It is only natural that you would overcome that dark magic eventually."
"That's very kind of you to say, Ashrah," Jade responded graciously. "But to tell you all the truth...it wasn't really me."
"Whaddya mean?" Stryker asked.
"Well, while the rest of you were in Earthrealm helping Shinnok attack the Jinsei, I was back in the Netherrealm," Jade explained. "Quan Chi wanted me to take care of some 'internal affairs'. Deserters, I think."
She looked over at Sareena and Ashrah. "You two, I presume."
"Well, glad we avoided that." Joked Sareena.
"Agreed. I was searching with a group of Brotherhood cultists when suddenly, I was all but blinded by a flash of light," Jade continued. "Next I knew, I was in some kind of glowing void. Afterward, this woman approached me.
Her clothing appeared to be made out of crystals. That's all I can remember about her. She told me that I had been chosen as her champion, and that the evil needed to be purged from my soul so that I could fulfill my destiny. I still have no idea what it all means. All I remember beyond that was a blinding flash of light, and this burning feeling all the way down to my bones, before it all went dark.
When I awoke, I found that I was somehow… alive, again. I assume some power possessed by this woman. I'm not sure. The cultists that had been dispatched to aid me took the loss of my revenant form as a 'betrayal' and attacked me. I was able to fend them off, regrettably… having to kill a few. But the ones that retreated evidently reported my rebirth to Quan Chi."
"And then me and the others got sent after you a few times," Stryker recalled. "You got pretty lucky most of the time, ended up meeting these two." He motioned to Sareena and Ashrah.
"And now, here you are."
Jade nodded. "That about covers it."
"It sounds like your resurrection was some act of divine intervention," Ashrah theorized. "Perhaps the Elder Gods favor you."
"Maybe," Jade replied. "I'm glad it happened either way...I only wish all of the others could have been restored with me."
"Hey, me, Sub-Zero, and Jax still ended up figuring it out," Stryker argued. "And I think there's still hope for the others."
"I do as well, don't get me wrong," Jade clarified. "I will never give up on my friends, especially not Kitana."
"Your faithfulness is admirable," complimented Kia. "And awfully hard to come by in this realm."
Sareena couldn't help but feel that the second comment was directed at her. "Speaking of faithfulness… even though I abandoned you both, and will have to live with that sin for the rest of my days, I'm glad that the two of you still stuck together."
"For the longest time all we've had is each other," Jataaka recounted, taking Kia's hand as the two briefly smiled at one another. "Helping each other pull through has become… almost second nature, I suppose."
Sareena's shame immediately rushed back to her and she found herself simply staring at the ground until she received a light touch on the shoulder from Ashrah.
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Ashrah advised. "We all make mistakes."
"Not usually ones that result in people we care about suffering…." Sareena argued.
"Sareena…?" Said Kia.
"Yes?" She asked in return.
"While you and your Earthrealmer friends were talking, we think we found a way that we can leave this realm."
"Well, what do you have in mind?" Asked Ashrah.
"I'm actually an Edenian." Jade clarified. With that correction made, both she and Stryker were soon equally as intently focused as Ashrah.
"On the Blood Sea, there is a man named Kharon," Jataaka explained. "He ferries a boat which is said to carry anyone who rides with him across the Blood Sea and to a portal that will allow them to exit this realm."
"I have heard of Kharon," Sareena recalled. "But I had thought it was all mere legend."
"We both did." Ashrah admitted.
"We don't think so," Kia elaborated. "Before Raiden attacked, the leaders at our temple were talking about requesting that Kharon take them out of the Netherrealm so that they could enact their vengeance for Lord Shinnok's death."
"As grizzly as that all was to see…." Stryker said, choosing his words carefully. "I'm kind of glad that didn't happen."
"You needn't worry about offending us," clarified Jataaka. "Our loyalty to the Brotherhood was born of fear and a long ago promised ascent, not commitment to their ideals."
"Plus these human forms." Added Kia.
"Human…." Stryker started.
"...Forms?" Jade finished.
"Brotherhood members are trained in the sorcery required to assume forms like these." Jataaka explained.
"I….should have told you both sooner…" Sareena said regretfully. "What they're saying is true. We don't actually look like this."
"Well what do ya look like?" Stryker asked.
"Bigger….uglier…" Sareena answered. "We prefer looking like this, needless to say."
"This seems like a sensitive topic for you," Jade noticed. "We won't pry any further."
"Thank you." Sareena responded.
Ashrah stood up and began surveying the area, placing her hat back on her head. "The Blood Sea should be….due north, if I remember correctly."
"Between yourself, Sareena, Jataaka and I, we should be able to find the way." Reasoned Kia, as she and Jataaka got to their feet.
"Agreed," Ashrah replied. "We should probably get moving. If that attack on the Brotherhood of Shadow wasn't the last of what your Raiden has planned, we'll need to depart from this realm with haste to have any hope of stopping him before he goes too far."
"And finding a way to save your friends." Sareena suggested.
"Not to mention some other friends we haven't seen in ages," Stryker added, getting up himself. "Let's go."
"Indeed." Agreed Jade, grabbing her staff and setting off with the others.
And so they set off on their journey, determined to at very long last be free from the clutches of the Netherrealm and with any luck, reunite with their old friends and allies and put a stop to Raiden's machinations.
The journey would be a long one, and not without hardship. The Netherrealm was host to many dangerous and bloodthirsty creatures. Oni and Lesser Demons, Hellhounds, a Cerberus which proved difficult to deal with but useful as a food source, and even a giant malevolent flaming skull of ambiguous origin.
All enemies were eventually vanquished and the group continued along their path.
"We should be about halfway there. To reach the Blood Sea, we'll have to go through the Prison of Souls," Jataaka explained as they walked. "It is a place far unlike any you will have seen in this realm. What sorcery Shinnok used to create it has always eluded us."
"Sounds...inviting." Stryker said sarcastically.
"It was where I first met Bi-Han," Sareena elaborated. "After Kia, Jataaka, and myself were sent to kill him."
"So how'd you become buds?" Stryker asked.
"He beat us unconscious and let her off easy," Kia chimed in. "Then she helped him fight off Quan Chi."
"The rest, I don't think needs reiterating." Jataaka decided, tempering Kia's resentment for now.
"I had been stationed at the Prison of Souls once or twice during my time with the Brotherhood," Ashrah recalled. "It should be mostly abandoned by now, save for the Keepers."
"Keepers?" Jade asked.
"Warriors made of metal and fueled by lightning," Sareena explained. "And very strong."
"Shinnok is said to have created them himself to battle his enemies." Ashrah added.
"Made of metal and powered by…." Stryker mused, before snapping his fingers at his realization. "You mean robots?!"
"What is a 'robot'?" Jataaka asked.
"We have them in Earthrealm," Stryker explained. "They're exactly what you described. Metal and wire electricity and all that. Except they're not magic like you think, they're made of technology."
"I thought those were called 'cyborgs'." Jade said in confusion.
"No, cyborgs are people with technology and metal and stuff built around them," Stryker explained. "Like what Sub-Zero got turned into, or Jax with his metal arms. Or those ketchup and mustard cans we fought during the invasion."
"I see...so what are robots?" Jade asked.
"Like cyborgs, but there's nothing organic in them," Stryker elaborated. "Their 'brains' are basically computers."
"What is a… 'computer'?" Sareena questioned.
"Aw jeez," Stryker said to himself, feeling like the only member of the group who was from the 21st century. "Computers are—"
Before he could finish, a red fireball exploded on the ground in front of the group. A thick haze then filled the air, completely surrounding them.
"There's no escape!"
Suddenly, there was a glint of silver in the smoke. Jade was able to notice it, yelling "Look out!" before launching her glaive to counter what turned out to be Kung Lao's hat, the collision of the two weapons sending them back to their users.
Out of the smoky haze emerged Liu Kang, Kung Lao, and Smoke.
"You guys?" Stryker questioned. "Look, guys, we really don't have time for this right now."
"Then MAKE TIME," screamed Liu Kang. "Because we are going to kill you all!"
"Liu, where's Kitana?" Jade asked.
"Wouldn't you like to know, he responded disdainfully. "I've seen through your lies, I know what you've been doing. You're conspiring with Raiden!"
"What?!" Jade questioned.
"Don't deny it!" Liu Kang demanded. "You've been trying to turn her against me!"
"I would never—"
"STOP LYING!" Liu Kang screamed. "I think I know why to! You've always been playing the part of the best friend, but I see through your facade. You want Kitana for yourself, don't you?!"
"Look, Liu Kang, I may have always held a place in my heart for Kitana," Jade admitted. "But I was not to be her lover. I was to be her confidant, her unwavering ally, her friend, and I treasured that friendship more than anything else I have known in my long and painful life. And when I knew that she was in love with you, I could do nothing but be happy for her."
"Your tendencies for lying reminds me of Shang Tsung!" Liu Kang growled.
"There is no deception in putting the needs of someone you care about above your own desires," Jade argued. "The Liu Kang I knew, the Liu Kang that Kitana fell in love with, understood that."
"Well, that is a shame. Because that Liu Kang? He's dead," Liu Kang declared. "Your friend Raiden KILLED him!"
Liu Kang launched another fireball, which Jade summoned her green energy around her body to deflect.
"I don't want to do this, Liu Kang," she told her adversary. "But if you aren't going to be reasonable…"
She suddenly became a glowing green blur of motion as she kicked Liu Kang in the chest, knocking him down.
"You leave me no choice."
Kung Lao and Smoke entered battle stances as Ashrah unsheathed her blade and Stryker took out his baton, mentally kicking himself for not thinking to use it in his last encounter with the revenants.
Almost instinctively, Sareena, Kia, and Jataaka huddled around one another, readying themselves for battle.
Smoke faded into the haze he had created and suddenly reappeared right next to Stryker, uppercutting him before throwing a Kunai blade at Ashrah, which she deflected with her sword.
"Corrupted by both Shinnok's devilry and an Enenra," Ashrah observed. "I do not envy your predicament."
"I do not need your pity!" Smoke growled at her.
"The demon that resides within you will have none," Ashrah threatened. "The trapped mortal soul however, shall receive my sincerest sympathies. Please, do not lose faith in yourself."
"The only one any of you fools have faith in is a dead man," Smoke argued, his denial in full force. "And I will not succumb to his follies of compassion."
Smoke charged at Ashrah, who swung her blade at him only to have it deflected by one of his gauntlets. He punched her in the gut, causing her to stumble back. Ashrah's sword began to glow a white light, and she unleashed a glowing projectile at the revenant.
Rather than merely knocking her opponent back as had happened when Ashrah used the same attack on Liu Kang, the light seemed to dichotomize Smoke. He began grabbing onto his head as if it were going to explode, falling to his knees and screaming in agony as both a demonic creature of vapor and a human soul could be visibly seen emerging from his form, both in considerable pain.
"What'd you do?" Asked Stryker.
"I...I am unsure…" Ashrah answered. "The power of my blade seemed to have separated out the dual-consciousnesses battling for control of his body, at least for now."
"What do you mean?" Stryker then asked.
"Your friend is afflicted by a type of demon known as an Enenra," Ashrah explained. "That is in addition to the curse Shinnok placed on him. It is no wonder he refers to his prior self as a 'dead man'. He is suffering from some manner of identity crisis that is on the verge of driving him mad."
"You could be a psychiatrist." Stryker complimented.
"Not familiar with the term." Ashrah replied.
Eventually, the vapor creature seemed to shove the human soul back into Smoke's body, and he stood back up.
"That… hurt," he said frustratedly. "You will not do that again!"
At the same time, Kung Lao contended with Sarerna, Kia, and Jataaka. In life, he had been one of the Shaolin's best, making his martial arts prowess more than suitable enough to handle all three at once. Still, the three were coordinated, fighting alongside one another was almost second nature in spite of their not having done so in such a long time. Kung Lao needed to be on high alert to fight the three of them together, the slightest slip up meaning he would lose the fight.
That left Jade to deal with Liu Kang...or rather, Liu Kang's paranoia-fueled rage.
Liu Kang swung madly at her with crimson flaming fists, Jade using her staff to keep him at bay at all times, charging the weapon with her green energy to parry Liu Kang's strikes. Both were well trained warriors, but Jade was stuck purely on the defensive while Liu Kang made little use of that training, just berserker rage and the intention to overpower her with his flurry of strikes. The whole thing was a fast-paced light show of red and green, like a particularly heated Christmas party.
Needless to say, the battle was rather tense. Despite the revenants now being lesser in number after the rest had split off to join with Raiden, they were hardly any less formidable. Ashrah and Stryker were certainly faring the best against Smoke, while the three demonesses and Jade were having far more trouble with their opponents, though managing to at least remain on an even footing with the two corrupted Shaolin Monks.
Eventually, Kung Lao managed to knock Sareena to the ground. He removed his hat and was about to bring it down to slice right through her. Sareena unsheathed her Demon Fang sword to block the attack, but before the two weapons could collide, Kung Lao's hat was knocked out of his hand by one of Kia's razor boomerangs. Jataaka then swung at him with her energized sword, but Kung Lao ducked into the ground in a flash of blue light, reappearing beneath his hat in his unique way of teleporting.
Sareena got up, surprised by what had just transpired.
"You….saved me." She said to her former friends.
"Yeah." Kia confirmed.
"Now we're even." Added Jataaka.
Sareena couldn't help but crack a smile at them, but all attention quickly turned back to their revenant opponent, as Kung Lao launched into a flying kick, which Jataaka used the flat side of her sword to block, only for Kung Lao to bounce off of the weapon and kick Kia, much to Jataaka's enragement. She swung at Kung Lao with her sword, but he again teleported under her strike, reappearing behind her and trying to slash at her with his razor hat, only to be knocked back by a timely pinkish skull-fireball courtesy of Sareena.
"I think saving each other's lives is starting to become a bit routine for us," Sareena noted. "I can't say that I particularly mind."
Jataaka didn't respond, still not sure what to make of this reunion with Sareena. Everything was happening rather fast for her, but there was little time to mull over it while an angry revenant was trying to kill them.
Jade meanwhile continued to fend off Liu Kang's almost overwhelming fury. Each strike saw their respective energies clash in a radiant fashion.
"Liu Kang, please!" Jade pleaded. "I wasn't lying, I've no idea where Kitana is! If she's with Raiden as you say, she and the others might be in trouble, we can work together!"
"I'm through working with you, traitor!" Liu Kang shouted. "I will be fooled by your tricks no longer! You will NOT take her from me!"
"What kind of friend would I be if I even thought about doing that?" Jade asked.
"We were never friends!" Liu Kang argued. "A mutual concern for Kitana's safety is the only thing that brought us together during the invasion! I bet you wouldn't even have cared if Earthrealm was conquered by Shao Kahn! You just wanted your precious Edenia!"
"Even if we could have freed Edenia, I could not stand idly by and let billions suffer!" Jade countered. "Just as you couldn't! Please Liu Kang, do not let your anger control you!"
"NOTHING controls me!" Liu Kang screamed. "The only ones who ever tried are DEAD! And you and Raiden will be joining them!"
"I won't let that happen," Jade declared. "I want to help you, Liu Kang. But I will defend myself."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Liu Kang said with a devious smirk that was so very much unlike him. "I wouldn't want this fight to be too easy. It's been a while since I've had a real challenge."
"I remember when you used to fight for what was right," Jade reminded him. "Not for its own sake."
"Stop acting like you never knew me." Liu Kang growled spitefully as he continued to attempt to swing at Jade with his flaming fists, only her to parry each strike with her equally glowing staff.
"You fight someone, you fight alongside someone, you get to know them pretty well, in my experience." Jade argued.
"Really?" Liu Kang asked. "Because I thought I knew you, until I figured out how much of a treacherous snake you really are."
"That's Shinnok's corruption talking," Jade argued. "Fight it, Liu Kang!"
"You should be more worried about yourself!" Liu Kang shouted, before delivering a strong flaming kick that managed to knock Jade's staff out of her hand. He then went for a flaming roundhouse kick, Jade attempting the same tactic unwittingly, their glowing legs colliding with one another like two energy blades in a certain science fiction franchise, the red and green energy of their blows knocking the two back.
Jade's glow and Liu Kang's flames returned almost instantly after that, as the two former comrades rushed at one another and began grappling, each trying to get the other's unique energy source to overpower the other's.
Simultaneously, Stryker was fistfighting Smoke, his baton having been knocked from his hand earlier. Ashrah attempted to intervene with a sword slash, but Smoke assumed his vaporous form to dodge out of the way, reappearing and kicking her into Stryker, knocking them both down.
"You caused me great pain," he said frustratedly as he approached him. "Almost caused the dead man to resurface. Now I'll repay you for that….experience."
Before Smoke could strike however, he was suddenly thrown back by a shockwave, one which also dissipated the haze he had formed around their battlefield. This caught the attention of every combatant present other than Liu Kang and Jade, who were still locked in battle.
The attacker turned out to be none other than Hsu Hao, who approached the battlefield with a neutral expression yet still a sense of readiness for any coming battle.
"You again?" Kung Lao asked. "Perhaps I was wrong and we should have let Kabal deal with you."
"Your compatriot attempted to slay me somewhat recently," Hsu Hao informed him. "It was a rather irritating experience. I sincerely hope you and the rest of your fellow revenants will be more sensible and depart without further unnecessary combat that serves only to waste the time and resources of all parties involved."
"Is that a threat?" Kung Lao asked, Smoke getting up and standing alongside him.
"No," Hsu Hao answered plainly. "It was a statement of the facts of this situation. This battle is entirely futile and aids neither you, nor myself, nor your opponents."
"Perhaps he fears us." Smoke theorized.
"Reasoning with you is clearly impossible," Hsu Hao discerned. "To the living participants of this skirmish. I propose a temporary alliance to neutralize these revenants as an active threat. I hold no additional stipulations to my offer."
"Well, I doubt we've got much in the way of other options," Sareena reasoned. "And you swear that you will not attack us once the revenants are defeated?"
"You have my word." Hsu Hao answered with a nod.
Kung Lao threw his razor hat at the Red Dragon, who ducked under the weapon, only for Kung Lao to teleport out from under it behind him and deal two swift strikes to his back, still scarred from Kabal's slashes, knocking Hsu Hao forward and the onto his knees. Kung Lao was about to attack further when he was knocked back by a blast of light from Ashrah's sword.
She herself was then hit by a swift kick from Smoke, which Stryker repaid with a strong punch to the jaw. Smoke stumbled back, and was then summarily grabbed and slammed into the ground by Hsu Hao.
Kung Lao then got up and tried to make his move, Smoke climbing to his feet as well as the two revenants quickly realized they were outnumbered as Sareena, Kia, and Jataaka moved in from behind them while Stryker, Ashrah, and Hsu Hao were in front of them.
"Liu Kang!" Called our Lao. "We could use some help here!"
"Focus on your own battles!" Liu Kang shouted as he continued to clash with Jade. "I'm busy here!"
Hsu Hao turned his attention to Liu Kang, charging up his chest implant and waiting until he was some distance from Jade. Said distance was achieved when Liu Kang knocked Jade down with a flying kick. She was about to fire back, her body glowing with energy, when instead, Hsu Hao blasted the "Emperor of the Netherrealm" with his chest laser, sending him flying back and crashing to the ground several feet away.
Kung Lao teleported over to his cousin.
"Liu Kang, we have to retreat," he advised. "We're severely outnumbered."
"No!" Liu Kang shouted back at him. "They need to suffer!" He sat up and glared at Jade with a hatefulness usually reserved for Raiden. "They all need to suffer for what they have done to me!"
Kung Lao didn't honestly care for Liu Kang's paranoid theories, shaking his head in response to his ramblings. "We can't worry about that right now, we have to go."
"Fine," Liu Kang finally conceded. "But mark my words, we will kill them all."
"Smo—Enenra, come on!" Called Kung Lao.
Smoke turned into his vaporous form and floated over to them, resuming his physical form after.
Kung Lao put a hand on both Liu Kang and Smoke's shoulders, and in a flash of light blue light, teleported them away.
"Well," said Hsu Hao. "That was certainly irritating."
"Thank you," Jade said gratefully, both to Hsu Hao for his aid and to Sareena, who walked over and helped her up.
"Who are you?" Ashrah asked.
"Hsu Hao, Red Dragon clan operative." He answered like a businessman.
"Red Dragon?" Stryker asked. "Oohhh, that rival clan Kabal mentione—Wait…."
Stryker unholstered his gun and aimed at Hsu Hao. "A buddy of time told me all about you 'Red Dragons'. You're terrorists."
"Whatever information you possess likely has some factual basis," Hsu Hao admitted, casually removing his hat to brush off some ash. "However, we are in a situation where addressing each other as enemies would be illogical. Five years ago, I was killed and brought to this realm. What effect it has had on my being remains primarily uncertain."
"I sense a certain… emptiness in your soul..." Ashrah commented. "I've never seen anything like it."
"Might have to do with the Light-Brite where his heart should be." Stryker wisecracked.
The joke had no real effect since none among the group knew what a Light-Brite was. Well, Hsu Hao might've, but he wasn't exactly the type to respond to humor.
"Regardless..." Hsu Hao continued. "All I seek is an exit from this realm so that I may return to my clan. Once I resume my duties with the Red Dragon, then, Officer Stryker, you may presume us to be enemies. For now however, I suspect we have a common goal."
"You know who I am?" Stryker asked.
"The partner of a former Black Dragon," Hsu Hao recounted. "That will land you on my clan's radar."
"What I don't understand is why someone so non-confrontational as yourself would even serve these terrorists." Jade chimed in.
"Do you have a grasp of the concept of loyalty?" Hsu Hao asked.
Jade nodded. "Loyalty is something I have known well. Both to my long ago stolen kingdom and to my friend."
"Excellent," Hsu Hao responded. "Then you should be able to comprehend why I serve the Red Dragon."
"I suppose," Jade conceded. "So why do you want our help."
"It is my understanding that you are the only group of individuals in this realm with no higher goals here beyond escaping it," Hsu Hao explained. "I have no interest in this realm or any conquest of it, and I presume neither do you."
"Us? Conquerors?" Ashrah asked rhetorically. "You'd have to be joking."
"Comedy has never been my forte," Hsu Hao responded frankly. "So it is simple. We collaborate to escape this realm, then go our separate ways. Are those terms agreeable?"
"I believe they are," said Jade, offering a handshake. "You've got a deal, Hsu Hao."
Hsu Hao looked at her hand. "The courtesy is unneeded, but, if it will verify our agreement…"
He shook her hand.
"How many people are you planning to let into our little brigade?" Kia asked.
"Well first it was Jade," Sareena recounted. "Then Kurtis."
"Then you two." Added Ashrah.
"And now Hsu Hao." Jade finished, before turning her eyes to Stryker. "I hope it won't be a problem for you, Kurtis."
"No," Stryker shook his head. "I'll be civil. Hate to say it, but the way he laid it all out made sense. We can team up with him for now."
"You are far more sensible than your partner, Officer Stryker." said Hsu Hao.
"You insulting Kabal?" Stryker asked.
Hsu Hao shook his head. "No, it was as a compliment towards you."
"I see," Stryker responded. "Well alright, let's get a move on, the Blood Sea and Prison of Souls Wait for no one! Geez, you Netherrealm people ever just call a place like, I dunno, 'Jerry's House'?"
"Who is—" Sareena began to ask.
"It was a joke." Stryker explained.
"Did you say 'Prison of Souls'?" Hsu Hao inquired.
"Yeah," Stryker answered. "Been there before?"
"No," Hsu Hao clarified. "I do know of it however."
"How so?" Sareena asked.
"Many years ago, the Red Dragon attempted to establish operations in this realm," Hsu Hao explained. "The cult you and your compatriots formerly served and other minions of Shinnok drove us out, and the facility as well as all the weapons within it were left behind. Including if I recall correctly, several protype combat robots."
Stryker snapped his fingers. "So that's where those 'Keepers' came from."
"Fascinating," said Ashrah. "I never knew of the prison's history."
"I always assumed that the Brotherhood had built it," Sareena admitted. "And that the… 'robots' as you call them were metal given life by sorcery."
"The more you know, eh?" Commented Stryker.
"Indeed," agreed Sareena. "It seems like there's always much to learn."
"We can discuss it on the way," Ashrah insisted, pointing her blade north. "Onward, comrades! To the Blood Sea!"
Sareena smiled at Ashrah's enthusiasm. "Agreed." She said with a nod.
"And to freedom at last."