Mortal Kombat: Requiem

by Cdr2002

A collab fanfic project written by me with help from some friends. Direct sequel to MKX ignoring MK11, followup on several ideas, characters, and storylines from the OG timeline, and general fix fic for MK. Synopsis: The warriors of the realms are fractured as Raiden descends down a dark path and Kotal Kahn continues to be a brutal tyrant. A common threat will unite them all.

33. Chapter 32: Life and Death

As Bo' Rai Cho stepped into Outworld, he began to take in his surroundings. The realm's enigma of a sky had taken on an almost goldish-blue at this time of day. To some this change felt like it almost magnified the heat of Outworld's sun. Bo' Rai Cho was no exception, but pressed on nonetheless, wiping his brow and using his wooden bo staff as a walking stick as he stepped forward into the Outworld plains.

As he continued, he came across a city. It was bustling with life, hundreds if not thousands of people going about their business, of all varieties of species and realm. Kotal Kahn's palace stood proudly in the backdrop of it all. While Bo' Rai Cho hated to no end the carnage that Shao Kahn had wrought in conquering these myriad realms, there was something about all these peoples peacefully coexisting that made him feel quite proud indeed. Unfortunately, he was soon reminded that this coexistence was not as peaceful as it seemed.

Bo' Rai Cho overheard yelling, and moved in the direction of the sound to find one of Outworld's citizens, a vampire, being knocked over by two Osh-Tekk soldiers in an alleyway.

"I didn't do anything!" The vampire pleaded as the two soldiers stood over them. "Just let me go!"

"Yeah, right," Responded one of the Osh-Tekk disbelievingly. "We saw you flying around. In the capital city no less."

"Probably a scout for Mileena." The other suggested.

"What?! No!" The vampire objected.

They then attempted to fly away, only for one Osh-Tekk to take out a large dagger and manage to stab the vampire in one of their wings, pinning them to a wall as well.

"Trying to get away, you overgrown bat?!" Asked the Osh-Tekk. "You realize that only makes you appear more suspicious, yes?"

"You have no right to do this to me!" The vampire argued. "And no right to hold my realm hostage!"

"Our realm got merged with Outworld too, vamp." The Osh-Tekk pointed out.

"Yeah, and you don't see us complaining about it." Added the other.

"Because your people chose to submit to that tyrant," the vampire countered. "Just as you now choose to submit to a tyrant who would not even see the realm of his birth removed from Outworld!"

"And you think Mileena would free Osh-Tekk?" One of the soldiers asked. "The daughter of the very same man who conquered both our realms?"

"He's delusional," Decided the other, punching the vampire in the face. "Maybe we can knock some sense into him."

"She seeks...redemption for her father's sins…." choked out the vampire.

One Osh-Tekk punched himself again before grabbing him by the throat. "And who told you that?!"

"M-My… sister…" he revealed.

"Maybe gutting you will send a message to Nitara and all the rest of you damn vampires that the Kahn isn't to be trifled with." Suggested the other Osh-Tekk, taking out their dagger.

"I think that would be a very unwise decision."

All three heads turned to see Bo' Rai Cho, standing firm with his staff planted on the ground and both hands over it. His expression conveyed clear disapproval in what the two Osh-Tekk soldiers were doing.

"Did we ask you, old man?!" One soldier questioned as they walked forward. "In case your eyesight is as bad as I think it is, we are soldiers of the emperor. Only he has the right to give us orders."

"You believe that serving another gives you power?" Bo' Rai Cho asked. "The only way to attain true power, is to forge your own destiny."

"Enough with your 'wise sage' nonsense," the other Osh-Tekk responded dismissively. "Get lost before we present your very large hide to the emperor as a coat and this flying rodent's wings as trophies."

Bo' Rai Cho looked down and shook his head. "It is a shame that savages like you do not know respect."

"Aaagghhh!" Screamed out one Osh-Tekk, charging forward at Bo' Rai Cho, dagger raised and not a single clue as to who he was dealing with.

He slashed down, the Shaolin master side-stepping his attack with ease. The Osh-Tekk slashed to his right, but inches away from Bo' Rai Cho's stomach, his dagger was knocked out of his hand when Bo' Rai Cho raised his staff horizontally, striking the soldier's hand. The soldier went for several punches, but all were deflected through Bo' Rai Cho's use of his staff. The Osh-Tekk charged at Bo' Rai Cho, but the old master knocked him back with a palm strike to the chest powerful enough to knock the soldier back and into the nearest wall, the Osh-Tekk slamming his head against the wall and being knocked unconscious.

The other Osh-Tekk took out an axe that he had been carrying with him. Holding it to the sky, he used what limited ability he had with his people's sun magic to set the weapon ablaze.

The soldier threw the flaming axe at Bo' Rai Cho, who ducked under it before turning and managed to grab the weapon by the hilt in midair, preventing it from striking any innocent passerby. He embedded the flaming axe in the dirt below and then beckoned forward his opponent.

The Osh-Tekk charged at Bo' Rai Cho, who prepared to block any incoming attack with his staff. The Osh-Tekk however attempted to grab the staff and pull it from its wielder. Bo' Rai Cho was quick to show him just how much of a fool's errand this was. The Shaolin master pulled downward on the staff, throwing the Osh-Tekk to the ground with the momentum. He then stomped hard on the Osh-Tekk's face, knocking them out even with their skull-like mask protecting them.

The old Outworlder then turned his attention to the vampire the two had harassed. He walked over and pulled out the dagger that had pinned the vampire to the wall, tossing it to the ground.

"T-Thank you…" said the vampire.

"Of course," responded Bo' Rai Cho. "No one should possess the right to mistreat others like that."

"Tell that to Kotal Kahn." The vampire said dismissively.

Bo' Rai Cho raised an eyebrow. "I must admit, I have been away from Outworld for many years. I am not quite up to speed on current events."

"Well wherever you spend your days, I'd love to go there someday," commented the vampire. "Beats this place…"

"What is your name, citizen of Vaeternus?" Bo' Rai Cho asked.

"Kahil," he answered. "You may have heard of my sister, Nitara."

"I have heard of a vampire that sought your realm's liberation from Outworld," Bo' Rai Cho recalled. "Even during Shao Kahn's reign they searched. Was this your sister?"

"That would be her," Kahil confirmed. "Now she wants to free Vaeternus through aiding Mileena in overthrowing Kotal Kahn. While I pray she may succeed, their war with the emperor has painted a target on the back of every vampire and every Edenian. It's just like how that bastard treated the Tarkatans and Shokan when he first came to power. Any one of us is a potential enemy in his eyes. It's only a matter of time before he attempts to decimate us in turn."

"I see…" responded Bo' Rai Cho, stroking his beard as he contemplated. "The role of a leader should be to answer the will of their people, not attempt to override it with their own."

"Like I said, tell that to Kotal Kahn." Kahil repeated.

"An excellent idea," Bo' Rai Cho complimented, causing Kahil to look at him in shock and wonder if he'd heard him right.

"I will speak with Kotal Kahn, see if perhaps I can persuade him towards the greater good."

Kahil continued to look at Bo' Rai Cho with considerable surprise as the Shaolin master began walking towards Kotal's palace.

Unbeknownst to Bo' Rai Cho, he was not the only visitor from Earthrealm that intended to secure an audience with the current emperor. They however, did not have quite as altruistic goals.

Multiple bolts of crimson lightning crackled down on the arid ground just outside Kotal's palace, instantaneously transporting Raiden and his Special Forces allies, as well as Mokap, Kai, Eyota, and Hanzo.

"Let us move quickly," advised Raiden. "So that we may end war with Outworld before it can begin."

"Are you sure this is all we'll need for this?" Jacqui asked, motioning to the group around them. "He does have an army."

"An army that is divided and preoccupied with trying to route out Mileena's forces," Raiden pointed out. "As well as other forces that hold their attention."

"Like our evil wizard…" said Cassie, reluctant but understanding what she had to do. "I'll… get started on my mission…"

She started walking, but stopped at the sound of her mother's voice.

"Cassie."

She turned to face Sonya.

"Be careful out there," Sonya advised. "Outworld can be dangerous, though I guess I don't have to tell you that."

"Seriously, come back safe." Urged Johnny.

"Mom, dad, I'll be ok," Cassie replied, not certain of the truth in her own words. "Thank you. I love you."

"We love you to sweetie," Johnny replied. "Go get 'im."

"I will." Cassie assured, before leaving.

Jacqui raised one arm and after a few button presses on the side of her gauntlet, brought up a holographic display. It was a radar screen peppered with dots representing each of them, the SF as well as Mokap using tracking devices while Raiden, Eyota, and Hanzo were registered via their unique energy signatures.

"Tracking still works out here," Jacqui reported. "I'll keep tabs on her."

Sonya nodded. "Thank you, Jacqui."

Jax smiled in pride at his daughter's forward thinking.

Jacqui's mother, Vera, was staring off into the distance alongside Mokap, both in complete awe at their new surroundings.

"Are you both alright?" Eyota asked.

"Jax and Jacqui, they'd told me about this place," Vera informed. "But I've never been here before."

"Me neither," added Mokap. "But the view is… holy cow!"

"Nor have I," Eyota admitted. "It is quite the sight to behold."

"Hard to believe that this is the place that caused my family and friends so much pain." Vera admitted.

"It is not the fault of the realm itself," Eyota argued. "But rather—"

"The monsters who have ruled it," Raiden finished for her, his voice clearly disdainful. "Let us move forward. Kotal Kahn's forces should have seen us when I transported us to this realm."

Heeding the command, the group started walking.

"I have to admit," said Kai. "I've never been to Outworld either. Always thought about going one day, seeing what there was to see. But I guess wandering and soul-searching is for people with a lot less responsibility on their hands."

"You can say that again," agreed Kung Jin. "I used to study Outworld. The culture, the laws. That's how I knew I could challenge Kotal Kahn when I saved that bread thief. Never really come here by choice, but… I do almost admire this place."

"Lot here to admire," Kai observed as he continued looking around. "And yet…. I can almost feel it. All the pain that's happened here. All those different realms that Shao Kahn stole, all come together into this… and not by their choice."

"Imagine the stories these people could tell," Kung Jin suggested. "There's millennia worth of history."

"Too bad we're from Earthrealm then," joked Kai. "Ain't got millennia to read it all."

"Yeah…" Kung Jin agreed.

"Still," Kai continued. "I'd like to take a trip one day. Just to explore."

"That sounds awesome," complimented Kung Jin. "You Uhh…. you wouldn't mind if I were to tag along on that trip, would you?" He asked as a light blush started to form.

"Not at all," Kai answered. "In fact, I'd… rather like it if you came with me."

"Really?" Kung Jin asked, to which he received a nod of confirmation.

As the two thought about this potential trip, others in their group were more focused on the recent past.

"I was told about Kenshi's injury in battle with the Red Dragon," said Hanzo when he had a chance to speak to Takeda. "I hope his recovery is swift."

"Me too…" Takeda replied as he focused an angry glare at Raiden.

"You blame not the Red Dragon, but Raiden." Hanzo surmised.

"He's the one who convinced my dad to go," Takeda explained. "The way I see it, the whole thing is his fault."

"Takeda, I have known Kenshi for many years," Hanzo reminded him. "It is his nature to go into battle, especially when the Red Dragon is concerned, with or without Raiden. And he was not always as patient as a man as you know him to be now."

"I know," Takeda conceded. "And I get it, he's trying to get justice for my mom, but… I still can't help but feel like Raiden egged him on."

"And no offense Grandmaster Hasashi," chimed in Jacqui. "But he wasn't exactly courteous about the whole thing either."

"I know much about anger, Jacqueline," Hanzo reminded her. "It is something both Takeda and Raiden have yet to fully control."

"Fall silent," commanded Raiden. "Kotal Kahn's forces approach."

The group looked ahead to see confirmation on that front: Erron Black, Ruby, Kollector, and a small group of Osh-Tekk soldiers were walking towards them.

The two groups stopped in front of one another. Silence reigned for a moment as tension mounted, before Ruby decided to speak:

"You are all trespassing on Outworld soil," Ruby pointed out. "This is a violation of the nonaggression pact."

"An' not the first time neither." Erron added.

"What are you talking about?" Asked Sonya.

"Don't be coy," commanded Ruby. "A group of Earthrealmers recently aided Edenian insurrectors, including Mileena's forces."

"Whoever that was, it wasn't us." Argued Johnny.

"One carried an Earthrealm weapon," Ruby recalled. "Show them, Black."

"One a' these," Erron said as he removed one of his revolvers from their holster. "But a more modern one, kinda like what you're packin' there, blondie. His one however had a bit more kick to it." He motioned to Sonya's sidearm.

"And two were cryomancers," Ruby added. "One of them even froze myself and General Motaro."

"Why does that name sound familiar…." Johnny wondered aloud.

Sonya and Raiden spared glances at each other, having an idea of which two cryomancers the Vinparian was referring to.

"Why would Frost and Sub-Zero come here and—" Jacqui began to ask before Raiden elected to speak for the group:

"The Earthrealmers who aided Mileena's cause did not do so under my authority," he explained. "We were unaware that these events had occurred until you informed us moments ago."

"How are we to know that you speak the truth?" asked Kollector.

"A god does not lie." Raiden answered.

"Also, if I may," chimed in Kung Jin. "If a few Earthrealmers being here is such a big violation, how come he's still here?"

He motioned to Erron Black with his bow/staff.

"Wait, he's from Earth too?" Mokap asked.

"Unfortunately…" Jax answered disdainfully.

"Erron Black is in Outworld because he served on behalf of the emperor," Ruby explained. "While you serve only your own agenda, whatever it may be."

"That brings us to our reason for coming to Outworld," said Raiden. "We seek an audience with Kotal Kahn."

"For what purpose?" Ruby asked.

"We wish to help bring an end to the ongoing conflict in Outworld." Raiden answered.

The Thunder God's allies stayed silent, not wanting to in any way contradict the story.

"I am certain that the emperor would find your aid invaluable in these trying times," said Kollector. "Ruby, Erron, we should secure the Earthrealmers' audience."

"I suppose we should," Ruby admitted, though she had her doubts about the situation. "The emperor could certainly use further allies to snuff out Mileena's rebellion, especially with the way things are now."

"Alright, follow us." Commanded Erron, motioning towards Raiden and his allies as he, Ruby, and the Osh-Tekk soldiers turned back to the direction of the palace.

Seconds before joining his fellows, Kollector gave a toothy smirk and a brief wink at Raiden and Sonya, suggesting that he knew more about the Earthrealmers' intentions than he let on… but had no plans to stop them.

"Well they seem friendly…" joked Kai.

"Is that blue guy with the multiple arms a demon?" Mokap asked.

"I am a Naknadan, Earthrealmer." Kollector corrected.

"Oh." Mokap responded, assuming "Naknadan" meant "not a demon".

"Hey wait," piped up Johnny. "You guys said you ran into somebody with a gun?"

"A male Earthrealmer with one of your realm's weapons, yes." Ruby confirmed.

Raiden had a suspicion as to the person's identity, but said nothing.

"Could be Black Dragon," Jax suggested. "They used to operate out here."

"Unlikely," refuted Ruby. "As far as we've been able to gather, the Black Dragon broke ties with Mileena's insurgency after Kano failed in his effort to assassinate the emperor."

"Matches up with what Kano said after we captured him," Sonya recalled. "Guess he wasn't lying for once."

"I think you mean when you captured him," Johnny complimented. "Went off the handle a little at the end, but otherwise, that was awesome!"

Sonya spared an uncharacteristic and brief laugh, to the surprise of Takeda, Kung Jin, and Jacqui.

"Thanks Johnny." She said.

"Our boss was hopin' to take him out personally." Commented Erron.

"When it comes to Kano you've gotta get in line," Johnny explained. "And Sonya right here, she's always at the front."

"We should thank you for removing him as a threat to Outworld," Ruby admitted. "Even if other threats still linger…"

Speaking of which, the group that had Kotal's followers so worried about their emperor's place on the throne were in the middle of making preparations for their new mission: attempting to free Edenia and Vaeternus from Kotal's grasp right under his notice.

To do so meant acquiring the mystical orbs that bound the two realms to Outworld, and gaining allies who might know where to look.

The plan they had devised was to split into two teams: one discerning the location of the orb for Vaeternus, and the other making a risky trip to the Netherrealm in the hopes of freeing Kitana and Sindel from their revenant curse and securing their aid in restoring Edenia.

Jade did not relish the thought of returning to the Netherrealm after having escaped it so recently, and feared betrayal from the former Shadow Priests of Shao Kahn that Mileena had recruited to create the portal. She never did trust sorcerers, though given her experiences, she had no reason to.

Accompanying herself and Mileena would be of course, Tanya, as well as Rain and Emerald. Skarlet, Ermac, Meat, Ferra, and Torr would go with Nitara for the objective of freeing Vaeternus.

One among that number confused Jade a bit.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us, Ermac?" She asked. "You are mostly composed of Edenian souls to my understanding, this ought to mean as much to you as the rest of us."

"We would, if it were possible." Ermac answered.

"What do you mean?" Jade asked.

"The sorcery that animates us is foreign to the Netherrealm," Ermac explained. "We are weakened in that realm, as we learned first hand when Shao Kahn dispatched us to deal with a demon named Ashrah who was slaying his Netherrealm allies."

"Ashrah?" Jade asked.

"You know her?" Ermac questioned.

"Yes," Jade answered. "She's actually a friend of mine, one of the people who helped me escape the Netherrealm."

"At the time we faced her, we were bound to the will of Shao Kahn," Ermac clarified, the glow in his eyes dimming for a moment. "If I had the choice, I would never have done it. I have seen his evil ways, and apologize for what harm we caused your friend."

"We've all made mistakes in the past," Jade sympathized. "The important part is moving forward from it."

"Looks like we can agree after all." joked Rain.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Complimented Emerald.

"Thank you," Jade responded. "And since I haven't had the chance to say it, it is good to see you again."

"You two know each other?" Mileena asked curiously.

Jade laughed as the memories came back to her. "When I was a child in Edenia, I idolized her."

"And I think you've succeeded in becoming the Edenian warrior you always dreamed of being," Emerald assured her. "It is an honor to fight alongside you now."

"The honor is all mine." Jade said humbly.

"I can't wait to see Edenia for myself," Mileena said with a gleam of childlike wonder in her eyes. "Dearest Tanya has told me so much about how beautiful it was."

"I remember," Tanya confirmed with a happy tone. "We used to sit on the rooftops at night and I'd try to help her picture the towering spires and the trees, and the bright blue sky, and the water so clear you could use it for a mirror."

"It was a wonderful little ritual of ours." Mileena added fondly.

"Well, hopefully once we've gotten your sister and mother back, you can get a look at for yourself." Suggested Jade.

"I certainly hope so." Mileena agreed.

Before the discourse could continue much further, Kahil suddenly flew into the room, struggling to remain airborne due his wounded wing.

Nitara recognized her brother instantly.

"Kahil!" She called out as she rushed over to him. Skarlet decided to follow as well.

Kahil landed and clutched his damaged wing. As Nitara more closely inspected her brother, she could see the bruises all across his face as well.

"What happened to you?" She asked.

"Some of Kotal's thugs started harassing me," Kahil explained. "He's gotten paranoid, and now they're cracking down on any vampire who so much as flaps their wings. They think we're all aerial scouts for Mileena."

"Oh no…." Mileena said as she heard the information. "I… I've painted a target on the backs of all your people."

"Don't blame yourself, my love," Tanya urged. "Kotal strives to subjugate any people who would throw their flag behind you. It is the same as he's done to the Tarkatans."

"She's right. And he'll pay for targeting my people," Nitara added. "Especially my own family..."

"I wasn't aware you had any family." Admitted Skarlet.

"We don't," Nitara explained. "It's just me and my brother. The rest are all…. gone."

"Lost when… Shao Kahn… my father... took Vaeternus." Skarlet surmised.

Nitara nodded, her gaze still focused on Kahil.

"Hold still," she instructed him. "Let me take care of that."

Kahil relented, showing her his wounded wing. Nitara unhooked a vial of blood from her belt, unscrewing the top and levitating it from the vial with her blood magic, before forming it into a sphere. She then moved the blood towards Kahil's wing, where it filled in the wound and began healing it.

"That is…. astounding…." Skarlet said, astounded by seeing the very same magic that she utilized be used for healing rather than hurting, something she'd only really dabbled in before.

Nitara smiled and looked back at her. "Old trick from my realm, but thanks. Maybe I'll teach you someday "

"I-I would b-be..." Skarlet stammered as a blush began to overtake her face. "F-Flattered…."

Nitara giggled at Skarlet's awkwardness.

"You're so cute when you're flustered." She complimented.

Skarlet wasn't entirely sure how to respond, luckily for her, she wouldn't have to as another matter quickly took priority:

An Edenian man rushed into the room, a frantic look on his face. His name was Jai, and although he was reluctant to fight in the war against Kotal Kahn directly, he had been willing to offer his aid as a civilian informant.

"What's wrong, Jai?" Tanya asked.

"My village just came under attack," he explained. "They haven't killed anyone… at least not yet, but they're terrorizing everyone and destroying everything in their path!"

"Who's 'they'?" Rain questioned.

"I think they're some kind of demons," Jai explained. "They have grey skin and eyes like fireballs. But what I find especially strange is that two of the attackers look like… Queen Sindel and-"

"My sister." Mileena interrupted.

"So that's where they went off to…" Jade realized.

"Are you sure?" Asked Tanya.

"I can…. I can feel her," Mileena elaborated. "I can sense Kitana almost as I would one of my others, although not as clearly. I can't see what she's doing, but I can sense where she is, and… I'm trying to sense her thoughts, but I just get raw emotions: anger, resentment, guilt… and this horrible misery."

"All the result of Shinnok transforming her into a revenant," Jade assured her. "We can get her back to herself, as well as your mother."

"They are accompanied by two others." Jai clarified.

"Probably Kabal and Nightwolf," Jade assumed. "They weren't there when we were attacked either."

"I think I know who you're talking about," said Mileena. "Two of the Earthrealmers that fought in the invasion, yes? I think I battled one of them… how deluded I was back then."

"No need to dwell on that, my love," reassured Tanya. "This actually makes things easier for us, saves us the trip to the Netherrealm. And Jade, the two Earthrealmers, you trust them, yes?"

"I do." She answered with a nod.

"Then if we can free them as well, that's two more allies." Tanya pointed out.

"An excellent point, Dearest Tanya," Mileena complimented. "I'll tell the sorcerers that we won't be needing their services for now, and then we'll set out."

"Do you want us to come with you too, sister?" Skarlet asked.

"I'll be alright, go along with Nitara," Mileena answered. "Vaeternus's freedom is just as important as Edenia's."

"A very noble sentiment, Mileena," Nitara complimented. "But chances are, you'll need our help."

"As your people need yours," Mileena pointed out. "Go ahead, save your realm. Leave this matter to us Edenians."

"If you say so." Nitara relented.

"Just… stay safe, sister." Skarlet urged.

"Yeah," Meat agreed. "We worry about you, y'know."

"Thank you brother, thank you sister, that means a lot," Mileena said graciously. "Good luck."

Tanya came up and hugged Mileena from behind. "I'll make sure nothing happens to her." She assured her lover's siblings.

"Bye bye Leena!" Said Ferra as she waved.

Mileena waved back, and that left Ermac. He hovered idly nearby, waiting to be addressed. Mileena looked over at him.

"I… we wish to join you," Ermac told her. "To see Kitana and Sindel again…"

"I know you do," Mileena responded. "But I'm not sure you'd want to see them the way they are now. I'll bring them back, as their true selves. I promise."

Ermac wanted to protest further, but his faith in Mileena won out, and he simply nodded.

"Keep my family safe," Mileena requested, motioning to Skarlet, Meat, Ferra, and Torr. "While I go save my other family."

"We shall." Ermac promised.

"Thank you, Ermac." Mileena said graciously.

She then received a tap on the shoulder from Tanya. "Are you ready to go, my lovely empress?"

"Just a second, my dear." replied Mileena, turning her glance back to Ermac.

"If it would make you feel better, I'll have one of my others go with you." she suggested.

"But we thought they were needed to monitor situations in Outworld," Ermac responded. "And to maintain your reputation as the peoples' savior from Kotal's taxation, of course."

"I can spare one," Mileena assured. "Now do yourself a favor and stop worrying so much."

"Just be safe Mileena," Ermac urged. "Please."

"I will." said the clone Mileena had summoned to accompany Nitara's group.

Ermac was initially caught by surprise. Mileena's clones were still something the soul collective had to get used to. Mileena giggled when she noticed it. She was starting to grow quite fond of the sort of ventriloquist act she could do with the clones.

"He does have something of a point," argued Tanya. "You do make us worry sometimes."

"I appreciate the concern from both of you very much," Mileena clarified. "I just don't want you distressing yourselves over it. Now, let's all get moving. You all know what to do, and what's at stake."

"Thank you again, for agreeing to free my realm," Nitara said graciously. "And for… you know what, I'll tell you when it happens." she finished with a smirk.

Mileena spared a passing glance at Skarlet, before smirking herself. The clone she had dispatched to go with them joined the group as they departed. Mileena foremostly wished to free her mother and sister, but seeing her other sister finally admit to her feelings was something she simply couldn't miss.

The Edenians went to stand with the prime Mileena, who began glowing purple as she prepared to teleport them to their destination. Before their departure, Jade spared a quizzical glance at Jai, the one who had informed them of the revenants being in Outworld.

"Wait a moment," she said as it finally came together. "You and I were schoolmates in Edenia, weren't we?"

"That was a lifetime ago…" Jai said as he scratched his chin. "But I think I remember."

"Smaller world then it seems." Jade decided.

"Agreed," said Jai. "Good luck!"

She managed to get out "Thank you." just before Mileena triggered the teleportation.

When the group of Edenians rematerialized, they got a look at the carnage the four revenants had wrought.

Buildings in the village had been toppled, likely through a combination of Sindel's sonic scream and Kitana's aerokinetic abilities. Both Jade and Mileena were well aware that she could create small tornadoes when she wanted to. A food stand had been chopped in half, the remnant aura of red energy emanating from it suggesting Nightwolf's handiwork. Animals had been slashed to bits, likely Kabal's doing as far as Jade could wager.

There were no human bodies however. There were people fleeing, yelling, hiding behind walls and generally panicking, but none dead.

Mileena wasn't sure how to help them. She could rally a crowd to action, but not calm one. She found herself better suited to calming individuals, if the need ever arose.

"Trouble's usually in the direction people are running away from," Tanya observed, recalling her own history with fleeing. "They should be that way."

"Remember," Jade stressed. "They are not themselves right now. Defend yourselves, but do not seriously harm them…. Or worse."

The others all nodded understandingly.

"I would never willfully bring harm to the royal family of Edenia." Emerald assured, briefly lamenting her small but no less guilt-bringing part in Edenia's conquest.

"That goes for the two Earthrealmers accompanying them," Jade clarified. "They were allies and comrades before this infernal corruption."

"We'll go easy on them." said Rain.

"We'll save your friends as well as my family, I promise." added Mileena.

"Thank you." Jade responded.

The group of Edenians moved forward, steeling themselves for a battle they wished to avoid but knew they probably couldn't. Before long, they came across the revenants, who attacked everything in sight except for the people themselves. Jade took this as a good thing, a sign of their true selves keeping them from going too far.

The revenants halted their attack when they took notice of the group.

"These guys aren't running and screaming," observed Kabal. "Should we get to changing that?"

"You are welcome to try, revenant." Rain said proudly.

"Hold, Rain," Mileena ordered. "We're not here to fight."

"Mileena, daughter, how good it is to see you again." Sindel spoke with a kindness that sharply contrasted her revenant appearance.

"It's…. It's good to see you too, mother," Mileena acknowledged. "But listen to me. You aren't yourselves right now."

The moment she saw the group approaching, Kitana just glared at them. It was a glare that unsettled Rain and Emerald, worried Jade and Tanya, and made Mileena fear that her efforts would be in vain. All this time, Kitana had been trying to keep the corruption in check. Mediate the fury of Liu Kang and Kung Lao, help her mother through paralyzing, maddening delusions. Most of all, she had tried to keep back the anger. Oh the anger. She had seen it consume the man she loved, she had seen it even in Raiden, and she swore to herself that she would not surrender to it.

But the moment she looked ahead and saw her closest friend, standing alongside… the replica. Her replacement….. All she could see was red.

"You backstabbing traitor," Kitana growled. "So much for wanting to 'save' me. No… you just want to replace me. Just like Shao Kahn wanted to replace me."

"Kitana, I would never think to replace you, I would never abandon you!" Jade sincerely proclaimed. "I stand with Mileena, with your sister, so that we can help you!"

"I…." Kitana clutched the sides of her head, trying to let logic and reason push through overwhelming anger. "I know…" she admitted. "I just… I feel so…."

"Helpless?" Mileena guessed. "I felt the same way after I was imprisoned by Kotal Kahn. But you, you suffered a much worse fate, Kitana. I know our pasts have been…. Complicated, but I'm here for you now. Not as a thrall of Shao Kahn, but as your sister."

"W-Why….?" Kitana asked. "I was horrible to you…."

"You were confused," Mileena reasoned. "And in fairness, so was I."

"Please, my queen, my princess, think of Edenia!" Emerald urged. "The home that could be returned if you join us!"

"Edenia…." repeated Sindel. "My kingdom, my home…. All stolen!"

It was now she who was succumbing to the revenant hate, much to the dismay of both her daughters. Delusion held back Sindel's fury no longer. Even the extensively abridged version of Edenia's conquest that Kitana had given in lieu of the queen's own buried memories were enough to stir hatred within her.

"All of Outworld must suffer for this injustice!" Sindel shouted, unleashing her sonic scream on nearby houses and knocking them clean off their foundation.

"Mother, calm down!" urged Mileena, but Sindel didn't listen.

Unable to control their own anger, Nighwolf and Kabal began to lash out at their surroundings as well. It was also possible that Kabal was simply bored.

"Kitana, can you-"

"Stop pretending you care," Kitana demanded, cutting her sister off. "That… that I deserve your kindness, your sisterhood. Do what you were made to do… and kill me."

The anger and resentment that fueled the revenant corruption had taken its most potent form now. Now that Kitana's hatred had turned inward.

Mileena was on the verge of crying. She had thought about what reuniting with her mother and older sister would be like, and this was tantamount to her hopes being dashed before her very eyes.

As lovers were sworn to do, Tanya quickly began trying to comfort her.

"My love? Listen to me," she requested. "This isn't your fault, the Netherrealm's dark magic shrouds their true selves more than we realized. We can still save them, but first… you must fulfill your duty as the true ruler of Outworld and protect innocents from coming to harm."

"Do you really believe so, Tanya?" Mileena asked, self-doubt previously buried crawling back in. "This was done to them by Shinnok himself. I could barely even handle his amulet. Am I really strong enough to-"

"Mileena, you are the strongest person I have ever known," Tanya stopped her. "I believe in you…. You're the only thing I believe in."

Mileena nodded. Much as she yearned to be a sister and a daughter, it was time to be a leader.

"Rain, Emerald, try and hold off my mother," she ordered. "See if you can get her to see reason."

"We shall give it our all." Emerald said confidently.

"And the Earthrealmers?" Rain asked.

"Jade, you know them best." Mileena deferred.

"I can hold my own against Nightwolf," said Jade. "Kabal is going to be particularly difficult, he's faster than anyone I've ever seen."

"I can deal with him." offered Tanya.

"My love, are you sure?" Mileena immediately asked, to which Tanya nodded.

"That leaves me… to deal with my sister…" Mileena realized, not at all pleased with the prospect.

"Look out!" screamed Tanya as one of Kitana's steel fans flew towards Mileena.

Mileena reacted with only a split second to spare, teleporting out of the way and then reappearing behind Kitana, who spun to face her as her fan returned to her hand.

"I don't want to do this, sister." Mileena pleaded.

"If it makes it easier, I'm already dead." Kitana offered in what could be construed as a condolence.

"No, just lost," Mileena disagreed. "And it's up to me to help you find your way again."

She took out her sai, prepared to defend herself. The two sisters charged forth at one another as their battle began.

Little did Mileena or her forces realize that Raiden's diversionary force was doing exactly as he had intended it to. Raiden knew full well that the chaotic state of Outworld was more than enough to ensure that Kotal Kahn would naively accept "aid" from Earthrealm and had likely already stretched his forces rather thin in his efforts to stamp out Mileena's rebellion or put a stop to simple protests. Raiden also knew that the presence of Kitana and Sindel would draw out Mileena herself. In truth, the revenants were to keep her forces occupied, and unable to interfere with the Thunder God dealing with Kotal Kahn as he saw fit.

As Raiden and his allies walked through the Outworld palace, he silently hoped that all was going to plan.

The others were all taking in the surroundings of the place, various forms of Osh-Tekk artwork and artifacts placed over architecture once constructed by the Naknadan people at the behest of Shao Kahn. The palace was certainly more colorful than it had been during the reign of Kotal's predecessor, but the Earthrealmers found it no less foreboding.

Eventually, they reached their destination, the throne room. The room was chillingly familiar to the younger members of the group. It was where they had seen Kotal mercilessly order the execution of his now-resurrected rival, and stolen the Amulet of Shinnok from them.

All crimes that would be answered for if Raiden had his way.

The current emperor of Outworld had taken note of their presence, but had not yet addressed them. His attention was held by representatives of three of the races that served him: Sheeva, Karbrac, and Motaro, as well as a commander of his army, distinguished from the other Osh-Tekk soldiers by bright yellow warpaint across his body, a sort of imitation of the way Kotal Kahn's tattoos glowed when he invoked his sun magic abilities. The commander had evidently been given permission to speak first.

"You say that D'Vorah was accompanied by three Saurians, but none of them were Reptile?" Kotal asked.

"Yes my lord," the commander confirmed. "The reason for her sudden resurfacing and her new allies remains unknown."

Kotal nodded thoughtfully, silently seeking answers that felt like they just barely eluded him. "And in addition, Khameleon evaded capture for questioning on Reptile's whereabouts, aided by Li Mei and two others."

"Yes my lord," repeated the commander. "What would you like us to do? Crack down on the lizards like we have for the Edenians and Vampires?"

"No," Kotal dismissed. "It would run the risk of turning Reptile against me."

The commander remained silent, deciding not to voice his opinion that Reptile's alignment had already shifted.

"So what should we do about the Earthrealmers who aided Mileena's forces in protecting that group of dissenters?" the commander questioned.

"I believe that matter shall be decided by my next meeting," Kotal decided, motioning to Raiden and his entourage. He then shifted his gaze to the Tarkatan leader. "Karbrac, Motaro and his Centaurians have encountered difficulty in their efforts to track Mileena's rebellion. I believe your people's talents could be of use in putting an end to their insurgence."

Karbrac stood silently as he took in what the current emperor was asking of him. It was a betrayal of everything he truly believed, but to deny Kotal would mean the death of all Tarkatans.

"Yes emperor," he finally growled, for the first time in his life hating the sound of his own voice. "I will cooperate with Motaro to organize a hunting party."

"We should head into the war room," suggested Motaro. "So that the emperor may speak with his guests."

"Isn't that guy dead?" asked Johnny aloud, pointing to the Centaur.

Motaro huffed, glaring at Cage, and then at Raiden, before leaving the room, Karbrac in toe.

"And what would you ask of me, emperor?" asked Sheeva. In truth, she wished to leave Kotal's presence as well. Just looking at him reminded her of the Shokan peoples' suffering. It also didn't help that she was still unsure of why exactly she had been summoned.

"After Mileena's brazen attack on the Festival of the Sun, I fear her rebellion may be growing bolder," Kotal explained. "I wish for the Shokan army's aid in preparing the defense for the capital city."

Sheeva wanted to argue that Mileena's rebellion was a small force, likely incapable of launching such an assault. She wanted to point out that Kotal's bearing down on the Edenians and vampires could very well give Mileena just such a force. Then she realized, why bother. Let the fool engineer his own death.

But now he wanted her people to protect him from death. The people who's king he had murdered.

Sheeva could not muster words. She knew she could not risk attacking Kotal here and now. She merely nodded. He would, in his arrogance, interpret that as submission to his commands. She left the room, sparing a glance at the Earthrealmers as she departed. What were they here for? They had not dared enter Outworld since the situation with Shinnok's amulet, one that Sheeva had managed to keep her people out of. Whatever came next, she feared she would not be so lucky.

Sheeva's gaze then met that of Sonya Blade. The woman whose hands had slain Kintaro. Sheeva did not consider Sonya his killer. No. That sin lay squarely on the shoulders of Reiko, who had lost his own life, evening things out. But Sonya's hands had been used to commit the act. She knew the Earthrealmer felt immense guilt for the act and decided against bringing it up. Sheeva and Sonya only communicated through small wordless nods. Gestures of respect between warriors. Both had gained a certain understanding of one another during the Blood Code crisis. Both fought for their people above all. It was one of the most basic virtues of society. Defend your tribe. A virtue both Sonya and Sheeva knew well.

A virtue that would inevitably be tested.

After Sheeva left, followed out by Zenkaro and two other Shokan guards, Kotal's remaining servants moved around him, as if to guard their emperor. None of them particularly trusted the Earthrealmers. Kollector was the last to assume his position, determined to keep up appearances rather than protect the emperor.

"So," said Kotal. "I assume you have come to explain the recent violations in our non-aggression pact."

"The Earthrealmers who acted against your government were not sanctioned by myself or General Sonya Blade," explained Raiden. "We cannot be blamed for their actions, Kotal Kahn."

"Very well," Kotal relented. "The messenger Ruby sent to inform me of your arrival claimed that you wish to lend your aid."

"We uhh-" started Mokap.

"We want to stop the fighting." Sonya clarified.

"You aided me in my first victory over Mileena," Kotal recalled. "I am sure your aid will be invaluable."

"I think you mean took her down for you," Kung Jin corrected. "But sure, take all the credit."

"Watch your tongue, Earthrealmer." commanded Ruby.

"Or what? I'll knock your boss on his ass again?" Kung Jin asked, now smirking.

"What are you doing?!" asked Jacqui, punching him in the arm.

"Kung Jin, perhaps it would be unwise to provoke the emperor's aides." Hanzo suggested, not wanting to lose the pretense of this mission until Raiden gave the word.

Kai didn't say it out loud, but he was actually impressed by Kung Jin's boldness.

"Oh, so we're actually going to pretend-" Jin started to say.

"No," Raiden answered before Kung Jin could finish. "There will be no pretense. Only justice."

Raiden unleashed a crimson bolt of lightning, to the surprise of both enemies and allies, blasting Kotal as he sat on his throne. When the lightning faded, the current Emperor rested on his knees, blood magic glowing from exposed musculature as he attempted to heal the wounds, knelt before the dust that remained of his throne, his servants rushing to his aid.

"Kotal Kahn, the day has come for you to pay for your crimes against Earthrealm," Raiden said in a tone that his allies found akin to an executioner giving a final condemnation to his target. "General Blade, you and your forces may attack. Keep his allies occupied, and finish him if the opportunity arises."

The assembled Earthrealmers all looked at one another, unsure if they should really become involved in this.

But they were already here. No turning back now.

"Let's move, people!" commanded Sonya, her voice spurring them all into action.

"You heard her, time to get to it!" added Jax, as the charge began.

That same feeling of being unable to turn back without completing the mission at hand was firm in Cassie's mind as she walked through Outworld. After her last visit to this realm, she had taken more of a considered effort to study it, knowing there would be a day that she would come back here sooner or later. The past year was frankly a longer span of time than she had expected. Even after the defeat of Shinnok, Cassie had a feeling that there would be some other nutcase trying to destroy the world before she knew it. On considering it, she had a feeling that the tendency to assume the presence of a looming threat came from her mother, always trying to get ahead of whatever might come next. Her father was much the opposite. He very rarely thought ahead, something that had been of much detriment to his career. Cassie couldn't help but chuckle thinking back to the arguments between her father and numerous studio executives over the years.

One facet of Cassie's attempts to learn more about Outworld had led to some creative personal projects. One such example was the spare bullets she had melted down and made into replicas of Outworld koins. It wasn't much currency, but sufficient to buy herself a cheap brown cloak, draping it over herself and her Special Forces uniform in an effort to look less conspicuous as she moved among the peoples of Outworld. A realm of so many different species and yet it was the military uniform and dual pistols that stood out like a sore thumb. Different worlds, Cassie reminded herself. What was normal to her was unusual to the denizens of Outworld, and vice versa.

There was one thing that she and the people around her had in common. A fear, a fear of the very man she was now tasked with taking out. The soul-stealing sorcerer Shang Tsung.

Cassie was born after the sorcerer's seeming death during Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm, but she had nonetheless been told the tales of how dangerous the sorcerer had been. Deceitful, crafty, and regarded as one of the most powerful opponents her parents, Raiden, and their now-revenant friends had battled against those 26 years ago.

At the end of her parents' first Mortal Kombat tournament, Shang Tsung had engaged in a furious battle with Liu Kang, one they had regaled to Cassie with her father's usual dramatization and her mother's usual quietness. Cassie suspected that even remembering her friends' accomplishments reminded her of their deaths.

Cassie hoped that Nightwolf -Eyota- would succeed in freeing her parents' old friends from their undead transformations. She wanted to get to know them one day. The people they were, not the creatures of rage and hatred they had become.

These thoughts hung in the back of Cassie's mind as she asked around amongst the locals of Outworld, hearing their stories of this soul-stealer who had taken friends, loved ones, and relatives from them. Some eyed her with suspicion.

"Why are you asking?" A lady had said.

"Because I think I might be able to stop him." Cassie had answered.

"Heh, your funeral." The lady's partner responded, shaking his head.

Cassie had no intention of attending her funeral anytime soon. The torment that her parents, her friends, Jacqui, everyone would go through if they had to look at her in a casket.

No no. Not anytime soon. Certainly not at the hands of this bastard.

Raiden had given the most extensive description of Shang Tsung. Roughly 10,000 years ago, Shang Tsung had betrayed Earthrealm to join Shao Kahn. Strike one. 500 years ago, he stole the soul of a Shaolin warrior named Kung Lao, of which her friend Kung Jin was descended. Strike two. 26 years ago, he had forced Cassie's mother into participating in the Mortal Kombat tournament under threat of death.

Strike three.

Cassie had never been one to indulge in hatred. She had vowed never to take a life in her journey to defend Earthrealm. There was always another way in her mind. It made her think back to her childhood, reading Wonder Woman and Spider-Man and so on, heroes who fought the forces of evil, but never stooped to murder as their enemies did.

Cassie sighed, recalling that she had already failed in this vow once, her encounter with the Red Dragon commander Mavado. The image of the life fading from the man's eyes flashed in her mind, and Cassie shook her head to force the memory back. Focus. She had to remain in the present. Cassie mentally reminded herself of this as she pressed on.

Little did she realize, she had already walked into the crosshairs of her enemy.

Disguised in the form of a much younger man alongside Vorpax, Shang Tsung watched Cassie walk away from her brief but futile interrogation of the pair.

"Most interesting…" the sorcerer whispered to himself.

"You know her?" Vorpax asked.

"Not exactly," Shang Tsung answered. "But she may provide us with an… opportunity."

Vorpax gave him a quizzical look.

"The girl was sent here to apprehend or kill me," Shang Tsung elaborated. "Her mother and father are old enemies of mine. I can sense the energy of her very soul. She is definitely the child of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade."

"Am I supposed to know who those people are?" Vorpax asked bluntly.

"It isn't important," Shang Tsung explained. "What is, is that she knows me as an enemy, but nothing more. A sinister old man with magical powers."

"Like the Earthrealmer we've been tailing..." Vorpax realized.

"Exactly," Shang Tsung nodded, before he transformed into the form of Shujinko. "Wait here, while I sow my deception."

The real Shujinko, alongside Li Mei and Khameleon, had taken a respite from their journey to purchase some food from a nearby cart. They were entirely unaware of the presence of either Shang Tsung or Cassie, oblivious to what was about to happen.

Cassie continued to search the crowd, looking for any sign of her target. Suddenly, a skull-fireball shot in her direction. Almost instinctively, her green energy glow activated and she flipped out of the way of the fireball at lightning speed, throwing off her disguise and unholstering her pistols as the glow faded and aiming them in the direction the attack had come from. Upon seeing the fireball and her weapons, the surrounding Outworld denizens panicking and fleeing to avoid becoming involved with this confrontation.

"What's going on?" asked Khameleon, unable to see what was happening from where she and her compatriots were.

"I fear that another of Shang Tsung's minions has found us," answered Shujinko. "Search for any assailants!"

Li Mei and Khameleon both nodded and ran off in opposite directions, readying themselves for what battle might be upon them.

Meanwhile, Cassie was face to face with her attacker: Shang Tsung, in the form of Shujinko.

"Foolish child, your measly Earthrealm weapons cannot harm me!" Shang Tsung boasted. The statement was hollow, but the sorcerer didn't care. He was only planting the bait. Shang Tsung summoned an orange portal behind him and backed into it just as Cassie fired, the portal closing and her bullets lodging themselves in the wall of a building behind her target.

Cassie kept her weapons pointed in front of her as she began looking back and forth at her surroundings, trying to discern any sign of the crafty sorcerer.

Simultaneously, Shujinko was looking for signs of who his attacker might be. He had heard the gunshots and worried that Shang Tsung might have called upon the mercenary Erron Black, and that he was perhaps even in league with Kotal Kahn. It would explain the emperor's reluctance to investigate Tsung's numerous murders. The crowd was dispersing further, neither Shujinko nor the attacker would have much in the way of cover soon. He was determined to find them, before any civilians could be hur-

Shujinko's train of thought ground to a halt when a bullet pierced his shoulder. He grabbed said shoulder shut his eyes for a moment in reaction to the pain. When he opened them, his mouth went agape as he saw Cassie rushing towards him enveloped in her green glow. She kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying back and crashing to the ground.

Shujinko struggled to get up. He had learned much of the ways of combat over his journey, but he was still an old man, far from his prime. He was out of breath, and had a bullet wound.

"W-Why…" he struggled to say.

Cassie walked over and grabbed the old man by his robes, holding her fist in front of his face.

"Got something to say, dirtbag?" She asked.

"I-I… am not.. your… enemy…" Shujinko pleaded.

"Bull fucking shit you're not," Cassie responded. "I know who you are, Shang Tsung. You tried to kill my parents."

"Shang Tsung?" Khameleon asked herself aloud. She had turned herself invisible to better scout out the area, and had seen all of this happen, all of it too quick for her to intervene previously. Upon hearing that this Earthrealmer was under the belief that Shujinko was Shang Tsung, she couldn't help but express her confusion verbally.

Which proved to be a mistake when she was grabbed from behind by Vorpax, who held a dagger to her throat.

In surprise, Khameleon lost her concentration and became visible. "What?!"

"You forgot the one rule of being invisible," Vorpax reasoned. "Keeping quiet."

"Who are you?!" Khameleon demanded.

"That's not important," Vorpax answered. "What is important, is getting rid of you. And making sure you can't help your friend there. My boss and I figure it'd be better to let the Earthrealmers take each other out. You can live long enough to watch."

"I'm… not…" Shujinko tried to say, before Cassie punched him in the face.

"Then who just shot a fireball at me?" Cassie asked.

Shujinko knew he would have to defend himself if he was going to get any chance to clear up the matter. He fired a small blast of cryokinetic energy at Cassie's feet, freezing her up to her ankles and immobilizing her for the time being. He then grabbed her arm and pulled it off of him, before backing away.

Cassie activated her glow and used it to generate the heat necessary to free herself from the ice, soon after charging Shujinko and slamming her elbow into his chest and her shoulder into his face. He fell to the ground again, his head throbbing too much to focus and use any telekinetic abilities he had learned in his journeys across the realms.

Cassie pointed one of her pistols at him.

"You're under arrest," she informed him, removing a pair of handcuffs from her belt. "Now don't move."

Vorpax smirked and used her free hand to take out a shuriken. Khameleon glared at her.

"Look out!" she yelled as Vorpax threw the projectile. Vorpax then went to slash Khameleon's throat, but before she had the chance, Khameleon elbowed her in the gut and grabbed her arm, using it as leverage to flip Vorpax over her head and slam her onto the ground, also forcing her to drop the dagger.

At the same time, the shuriken slashed Cassie's arm. Her mind clouded for a fatal second by the pain, she accidentally fired her pistol, the bullet hitting Shujinko in the chest but mercifully missing his heart.

Cassie's eyes went wide when she realized what had just happened.

"Oh no… nononono… not again…." she said to herself.

"Cassandra, stop!" came Li Mei's voice as she rushed onto the scene, clearly out of breath and bearing multiple scorch marks as well as a few cuts.

"L-Li Mei…?" Cassie asked, confused beyond belief but remembering her as the woman who had, with the help of fellow Outworlder Bo' Rai Cho, contacted Raiden and the Special Forces in order to arrange for the harboring of Outworld refugees. Her confusion gave way to anger as she brought up her pistol, levelling it at her former ally. "What are you doing here? How could you work with Shang Tsung!"

"There are a few questions I could ask you, Cassandra," she said as she knelt down and clenched Shujinko's hand with her own while supporting his head with the other, seemingly ignoring the pistol. "Instead however, I'll answer yours: This is not Shang Tsung."

"W-What? That's impossible!" Cassie shouted in shock.

"It's true!" added Khameleon as she came over as well. "His name is Shujinko, he is an Earthrealmer, like you."

"Shujinko…" Cassie repeated quietly, lowering the pistol, before snapping her fingers as it hit her. "He's… he's one of the teachers at the White Lotus! Jin trains with him!"

"The sorcerer fooled you into thinking they were one and the same," Li Mei informed. "He attacked me after provoking you against Shujinko, and assumed Shujinko's form to taunt me during our battle. I only escaped because he wanted me to watch Shujinko die. The sadistic snake…"

"Oh my god…" Cassie said, taking it all in. "I… I almost killed him!"

"Not… your… fault" Shujinko struggled to say.

"Hush you, you need to rest." Li Mei insisted. "Save your strength."

"I am so, so sorry…." Cassie said as tears started forming in her eyes.

"I can ensure that he recovers," Li Mei assured. "Khameleon, perhaps you and Cassandra can route out the sorcerer."

"Perhaps we can get information from the minion of his that ambushed me," Khameleon suggested. "I took her down right…" As she turned to point, she realized Vorpax was gone. "There… Nevermind"

"The real Shang Tsung, what is he wearing?" Cassie asked.

"Robes, red and blue with a bit of gold," Li Mei described. "Expensive stuff from the look of it, shouldn't be hard to miss."

"Raiden said he was wearing…." she looked at Shujinko. "Brown…."

"Raiden is here in Outworld?" Li Mei asked.

"Yeah…" Cassie answered, her voice somewhat distant. She turned and started heading back the way she had come.

"Where are you going?" asked Khameleon.

Cassie stopped and looked back. "Can you take care of him? Make sure he survives?"

Li Mei nodded, picking up Shujinko off the ground. "I can take care of his wounds. Worry not, Cassandra."

"For what it's worth…" Shujinko struggled to say. "This wasn't… your… fault…"

"Yeah?" Cassie responded. "Who else could it be then?"

"Guilt is something we all carry," sympathized Khameleon. "Especially when we hurt people…" Her voice trailed off as she thought back to the last time she had seen Reptile.

"Believe me, I know." Cassie told her as she started walking away.

"Are you certain that you don't want any help?" asked Li Mei. "You don't have to face every challenge alone."

"I appreciate the thought, I really do," said Cassie, taking a deep breath, before a determined expression came upon her face.

"But Raiden and I need to talk…"

Elsewhere in Outworld, though closer than any involved parties might realize, battle raged between Edenian and Revenant.

Rain and Emerald were committed to carrying out Mileena's orders of holding off the deranged Sindel. Though it was by no means an easy task.

After parrying several of the former Queen of Edenia's physical strikes, Rain created a small wave of water beneath his feet to allow him to slide back and create distance between himself and Sindel.

"I do not wish to harm you, your highness." he insisted.

"Then you should stop fighting." Sindel growled in annoyance.

"I don't intend to surrender my life," Rain responded, summing a large amount of water into his raised right hand. "But I won't take yours, Queen Sindel."

Rain shot out a blast of water the size of a person at Sindel. In response, Sindel fired out her sonic scream. The sound waves stopped the water in its tracks, with Rain struggling to maintain the current. Eventually, Sindel overpowered him and Rain's own water was shot back at him. The wave washed over him to no effect, but Sindel's scream knocked him back.

Sindel took flight and launched into a flying kick directed at Rain's chest. Before her boot struck, he transformed his entire body into water, and the attack passed through him when Sindel landed. Holding this state of living water required intense concentration for Rain, so he quickly teleported from the ground and reappeared behind Sindel. Before he could strike, she saw him out of the corner of her eye and ensnared Rain with her prehensile hair, grabbing him by the throat. Rain grabbed onto the hair and attempted to pull it off of him, to no success. The cutoff of circulation from the rest of his body to his head prevented him from concentrating enough for a teleport.

Luckily, he had an ally.

Emerald had been knocked into a wall after ending up on the receiving end of another one of Sindel's sonic screams, but had now gotten back on her feet.

She raised her sword and pointed it towards Sindel.

"Release him." She commanded.

Sindel threw Rain to the side and he crashed into a nearby well.

She smirked. "You would dare to command your queen, traitor?"

"A request you fulfilled nonetheless," Emerald pointed out. "It's almost as if this isn't your true self."

"Since when do you care?" Sindel demanded, buried memories suddenly flowing back to her like a river. "You led Shao Kahn's forces into my palace, let him kill my husband!"

"I…" Emerald paused. She knew exactly what the truth was, that it wasn't truly her fault, yet she still felt blame. "I failed to resist the power of his sorcerers…"

"So you were bewitched as I was?" Sindel asked with a strange mix of anger and genuine concern.

"Forced to betray everything I knew," Emerald confirmed. "I know that you know what that's like, Queen Sindel. Please, for Edenia, don't let the anger win."

Sindel was frozen for a moment, trapped in thought considering Emerald's words.

"She's right, your highness…" said Rain as he struggled back to his feet.

"But…" Sindel started to say. "I-I...I failed my people before… and.. and..."

She clutched the sides of her head, trying to fight the corruption her own doubt and regret was fueling, but try as she might, Sindel could not break free.

Not yet.

Emerald and Rain went over to help her, only to be thrown back by another sonic scream.

"Edenia is gone!" Sindel shouted. "I have nothing left but… but, my family…"

"And you can have your family back!" Rain shouted back. "Just let us help you!"

"You can't help me!" Sindel insisted as she hovered upward and summoned purple energy into both of her hands and launched the two spheres at her opponents, knocking them both down.

She flew over and landed between them. Before Sindel could make any further attack, Emerald knocked her back using the flat side of her sword as she got up. Sindel grabbed Emerald's arm with her hair and squeezed until Emerald dropped her sword. She then threw Emerald into Rain, who managed to shoot out another jet of water as he was falling over which managed to knock Sindel back.

After getting back up, Rain and Emerald simply looked at one another.

"This is going to be harder than we thought." said Rain.

"New plan," decided Emerald. "We figure out how to cleanse her of the Netherrealm's evil after we restrain her."

"That's fine by me." Rain agreed.

The two warriors nodded at one another, and then charged their revenant opponent.

At the same time, Jade found herself facing a challenge of her own in the form of Akicita, the man she once knew as Nightwolf. He lunged at her with glowing red tomahawks, Jade dodging the strikes narrowly. Enraged by the failure of this attack method, Nightwolf raised both tomahawks above his head and swung down, but Jade stopped the attack using her bo staff, now charged with her green energy. Jade sweeped Nightwolf's leg and knocked him to the ground, aiming her bo staff downward at him.

"I don't want to hurt you, old friend," Jade told him. "Let me help you, as you helped us during the invasion."

"You can't absolve me of my sins!" Nightwolf shouted, kicking Jade in the stomach and knocking her back before getting up and throwing a tomahawk right at her head. Jade activated her energy shield at just the right moment with the energy weapon bouncing off of her and lodging itself into the ground, before dissipating into a red mist.

Nightwolf summoned his bow, and fired several arrows, but to similar ineffectiveness. He then dematerialized the weapon and channeled red energy throughout his body, charging Jade and knocking her to the ground. He summoned another tomahawk and brought it down on her head, but Jade rolled to the side and kicked him in the abdomen, before whacking him across the head with her staff, causing the former Matokan warrior to stagger back.

Jade stood up.

"We've done this dance a lot since I was freed from this curse," Jade recounted. "I've fought you and the others more times than I had ever wished to, but I swear, I'm going to put an end to it. Not with murder, but by saving you as well."

"Noble sentiments," Nightwolf admitted. "You would be welcomed among my tribe. Which is more than I can currently say for myself."

"It isn't too late, Nightwolf." Jade insisted.

"I wish I could still hold that hope." he replied, before succumbing to his anger again and charging at her, tomahawks bared.

While others were fixated on trying to save their opponents, Tanya was mostly trying to survive. Kabal was fast, faster than anyone she'd ever encountered in her more than ten thousand years of life.

He swung his hookswords at lightning speed, Tanya's honed catlike reflexes being the only thing saving her as she weaved and dodged and jumped out of the way, only furthering Kabal's anger.

"Stay still, will ya!" he shouted.

"I could say the same to you." joked Tanya.

He growled in anger and sped right towards her like a black blur of death, slowing only to ensure the precision of his hooksword swing. Tanya backflipped out of the danger zone in the nick of time, and when Kabal swung again, she jumped up into the air, and much to his surprise, balanced herself on his other hooksword. Tanya took advantage of this and kicked Kabal in the face, before leaping behind him and going for a punch, only for Kabal to move out of the way several seconds before her fist even reached the space where he was.

He came at her from the side and slashed again, but Tanya ducked under it as if she were playing a very high stakes game of limbo. This worked to her disadvantage when Kabal slammed his fist and hooksword hilt into her face and she crashed right down to the ground. He raised his weapons to finish her, but she sprung up and kicked him in the face with both feet before rolling away to gain distance and launching a fireball, which Kabal rushed out of the way of quickly and with minimal difficulty. When he charged again, Tanya parried the strike with her Kobu Jutsu, the two combatants entering an unorthodox duel with their equally unorthodox weapons.

To any onlooker, the closest of these battles had to be the battle between sisters. Between Kitana and Mileena.

They countered each other beat for beat, every fan swing and sai strike expertly dodged.

"Not going for any vital organs?" Kitana asked mockingly. "You forget our 'father's' training."

She swung her fans in a motion that would have taken off both of Mileena's arms had she not teleported out of the way and kicked Kitana in the back, slashing at her wrist for good measure, attempting to knock one of Kitana's fans from her hand, only for her to use the same fan to block the attack.

"Wouldn't you want to forget everything that monster taught us?" Mileena asked.

Kitana summoned a gust of wind which blasted Mileena back and caused her to slam onto the ground.

"You're the one who wanted to be his daughter." Kitana argued.

"And I wasn't, I was his weapon," Mileena responded, teleporting and reappearing behind Kitana, grabbing her into a bear hug to restrain her. "Shao Kahn used me just like he used you."

"You've never hugged me before," Kitana joked. "You really have gone soft."

"I thought the same thing when you left Shao Kahn," Mileena countered. "Before I learned to have a heart."

"And after I was dead!" Kitana shouted, summoning a small tornado behind herself that blasted Mileena into the air. Kitana jumped up, flipped through the air, and kicked her down into the ground below.

"Admit it, all you ever wanted was for me to be gone!" Kitana growled.

Mileena got up, spitting out some blood. "Maybe once… not anymore…"

"I noticed you stopped hiding your face," Kitana mocked. "At least you're not pretending to be my twin anymore."

Kitana lunged at Mileena and slashed at her with one of her fans. Mileena narrowly dodged the attack and bit into Kitana's arm with her fangs, deep enough to hold her, but not to do any permanent damage. With a swift head motion, Mileena threw Kitana to the ground using only her jaws.

"Still as much Shao Kahn's animal as ever," Kitana said disdainfully. "You haven't changed."

Tears were welling up in Mileena's eyes. She hadn't wanted it to be like this. She hadn't wanted this at all.

"Well you've changed, sister," she choked out as she tried to keep herself from crying. "And for the worse."

"Stop calling me that!" Kitana shouted as she charged Mileena in a blind rage.

Mileena teleported out of the way and reappeared to the side of Kitana, slicing the very edge of the side of her face and severing the string that held her mask in place. If Kitana were still alive, there would have been a line of blood, rather than

the fire of Netherrealm burning under ashen skin.

"I'm trying to embrace who I could have been if that monster hadn't tried to make me his 'daughter'!" Mileena shouted. "Be the real me! And all I want is for you to be too!"

Kitana glared at her, her mask no longer hiding the expression of disdain on her face.

"You should've killed me the moment I found you in the Flesh Pits!" Kitana retorted. "Replaced me as 'father' wanted and be done with it! At least…. At least then I wouldn't have to suffer becoming this!"

"You won't have to suffer anymore, Kitana!" Mileena insisted. "We can help you!"

"You want to help me?!" Kitana asked.

Mileena nodded.

"End this waking nightmare!" she yelled before throwing both fans at Mileena.

Mileena teleported out of the way, reappeared between Kitana and her weapons, and tackled her to the ground, holding both sai in a cross position in front of her face.

"Even when I'm trying to save you, you just get in the way!" Mileena yelled. "Why can't you for just once see that I have feelings too!"

"Because this is what I do, Mileena," Kitana responded. "I drive everyone away! My lover, my best friend, my own sister! I'm no better than Shao Kahn, all I do is make peoples' lives worse. Why else would I be so eager for you to put me out of my, no, your misery?"

"That's not true Kitana, it's not!" Mileena argued. "Stop it! Stop talking like that! That's Shinnok's sorcery talking! Fight it Kitana, fight it!"

"You shouldn't even want me for a sister," Kitana countered. "I have done nothing but make your life harder. Forget about me, be with that lover of yours. And don't ever let her go. Don't ever let yourselves drift apart like…. Like..."

"You and Liu Kang will be together again, I swear it!" Mileena insisted.

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Kitana told her. "Hardest lesson I ever had to learn."

"Edenia will be free again Kitana," Mileena said with absolute confidence. "I swear it."

Kitana chuckled darkly. "I used to believe that. Death really does change you."

"Yes, it does," Mileena agreed "It changed me for the better. Made me realize what I had."

"When did you die?" Kitana asked with a mix of resentment and genuine curiosity.

"It's…. It's a long story," was all Mileena said. "But I know what you're going through better than most would."

"No you don't," Kitana denied. "Whatever killed you, you came back alive. I came back as a corpse. A waking death. You couldn't possibly understand!"

"I can try." Mileena offered.

"STOP trying!" Kitana demanded, summoning her fans back into her hands on currents of wind and slashing upward at Mileena, who teleported off in the nick of time. Kitana got back to her feet and waited for Mileena to rematerialize. When she did, Kitana immediately summoned a gust of wind, holding Mileena suspended in the air.

Kitana strode towards her, her fans bared and ready to attack. Kitana raised one of them to slash, but…. She couldn't do it. Her arm wouldn't move.

She couldn't bring herself to kill her sister. Not even revenant anger to bring her to do it.

This was something that eluded Tanya however.

"Mileena!" she shouted, before knocking back Kabal with a high kick to the jaw before turning and shooting a fireball towards Kitana.

Kitana shot a gust of wind towards the projectile which caused the flames to dissipate, but allowed Mileena's teleportation to escape her notice right until her sister appeared in front of her and slammed her in the chest with the hilt of one of her sai, causing Kitana to stumble backward before regaining her bearings.

Looking at her sister, Mileena finally registered one detail.

"Is that father's mask?" she asked, pointing to the "trophy".

"Why do you care?" Kitana questioned.

"Kitana, don't do this," Mileena pleaded. "Don't end up like him."

Kitana's orange-red eyes glowed brighter as she had a realization.

"Ah," she said as she lowered the skull over her face. "Maybe now you'll finish me. Can't have a threat to your place as father's successor."

"Take that off," Mileena asked. "It isn't you."

"You don't know me." Kitana responded, fiery eyes burning hotter with her raw fury. "And maybe this is who I always was. All this time, I have always been the true heir of Shao Kahn."

She summoned wind currents beneath herself and shot herself upward, coming down in Mileena with both fans in a slashing motion, Mileena rolling out of the way just in time, only to be thrown to the side by another gust of wind.

Kitana launched her fans at Mileena, who holstered her sai and teleported into just the right position to catch her sister's weapons mid-flight, throwing them to the ground.

"Stop it!" Mileena shouted. "Can't you see I don't want to do this?!"

"A shame! For I do!" Kitana yelled back, running forward and summoning another gust of wind to propel herself forward, slamming her knee into Mileena's face faster than she could react and knocking her to the ground.

Tanya again tried to intervene, but Kabal was faster, running up right in front of her and slashing in wild motions with his hookswords, Tanya parrying each move with her Kobu Jutsu or narrowly dodging them all together.

"Get out of my way." Tanya told him as they kept fighting.

"We finish this now!" Kabal shouted in his derangement. "You can see your girlfriend later! In this life, or the next..."

"If you insist." Tanya retorted, holstering her Kobu Jutsu and unfastening her naginata from her back.

Kabal charged again and brought his hookswords together like a giant claw. Tanya dug the handle of her naginata into the ground and jumped on top of it, balancing her feet on the thin ring surrounding the blade and keeping herself a safe distance from said blade.

"What are you, an olympic athlete?!" Kabal growled.

Tanya shrugged, not knowing what the term meant, before jumping off her weapon and trying to stomp Kabal, who sped out of the way before she landed.

"Guess I'm no Sheeva…" Tanya commented to herself before pulling her naginata out of the ground.

Kabal came for her again, hookswords bared. This time, Tanya ducked under his strikes and knocked him off his feet using the staff of her naginata. She then aimed the blade at his face.

"Yield." she demanded.

"Or what?!" Kabal asked. "If you were gonna kill me I'd be dead...er. Besides, you can't keep me pinned with that spear in my face and help your girlfriend."

Tanya looked over at Mileena, who was now fistfighting with Kitana since their weapons were proving ineffective against one another. Kitana was the faster of the two, summoning her wind abilities into her strikes whenever she could, but Mileena, being half-Tarkatan, was stronger than her sister. Each punch staggered Kitana back for a moment, only for Mileena to then find herself being struck back about half as hard but twice as fast.

Taking advantage of her distraction, Kabal kicked Tanya in the knee and caused her to stumble back, before hopping to his feet and grabbing the naginata, attempting to pull it from her. Tanya held firm, but was forced to relinquish her weapon when Kabal invoked his inhuman speed.

"Ok, if that's how you want to play it…" Tanya said to herself, picking Kabal's hookswords off the ground as Kabal struck at her with the naginata. Tanya parried each strike with the swords, until Kabal backed up and then ran towards her at top speed with the plane pointed forward like a lancer without a horse.

"NO!" shouted Mileena, teleporting away from Kitana and putting herself between Kabal and Tanya, fully prepared to take the blow for the woman she loved.

Fortunately, she wouldn't have to.

Kabal was knocked off his course by, to everyone's surprise, Sindel's sonic scream.

He tumbled to the ground, dropping Tanya's naginata as he fell.

"What the hell, lady?" he shouted angrily. "I'm on your side!"

"Not when you try to harm my daughter!" Sindel retorted.

Taking advantage of the queen's distraction, Emerald grabbed her from behind and held her in place using her mystically-augmented strength.

"That love for your daughters is the real you, my queen," Emerald told her. "Stand down, and we can help you embrace it."

"Unhand me!" Sindel demanded.

"Let her go!" yelled Kitana, rushing towards her mother before both Mileena and Rain teleported in front of her.

"Stop fighting, Kitana," Rain urged. "I know what it's like to think you can do everything yourself. The hard truth is, you can't."

"Don't lecture me, traitor…" Kitana seethed, recalling Rain's prior allegiance to Shao Kahn.

"Listen to him, sister!" Mileena requested.

"Your sister is dead, Mileena," Kitana told her. "And I'm not coming back. It's too late for me."

"Ok, enough of the princess's pity party," complained Kabal, getting up and retaking his hookswords from Tanya at lightning speed before making a beeline for Rain and Mileena.

"Stop it!" shouted Sindel.

Kabal would end up obeying the request, but only after being knocked face-first into the dirt by Jade's green energy-infused kick.

Soon after, Nightwolf charged to attack Jade, but was knocked down by a fireball from Tanya. The flames on the undead shaman's clothes were put out as he rolled across the ground.

"Thank you." Jade said graciously.

"You're the one who just saved the love of my life and my best friend." Tanya pointed out.

Kitana growled in rage and punched Mileena in the face, unable to contain her corruption-fueled fury any longer. The two sisters re-engaged their hand-to-hand battle with Rain on the sidelines seeking an opening to aid Mileena.

Similarly succumbing, Sindel flew upwards into the air and began trying to shake Emerald off. Rain noticed this, and realized quickly that there was only one option left to pacify her.

"Emerald!" he shouted. "I'm sorry about this!

"Sorry about what?!" she asked.

She got her answer when Rain aimed his flat palm upwards at Sindel and a purple lightning bolt came out, shocking the former queen of Edenia into unconsciousness and sending both she and Emerald falling.

Rain quickly summoned a miniature whirlpool out of a nearby well, catching the two and slowing their descent until they reached the ground and the water dissipated.

"I forgive you." Emerald said dryly as Rain walked over and they both confirmed Sindel's unconsciousness.

Dazed, Nightwolf and Kabal started to get up, but Tanya set fire to both her hands and aimed them at the two revenants, signalling them to stand down.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Kitana realized, using a gust of wind to knock back Mileena and then summoning her steel fans.

"Kabal, find Raiden!" she commanded, as Mileena teleported both sai back into her hands and the two sisters continued fighting.

"On it!" Kabal answered, taking off at top speed right before Tanya launched a fireball, which he was, creating a small explosion.

Nightwolf meanwhile charged at Tanya, before Jade hit him across the face with her staff, knocking him down.

"Let me handle Kitana!" ordered Mileena as she continued fighting her sister.

"Keeping this a family affair?" Kitana asked in between swings of her steel fans that Mileena was able to narrowly dodge.

"Family I have a duty to," Mileena answered. "And one I can't abandon again…"

Given the circumstances, the bonds of family were far less important to Sektor. His own father had reduced him to a disembodied head and arm strung together by wire, currently being carried by Frost as they navigated their way throughout the Tekunin base in Outworld.

Each step of the way, Frost made sure to freeze over any of the facility's security cameras that they came across, not entirely preventing the Tekunin from locating them, but certainly seeming to slow them down. More pressingly was the cyborgs stationed throughout the facility that they encountered.

"[Command] Turn left." ordered Sektor.

Frost turned the corridor, stopping to find a gunmetal grey cyborg awaiting them.

"Halt." commanded the cyborg.

Frost aimed Sektor's arm and his laser cannon fired, hitting the cyborg in the abdomen, knocking it back but not disabling it.

"[Irritation] Aim higher."

Frost followed his advice and fired again, the laser blasting through the cyborg's chest. It fell down soon after.

"Phew," said Frost, before raising her other hand and freezing another set of cameras just before they could rotate to face their direction. "Ok, in the clear. And thanks, by the way."

"[Annoyance] Your aim is rather poor."

Frost shrugged. "My fights are usually more up close and personal."

"[Advisement] Varied weaponry will offer greater advantage in combat."

"I'll keep that in mind," Frost replied. "Thanks again."

Sektor tried to ignore her thanks. "[Command] Turn here."

Frost did as told and froze another set of cameras. Another cyborg turned the opposite corner and aimed a laser cannon of its own, but was dispatched after a well-placed blast.

"[Compliment] Better." commented Sektor.

Frost smirked. "So you can be nice."

"[Irritation] [Command] Continue forward."

"Hey, so I've been wondering," said Frost. "How do you know your way out of here?"

"[Honesty] I don't," Sektor revealed. "I am following the signal to where 'Triborg' is keeping the rest of my body."

"Can't say it doesn't make sense," Frost admitted. "But I don't know how to put you back together."

"[Assurance] I will guide you along the process." Sektor explained.

"As long as it gets us out of here." Frost replied.

"Agreed," said Sektor. "[Contemplation] Perhaps…." he emitted a roboticized equivalent of a groan. "[Reluctance] Perhaps your Grandmaster can be of some help in dealing with Oniro."

"That's the second time today I've heard you admit to needing help." Frost pointed out.

"[Irritation] … [Admittance] Circumstances make of us what they will…" was all Sektor had to say to that point.

Suddenly, two steely grey cyborgs were teleported into the corridor on either side of them. Each aimed an arm-mounted laser cannon similar to Sektor's. Frost aimed Sektor's arm cannon at one of them, her aiming somewhat hindered by having to hold Sektor's head between her arm and torso to prevent from dropping it, while using her free hand to blast the other cyborg with cryokinetic energy, successfully freezing it before it could fire.

The cyborg in front of her did manage to let off a blast, but Frost narrowly ducked under the laser before shooting the cyborg in the knee with Sektor's laser, causing it to fall to one knee.

"[Warning] That blow will not stop it from attacking." Sektor pointed out.

"Working on it." Frost replied annoyedly before shooting the cyborg's arm cannon, disabling it, before launching an ice blast at the ground which froze the cyborg solid.

"[Irritation] Your predilection towards non-fatal maneuvers only serves to leave Triborg with a greater supply of repairable minions." Sektor argued.

"They're still people," Frost insisted. "Just like Cyrax, and just like you. Brainwashing doesn't change that."

"[Recollection] It does when my father is concerned…" Sektor responded in what sounded more like a warning than a counterpoint.

"What do you mean?" Frost asked.

"[Command] Left turn," Sektor instructed. "[Assessing] Oniro would not have teleported in those drones if he thought the guards roaming the halls were sufficient to finish us. My tracking software suggests we're close."

"I asked you a question." Frost pointed out impatiently.

"[Frustration] Fine," Sektor barked. "[Elaboration] The reason I saw fit to overthrow Oniro as leader of the Lin Kuei was because of our disagreement regarding the slaving protocols. Believe it or not, I do not prefer mindless followers. [Frustration] They lack the intuitiveness and raw skill of sentient warriors. Oniro only cared to have an army of drones. I actually attempted to free my fellow Lin Kuei. Those I thought might understand, at least. A few were successful, but as I delved further into the ranks, I found many of their minds to be too far gone. [Anger] Putting them down would be a mercy."

"You kept Cyrax brainwashed for 20 years." Frost pointed out angrily.

"[Honesty] I did…" Sektor admitted. "[Regret] I knew he would hate me."

"You'd be surprised." Frost told him.

"[Curiosity] Really?" Sektor asked. "Well, now you have a story to tell."

"It was actually after you left…" Frost began.

The Lin Kuei had returned home after their clash with the Tengu and Sektor's desertion. All were still recovering from the experience, some physically, most mentally.

Cyrax was quick to retreat to his workshop. Most among the Lin Kuei understood why he would want to be left alone.

That didn't stop Frost from knocking on his door.

Cyrax opened it. "Yes?"

"Are you doing ok?" she asked.

"I'll be fine," Cyrax assured. "If you want the truth, I'm… actually kind of worried about Sektor."

"Why?!" Frost asked, utterly baffled. "He's the reason you're… y'know…"

"It's a long story," Cyrax informed. "Come in."

He moved out of the doorway and sat down in a chair. Frost hopped up onto the desk due to the lack of another chair.

"Before the Cyber Initiative, Sektor and I were actually friends," Cyrax decided. "I think… I think I was the only one who gave him the time of day, really. His father never cared, Bi-Han wasn't especially social, and everyone else was lower in rank, including Kuai. Sektor didn't care to talk to them outside of giving orders. It's the way he was raised. To be the next Lin Kuei Grandmaster, to be an assassin. Never to be a son."

"That must have been hard…" Frost sympathized. "Least he had parents at all, I guess."

"In his case, he would have been better off an orphan." Cyrax argued.

"Maybe…" was all Frost said. "So… I've never heard anyone mention her. What was his mom like?"

"I can... barely remember," Cyrax admitted. "She died years ago, when Sektor was young and I was new to the Lin Kuei. He would tell me about her, sometimes. She was kind. Wanted him to be well-trained, but she loved him. More than could be said for the old Grandmaster."

"I… I lost my mom when I was young too..." Frost recalled. "Maybe… maybe I shouldn't have yelled at him like that."

"No, he needed to hear that," Cyrax disagreed. "And I think getting a good look at who you used to be helped you too."

Frost nodded. "I like to think so."

"You've changed a lot more than you think," Cyrax reassured her. "I hope you won't doubt yourself so much now."

"I'm trying…" Frost told him with a brief sigh. "So… there's just one thing I still don't get. After everything you've been through, don't you… hate Sektor?"

"No," Cyrax answered decisively. "I don't hate him. I hate what was done to me, done to all the old Lin Kuei. But I don't hate Sektor. In a strange way, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you without him. And… he was my friend. My only friend, for a while. Maybe he could be again, maybe not. But it's like you told him yourself. The choice is his."

"[Surprise] He… he said that?" Sektor asked.

Frost nodded. "Meant every word. Cyrax is a pretty honest guy."

"[Recollection] He is…" Sektor agreed. "He always was."

"Anyway, let's keep moving." Frost suggested.

"[Agreement] Yes." Sektor said as they kept walking.

The two turned and found two flat silver doors.

"Is this it?" Frost asked.

"[Certainty] Yes." Sektor confirmed.

Frost aimed Sektor's laser cannon to shoot the door down, but it suddenly opened on its own.

"[Confusion] What?" Sektor asked.

"This has to be a trap." Frost pointed out.

"[Acceptance] If you wish to abandon me at this juncture, I would understand," Sektor offered. "I would be dead before I could enact revenge…"

Frost shook her head. "No way. I'm not leaving you behind."

"[Confusion] Why?" Sektor questioned.

"Paying forward the kindness I've been given." Frost answered as she entered the room, quickly blasting all of the cameras with ice.

Within the room were strewn about parts of Sektor's body. A mangled arm attached to a torso with two shoulders but one hand on top of a table. Legs propped up against a wall, with other shattered bits of metal, and a few chips of bone, littering the ground and tables.

"How could anyone do this to their own child…" Frost said as she took it all in.

"[Hate] Have a heart as black as Oniro's and it's fairly easy…" Sektor responded.

Suddenly, the door shut behind them.

"Uh oh." said Frost.

"Such harsh words," came Triborg's mocking voice over a hidden loudspeaker. "Admittedly accurate." He emitted a robotic chuckle. "Your end has come, my failed creation."

A dozen grey and silver cyborgs teleported into the room, surrounding Frost and Sektor. A thirteenth appeared soon after, bearing blue armor.

"Farewell.." was Triborg's last word before the loudspeaker cut off.

"[Curiosity] Aim my head at the blue one," Sektor instructed. "I want to read its heat signature."

"Why?!" Frost asked.

"[Elaboration] I have a hunch." Sektor explained.

The grey cyborgs all aimed laser cannons at the two.

"Make it quick!" Frost demanded as she pointed Sektor's head at the blue cyborg.

"[Information] Scan complete. [Affirmation] I knew it!" Sektor shouted. "Hydro, it's you!"

"What?" Hydro asked.

"You know him?" Frost asked. "And he's…. Not brainwashed?"

"Brainwashed?!" Hydro questioned. "Sektor is the one who has been reprogrammed by your false Grandmaster! Cyrax has fallen victim as well! Whatever madness has overcome Kuai Liang will not be allowed to infect the true Lin Kuei's rebirth!"

Frost was completely baffled by Hydro's response. "What the hell are you talking about!?"

"[Frustration] Oniro has been deceiving you!" Sektor insisted. "He is the one who warps minds to his whim!"

"Kuai Liang is like a father to me, he would never do that." Frost added adamantly.

Two of the grey cyborgs fired their laser cannons. In her panic, Frost accidentally dropped Sektor's head and arm as she ducked down, hitting the two cyborgs with ice blasts and freezing them.

"Another cryomancer…" Hydro said in amazement.

"[Anger] Hydro, listen to me!" Sektor demanded from on the ground. "Oniro lies!"

A cyborg moved to stomp on his head, but Frost grabbed its leg, and with the enhanced strength afforded by her partial cybernetic enhancements to throw it towards two of its fellows, knocking them all over.

"The Grandmaster saved my life!" Hydro countered.

Frost rushed over and picked up Sektor. "Sorry."

"[Recollection] Hydro, do you remember when Bi-Han was killed?" Sektor asked. "You set out to avenge him before word of his death even reached Kuai Liang. I wished you luck before you left the temple."

"What's your point?" Hydro demanded.

"[Frustration] Were my mind not my own, why would I bother recalling the last time we ever saw one another?" Sektor said bluntly, as if it were obvious while this fact was only dawning on Hydro.

"Smart." Frost admitted.

Hydro considered for a moment as his fellow Tekunin all took aim at the two escapees.

Finally, a decision was made. Hydro raised one arm and blasted boiling hot water at six of the cyborgs, melting their plating and knocking them down.

"Unit Hydro, report for maintenance." one of the remaining four tried to instruct him, before Hydro unleashed a blue-green pulse blade and stabbed the cyborg through the chest with it.

The last three were shot down by Frost by way of Sektor's laser cannon, and their bodies clanging to the ground.

"Ok," Hydro spoke. "Give me Sektor's head."

Frost was understandably apprehensive, since the blue cyborg had been an enemy who called her surrogate father a madman mere moments before. She backed away from him cautiously.

"I can reattach it to his body," Hydro explained. "I could probably do the same for that lower arm too. And transmit instructions for how to exit this facility."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Frost asked.

"I wouldn't have helped you if I wasn't." Hydro pointed out.

"Good point." Frost admitted, handing him Sektor's head and arm.

Hydro detached the wire that connected the two parts and got to work.

"You can come with us." Frost offered.

"I… I'm not sure I can…" Hydro responded. "I chose my path. I'm not sure I can leave it now."

"It's never too late to change." Frost told him.

"You sound like you're speaking from experience," Hydro noticed. "Whatever Kuai Liang has done for you, I'm sure is admirable… but I'm not sure I could forgive him."

"For what?" Frost asked.

"Allowing my brother to join the Shirai Ryu…" Hydro answered.

"[Realization] So that is what happened to Aqua." Sektor commented.

"Aqua?" Frost repeated. "I know him. After Kuai and Hanzo buried the hatchet, they thought joint training sessions every once in a while would be a good idea. He's a good guy, good fighter too. The duck mask is a little silly, but I guess with icicles for hair I'm in no room to judge."

"Did Kuai Liang ever share what 'Hanzo' did to me?" Hydro asked. "Does my brother even know that his Grandmaster and Scorpion are one in the same?"

"I'm not sure what you're talking about." Frost admitted.

"I suppose not then," Hydro presumed. "Many years ago, I was a partner of sorts with Bi-Han in the original Lin Kuei. Like Smoke was to Kuai Liang. I received word of his death from Sektor, as you already know. And I swore vengeance."

"[Recollection] We had thought you dead." Sektor remembered.

"Scorpion very nearly proved you right," Hydro continued. "When my family finally managed to find and recover me, I could barely move. I was crippled. I would have to live the rest of my life lying in a bed… until Grandmaster Oniro found me."

"You let yourself become a cyborg?!" Frost asked, baffled by the idea after all she had heard of the Cyber Initiative.

"What would you be willing to give to walk again?" Hydro asked her in return.

Frost paused. "I guess you've got me there… but still, why support this?"

"I assume you serve Kuai Liang because you feel indebted to him in some way." Hydro conjectured.

"I'm not a servant," Frost protested. "I'm his protege."

"My mistake then," Hydro decided. "I apologize. Nevertheless, I serve Oniro due to a similar debt. However…."

"You still wanna help us?" Frost guessed.

"You don't deserve to be subjected to the cruelty he has planned just because of your association to Kuai Liang," Hydro explained. "I will try to persuade the Grandmaster into seeing a path to victory without such cost."

"[Hatred] You will fail," Sektor said with absolute certainty. "You don't know the evil you're dealing with."

"Considering what he did to the Tengu…" Frost recalled. "I'm inclined to agree."

"The Tengu joined our cause willingly." Hydro protested.

"Wow…" Frost reacted. "You must be really in the dark."

"[Frustration] Oniro upgraded his slaving protocols to mimic a free mind," Sektor explained. "Wu Lae and his band joining your 'Tekunin' is a mere farce. Their 'free will' nothing but a simulacrum you have clearly been deceived by."

Hydro remained silent, taking in the information and not being sure what to do with it.

"Done," he announced, electing to change the subject while debating his continued allegiance to the Tekunin in his head. "Sektor's head is back on his shoulders, and I fixed the arm too."

"[Gratitude] Thank you." Sektor responded.

"LK-1V1, what's going on in there?" demanded Triborg's voice over a communicator built into Hydro's helmet. "The Cryomancer took out the security system!"

"They…. Overwhelmed me…" Hydro lied, while he silently motioned for the two to leave. "They've escaped. The Cryomancer managed to partially repair Sektor."

Frost looked around frantically for a means to transport Sektor, seeing as there wouldn't be any time to reattach his legs.

Triborg's growl could be heard on the other end. "They must still be in the facility. I grow weary of dispatching units to deal with them, but it matters not how much fodder is expended, they will be dealt with before they can pass knowledge of our operation to LK-52O."

"Affirmative." answered Hydro, the transmission ending as Frost finally settled on an idea.

She walked over to one of the downed cyborgs, and, with some effort, pulled off part of its plating. She then began tugging on the wiring and managed to pull out a fairly long cord.

"This should work." she said to herself.

About two minutes later, she had successfully tied Sektor onto her back with the cyborg's wires. He was angled so that his head looked over her shoulder, allowing him to aim the laser cannon, and his legs were fastened on just behind his torso, to be reattached later when they were in better company.

"Wait." said Hydro.

Frost turned from the door to face him.

"Take this," Hydro instructed before revealing the Dragon Medallion. "Oniro tried to get it to work for him but failed. He thought I might be able to make use of it, but it seems that the medallion only responds to those whose bodies are primarily flesh, like yourself."

Frost quickly took the medallion. "Thank… you…" she said as she adjusted to its power once again.

Hydro nodded. "Now make it look convincing that you beat me."

Frost answered the request by freezing Hydro up to his neck, leaving his head still exposed.

"Now go." Hydro insisted.

Frost nodded, and started running.

The Tekunin base would still have perils for them to brave, but she and Sektor were certain they could manage their escape. Less certain of their ability to overcome their current perils were Raiden's allies, who found themselves faced against Kotal Kahn's inner circle.

General Sonya Blade herself battled Kotal's right hand and D'Vorah's replacement, Ruby. One was trained as an Outworld assassin, the other as a US soldier. Highly contrasting styles, but not a matchup Sonya was unfamiliar with. In terms of fighters that for simplicity's sake she all classified in her head as "ninjas", she had gone up against some of the best. Bi-Han, Kitana, Jade. She'd managed to come out on top on those occasions through razor thinly narrow margins and what she attributed to a fair amount of luck and a simple refusal to die.

Ruby was proving to be no less of a challenge, having unsheathed twin swords and slashing at her with such precision that Sonya could feel a few hairs being sliced off her head with each last-second dodge. When the next swing came, Sonya ducked and rolled out of the way, bringing herself to a kneeling position before firing a ball of pink-colored energy from one of her wrist-mounted gauntlets. The energy was calibrated to be a concussive rather than lethal, and served that purpose when the sphere knocked Ruby back and into a wall. Despite being dazed, the red-clad warrior had no intention of giving up. To Sonya's surprise, she threw her swords right at her as projectiles. After a few swift button presses on her gauntlets, Sonya aimed them both and fired pink energy rings at the oncoming blades, knocking them both off-course and onto the ground.

Ruby took advantage of the whole thing as a distraction, backing herself to the wall and leaping off of it before flipping through the air and kicking an understandably surprised Sonya in the face, knocking her down.

"I knew from the beginning you Earthrealmers would be trouble," she said as she revealed a dagger. "I never should have allowed the emperor to be put into a position where you could deceive him."

Ruby swung down, only to find her strike blocked by the combat knife Sonya had managed to slip out of her ankle holster.

"Don't blame yourself for your boss being a dumbass," Sonya advised, before spitting blood caused by Ruby's kick right in her face. "Just accept that you need better management."

Ruby growled in frustration, before headbutting Sonya, the impact knocking both parties' weapons from their hands, Ruby stumbling back while Sonya clutched her forehead as she stood upright.

"Ok," said Sonya. "I get the sense that neither of us is in a very good mood."

"I will never surrender Outworld to Earthrealm rule!" Ruby shouted as she rushed at Sonya, throwing a punch which Sonya narrowly dodged, punching Ruby in the stomach only to catch her next punch by the face, then ducking under a roundhouse kick, and afterwards grabbing Ruby by the shoulders, flipping over her, and then pulling the Vinparian over her head and slamming her onto the ground.

"We don't want it," Sonya protested. "We're just sick of Kahns trying to cut our heads off just for bruising their fragile egos."

"Liar…." Ruby accused, as she stood up and tried to get her bearings. "When I joined Kotal Kahn's cause, he knew Earthrealm could continue to be a threat. I studied your history. You're all the descendents of colonizers and slavers who think themselves paragons of morality that know what's best."

"I'm not gonna pretend that the people who came before me didn't do terrible things, including some in my own family tree," Sonya countered. "I don't have all the answers, you don't have all the answers. No one does. But we both want to keep our people safe. That's all this is about. I can't speak for everyone in my realm, but the people I fight beside are not conquerors. We're not like our ancestors, and I get the sense that you're not like Shao Kahn."

"Shao Kahn took my realm and everything I ever held dear," Ruby told her. "I would never try to be like him."

"Then why stand with Kotal?" Sonya questioned.

"You want your world to be better, yes?" Ruby asked back. "So do I, and so does the emperor. If you stayed out of our affairs, you'd get to see it."

"I don't see how trying to bring the heads of a bunch of kids to Shinnok makes anything better," Sonya argued. "Or forcing people to become refugees from war."

"Mileena's insurgents are responsible for the deserters!" Ruby countered.

"Classic deflecting blame," Sonya said dryly, recalling an ex boyfriend from years past, before aiming her gauntlets at Ruby. "I'm done trying to debate."

"Likewise." Ruby agreed, pulling a few throwing knives from her belt and hurling them at Sonya.

Sonya again fired her energy rings, sending the knives off course, but allowing Ruby the chance to slide underneath the rings and knock Sonya off balance when her foot connected with the general's shin. Ruby then performed a backflip, kicking Sonya in the process, before landing back on her feet.

Sonya was dazed, but stood her ground.

"You look tired." Ruby mocked.

"Oh please," Sonya responded. "You know, I joined the gymnastics team in highschool to."

She demonstrated her point by running at Ruby before breaking into a cartwheel which ended up kicking her opponent twice in the face, before using her wrist gauntlets to send out a burst of energy that launched her into the air, enabling her to come down on Ruby with a flying kick, knocking her opponent to the ground.

"You done?" Sonya asked.

"Not in your very short lifetime, Earthrealmer... " Ruby refused, noticing a shadowy part of the throne room and flipping towards it.

"I can still see you," Sonya mocked. "Bright red isn't the best color for a ninja."

"You've clearly never heard of my people before," Ruby surmised, followed by a brief laugh. "While the emperor and his fellow Osh-Tekk summon power from the sun, ours comes from darkness."

Ruby's eyes began glowing an ominous red, and she extended her right hand forward, it glowing as well.

Before Sonya could react, a diamond-shaped energy projectile shot from Ruby's hand and blasted Sonya back and to the ground.

"Ok…" Sonya said to herself as she started to get back up. "This is gonna be tougher than I thought…."

Ruby beckoned towards Sonya. "Come closer Earthrealmer, and I'll show you what I'm really capable of."

While Sonya was cautiously trying to assess how to deal with her darkness-empowered opponent, her former husband was facing a very different challenge.

Johnny now found himself battling the very same Centaurian warrior that Raiden's visions had shown killing him in Shao Kahn's invasion.

He hoped to still avoid that fate as he ducked under swings of the Centaur's large tail, only to be kicked by Motaro's two back legs and knocked into a nearby wall.

"Ow…" Johnny said as he tried to regain his bearings, raising his fists. "Ok buddy, I distinctly remember you getting blasted through a bridge."

"Your Thunder God rendered me comatose!" Motaro yelled. "Even Shao Kahn believed I was dead! And I surely would have been, if not for my fellow Centaurians saving me."

"So why are you mad at me, exactly?" Johnny questioned.

"I understand why your god would wish to neutralize an enemy combatant," Motaro conceded. "But why he would do so to save your wretched hide is beyond me."

"You're no supermodel yourself, buddy." Johnny retorted.

The attempt at an insult meant nothing to Motaro, but it certainly didn't temper the anger he felt towards Cage. Motaro charged at the man, horns bared to impale him. At the last possible second, Johnny managed to activate his green energy and use it to zip out of the way of Motaro, who crashed into the wall. Seizing on the opportunity, Johnny energy kicked the Centaurian, hitting the side of its horse-like lower half. Motaro stumbled sideways, but remained standing.

The Centaur moved his tail to strike Cage, but this time Johnny managed to duck under the swing, unleashing a force ball from his hand that had little effect on his opponent.

"Is that the best you can do?" Motaro asked with a bemused smirk. "I expected more from the Earthrealmer that managed to last more than a few seconds against Shinnok himself."

"Well, y'know, his jaw was closer to punching height." Johnny said as he moved his hands vertically in an attempt to show the height difference between the fallen Elder God and his current foe.

"It seems you have more wit than combat prowess." Motaro surmised, raising his tail as it started glowing a whitish red.

"That can't be good." Johnny correctly assumed.

Motaro fired a blast of energy from his tail, which Johnny managed to run out of the way of, only for Motaro to move his tail accordingly in order to keep his aim on Johnny. Quickly finding himself running out of room, Johnny activated his green glow and used the speed boost it provided not only to dodge the beam, but to enable him to run on the nearby wall, jumping off once he reached the roof and energy kicking Motaro right on his back. Though it was enough to break Motaro's concentration and thus deactivate the beam, he remained standing regardless, growling in anger and attempting to stab the bony protrusions on his elbows into Johnny. When this tactic failed, Motaro simply reached behind and grabbed Johnny with one arm, pulling the Earthrealmer forward and tossing him onto the ground, then stomping on him with his two front legs.

Motaro then ran right over Johnny in an effort to trample him, but the movie star kept his glow activated in order to not be completely flattened, recalling its effectiveness in his battle with Jarek, although being caught under Motaro still hurt like hell. As he tried to get up, Johnny threw another forceball to again negligible effect.

"Your pathetic projectiles don't work on me." Motaro boasted, charging again just as Johnny managed to get back on his feet.

Johnny activated his glow in the hopes the energy would take the brunt of Motaro's attack once more. So instead of being skewered on the Centaur's horns, he was knocked back and thrown into the air, then grabbed by the leg and thrown to the ground courtesy of Motaro, who then tried to impale Johnny on the scorpion-like end of his tail. Johnny again dodged by simply rolling, then delivered an energy kick to Motaro's front right leg, disorienting the centaur and allowing Johnny to jump up and jab Motaro's abdomen with an energy-infused punch. He dodged a retaliatory punch from the Centaur, but caught a second punch by the face. Johnny then kicked Motaro in the stomach. Motaro stumbled back, before kicking forward with his front legs and knocking Johnny back once again.

This time, Johnny was able to remain standing, raising his fists and activating his glow in anticipation for whatever Motaro was going to try next.

"Sorry ugly, you missed your chance to kill me 26 years ago." Johnny said determinedly.

While a Centaurian was a challenging opponent, a Shokan was no less dangerous, as Jax was currently realizing as he faced Zenkaro.

Luckily for the Special Forces veteran, his powerful bionic arms allowed him to more closely match up for the famous Shokan strength. Zenkaro threw out punch after punch with all four of his arms, all of which Jax managed to block, until Zenkaro threw a punch with both his left arms and knocked Jax back. The Shokan lumbered forward, but before he could get closer, Jax's robotic fist began glowing with a purple energy and he slammed it into the ground, generating a shockwave that shook the entire room and more specifically knocked Zenkaro over.

Jax jumped into the air to land another augmented punch, but Zenkaro kicked him back, knocking him into the ceiling. Jax fell but still managed to stick a landing in a superhero-like fashion.

Zenkaro leapt into the air and slammed down all four fists, but Jax rolled out of the way before he landed, then standing up and punching Zenkaro right across the face, causing the Shokan to stumble backward.

Zenkaro wiped some blood from his chin and spat out a dislodged tooth.

"You are strong, Earthrealmer," Zenkaro surprisingly complimented. "I know not what spell binds steel to your arms, but it has allowed you to match even a Shokan warrior. I understand now how your realm was able to defy Shao Kahn."

"Yeah, we're full of surprises, tough guy," Jax replied, raising his fists. "Why don't you come over here and I'll show you a few more."

"And you have spirit!" Zenkaro said with surprise. "You honor me with your combat, but unlike Proud Kintaro, I do not intend for my glorious final battle to be with an Earthrealmer."

Jax clearly didn't much care. "Shame, cuz' whoever you're lookin' to fight is gonna have to get in line."

Zenkaro chuckled at his opponent's bravado, before charging at Jax and attempting to slam him down with his upper arms. Jax was able to catch said arms, only for Zenkaro to hit him in the stomach and abdomen with his lower arms, knocking him back.

It took Jax a second to get some air back into his lungs, but he was nowhere near ready to give up.

"Alright tough guy…" he said between breaths. "Come get some!"

In an all too similar predicament was Jax's own daughter. Fighting the queen of the Shokan would intimidate most, but Jacqui didn't back down. No one in her family ever did.

Sheeva noticed this of course as blows were traded between them. Eventually, they both punched one another at the same time, both subsequently being knocked back.

"We crossed paths while you were under the sway of the Blood Code, yes?" Sheeva questioned. "You fight with far more vigor when your mind is your own."

"Thanks for the compliment, I guess." Jacqui responded, not sure what to make of the situation.

Sheeva was clearly ready to get back into the fight, blasting out a fireball from her mouth which Jacqui deflected with her forcefield. However, the energy shield only protected her from the front, allowing Sheeva to jump overhead and stomp her into the ground.

Naturally, this was of immediate concern to both Jax and Takeda, the latter fighting Kollector of all people. Both were held at bay by their opponents.

Jacqui herself proved less needing of their help than it may have seemed. She pointed her gauntlets straight up at Sheeva, firing at the Shokan Queen who very narrowly dodged the high caliber bullets. However, Sheeva was distracted long enough for Jacqui to press a button and activate an electric charge throughout both her gauntlets. She proceeded to grab Sheeva's legs and let the electrical current do its work.

"Get…. off!" Jacqui shouted as she managed to shove the stunned Shokan queen off of her.

Sheeva was quick to get back up however, throwing down a fireball which Jacqui narrowly managed to jump out of the way of, shooting off two more blasts from her gauntlets in return, but Sheeva pulled out her shield, which stopped the bullets.

Sheeva then threw the shield as a projectile, but Jacqui managed to catch it and throw it right back at her after spinning around once. The blades in the edge of the shield pierced Sheeva's upper left shoulder and left a noticeable gash. Sheeva clutched the wounded arm with her upper right arm, while keeping both of her lower arms raised to continue fighting.

"A clever maneuver, Earthrealmer," she admitted. "But our battle is far from finished."

"Then let's get to it." Jacqui responded, getting closer and punching Sheeva across the face, before receiving punches in the face and gut from Sheeva's two right arms.

The two continued fistfighting, while Jacqui's fiancé faced off against the most unorthodox member of Kotal's court: Kollector.

Takeda was, needless to say, used to fighting opponents with two arms. So six was naturally quite the challenge.

Still, Takeda was challenging in his own way, thanks to his technologically advanced whips, which he had learned to use to great effectiveness, and was at that very moment using said whips to keep Kollector on the defensive.

The Naknadan was however faster than most would expect, scurrying around the room and dodging Takeda's strikes best he could, even climbing into Kotal's display items, giving him the appearance of a wall-crawling insect before Takeda's whip came his way and he leaped to safety, destroying an ancient hand painted Osh-Tekk wooden shield in the process.

While Kollector was in the air, he launched forward the small mace he carried as his primary weapon, coating the ornately designed ball and chain in a mystical blue flame. Takeda ducked and rolled out of the way before the mace hit the ground, cracking the tile beneath, retaliating with his whips as Kollector landed on the ground. The Naknadan managed to duck under the first whip, but was lashed across the chest and two of his left arms by the second.

Kollector growled in frustration at this, pulling back his mace and instead summoning fireballs into all six of his hands. Three of them were the same blue as before, the other three a cursed-looking green resembling the torches in Chaosrealm.

He launched the fireballs in an angry frenzy. Takeda's eyes widened in surprise, but he reacted quickly. First he retracted his whips, soon afterwards activating the orange colored Pulse Blades he had received from Hanzo, originally a gift to the Shirai Ryu grandmaster from Sub-Zero. The energy blades stuck out of his elbows, having been built into his combat suit by Jacqui, who had been eager to experiment with the technology.

Using the blades, Takeda was able to expertly deflect all of Kollector's fireballs. Or so he thought, realizing he had missed the sixth projectile only when it slammed into him. Luckily, his power armor protected him from being burned alive. He grunted as he gopt up, then rushed the Naknadan and slashed at him with the blades. Kollector was quick to protect himself from the laser weapons, activating a mystical aura around his body that shielded him.

"Cheap trick." Takeda complained.

"It actually cost me quite a few koins," Kollector explained, briefly pulling out some kind of charm before tucking it back into his short coat. "Tools of survival never come cheap."

"Learn something new everyday." Takeda commented.

As both he and his opponent looked for avenues of attack, another battle played out between the Tarkatan leader Karbrac and the Shaolin monks Kung Jin and Kai.

The two had trained together for some time now and knew how to coordinate with one another. That hardly made things much easier given their opponent.

Karbrac had been forced to feign loyalty to Kotal Kahn and half-heartedly fight Mileena's rebellion. He felt little reason to hold back against these two Earthrealmers he had never met. In the back of his mind, he knew that they two were enemies of Kotal Kahn, and had the potential to end the current emperor, but his rage could barely be contained much longer, and combat was always a viable outlet for such anger among all Tarkatans.

Karbrac slashed with his good blade wildly, anger fueling his strikes. The two monks were narrowly able to dodge the swings each time, until Kung Jin managed to stop the blade using his staff. The blade embedded itself into the wood of the uniquely designed staff, but it was sturdily built enough that the blade did not cut through it.

Karbrac pressed his weight against Jin, trying to overpower the Earthrealmer. In the meantime, he prepared his broken blade to stab Kung Jin, a tactic that had previously been successful against an unsuspecting Tanya. The difference in this situation is that Kung Jin has backup. When Karbrac went to jab the broken blade into Jin's stomach, Kai caught his arm. The surprised Tarkatan spared Kai a glance before he was kicked by the Shaolin and knocked back.

Now having some distance, Kung Jin pulled out an arrow and raised his staff, which also functioned as a bow. He fired the arrow, which pierced Karbrac's left pectoral, but had little effect on the seasoned warrior. Growling, he placed his right hand in the arrow and snapped it off of his body. The arrowhead was still embedded in his flesh, but Karbrac figured it better to leave it there then let blood run out freely.

"Hey Legolas, I think we pissed him off." joked Kai.

"Probably," Jin agreed. "Any ideas?"

"I have one." Kai offered, putting his hands together and blasting out a fireball which he aimed at Karbrac's feet, hoping that the Tarkatan would fall off balance trying to avoid it.

Instead, he jumped into the air and lunged at Kai, his good blade fully extended. Kai was saved when Kung Jin slammed the head of his staff, carved into the shape of a dragon's head, right into Karbrac's face and knocked him to the side.

Karbrac hit the ground and rolled, but was quick to get back up and press on his attack. He ran at the two with his good blade scraping against the ground, creating large sparks. When Karbrac thought himself close up, he raised his arm in an arcing motion and sent the sparks flying towards the two. Both monks shielded their eyes, but were still hit with the small burning projectiles, which stung like a swarm of hornets.

Karbrac slashed at the two now that they were disoriented, but Kai had heard him coming and shoved Kung Jin out of the way, before managing to jump over the blade and kick Karbrac right in the face before flipping through the air and landing behind him.

Kai tried to follow up with a punch, but Karbrac spun around and caught his fist with surprising speed, pulling him to the ground and preparing to skewer him, until Kung Jin intervened by putting his staff in front of Karbrac's neck and pulling backward, chuckling the Tarkatan and getting him off of Kai.

Karbrac responded to this by grabbing the staff himself and using it was leverage to pull Jin forward, head-butting him with the back of his head, forcing Jin to drop the staff. He then jabbed his elbow into Jin's stomach, and turned around with his good blade extended to behead the monk, before Kai stopped him with a well-placed chop to Karbrac's elbow and another to his throat, causing the Tarkatan to stumble backward.

"You alright?" Kai asked.

"Ask me after we're done saving each other's lives over and over." Jin replied coyly.

"Never was one to play damsel in distress." Kai said as he picked up Jin's staff and handed it back to him.

"Me neither." Jin agreed.

"Save your flirtations for the afterlife, Earthrealmers!" Barked Karbrac, before roaring at them.

Angered by the humiliation he felt he had suffered, Karbrac decided to utilize a power he had been studying in secret. A rare combination of blood magic and pyromancy. He had intended to use such a power against Kotal Kahn himself when the time to end his charade of loyalty to the false emperor came, and he could use it to gut the Osh-Tekk. But anger clouded his judgement, so his desire to defeat these two Earthrealmers won out. Karbrac scratched his own arm, blood coming out and activating his power. His eyes glowed red and a crackling energy began to appear over his lower arm. He put his arms together in an X position over his head and then moved them down, triggering the release of a wave of red energy that knocked back both Kai and Kung Jin, slamming them into a wall.

"Did you get the number on that truck?" Kai asked.

"I thought it was a lightning bolt." Jin replied.

"You will not be able to say any more jokes when I've slit your throats and collected your tongues as trophies!" Karbrac threatened.

The energy spread down to Karbrac's broken, shaping itself into a facsimile of the lost weapon that glowed to match his rage. He charged at the two Shaolin, slashing down at them before they narrowly rolled in opposite directions. The blade cut through the brick wall like it was butter, and as Karbrac turned and growled at the two, it was clear that it would just as easily cut through them. Kai's fists burst into flame and the two stayed close together, intending to keep their guard up best they could.

It was fortunate that the two had such strong training and discipline. These were traits also possessed by Mokap and Vera Briggs, but a relative lack of experience battling the foes of Outworld made taking on Erron Black somewhat of a harrowing experience.

Both had ducked behind pillars to avoid the mercenary's gunshots. Both were unaware that their opponent was just as wary as they were, but for his own reasons.

Erron could feel the years his mind had lived but his body hadn't until lately and it was now coming back to him slowly but surely. He was slower with his trigger finger than he used to be, and in his mind, it meant these two could kill him. He had no intention of letting that happen. Erron was determined to keep on long enough to find a solution to his plight.

Mokap and Vera couldn't relate to this experience, but equally desired to keep living.

"You got a plan?" Mokap asked.

"Not really," Vera admitted. "I haven't been in the field in a few years. With Jax and Jacqui off risking life and limb, somebody had to stay behind and look after the house. Well, that and the medical courses."

"I hear ya," Mokap sympathized. "This is only my second one of these scraps."

"Hey, you got powers, right?" Vera asked, an idea forming in her mind.

"Yeah," Mokap confirmed. "I can use this white glowey energy stuff and sometimes lift things with my mind."

"Great, I'll distract him, and then you do your thing." Vera proposed.

"Good a plan as any." Mokap replied, shrugging.

Vera unholstered the handgun she started carrying to defend herself ever since Reiko attacked the Briggs house, and moved out from behind the pillar to take a shot at Erron. The shit rang out, and Erron was quick to duck down, steadying his revolvers to return fire, only for Mokap to step out and fire a sphere of white energy. Erron rolled out of the way and stood up, firing two shots. Rather than trying to dodge, Mokap closed his eyes and concentrated. He put out his hand, and much to his own surprise when he opened his eyes, had managed to telekinetically freeze the bullets in place.

"Not this crap again…" Erron complained.

Mokap's display managed to distract the mercenary, allowing Vera to charge in and slam into him shoulder-first with as much force as she could muster. Erron fell to the ground and quickly looked up to find Vera pointing her gun at his head.

"You listen and you listen good, mister," she said to him. "You are going to stay. Down."

"With all due respect ma'am," Erron responded, aiming his revolvers back at her. "I don't think so."

Mokap rushed over to help, his break in concentration causing the two bullets to drop to the ground.

Erron fired one shot, which buzzed past Vera's head, but got her to look in the other direction, allowing him to get back up and headbutt her, knocking her back, but disorienting himself as well. Erron tried to fight it, raising his revolvers and preparing to fire, only for Mokap to punch him in the face, sending the bullets off-course. One grazed Vera's ear, drawing blood, while the other embedded itself in the stone floor of the throne room.

Erron kicked Mokap in the knee before he could attack again, but was then summarily pistol whipped by Vera and sent stumbling backwards.

"My achin' head…." he said to himself.

"I'll see if I care about your headache when my ear stops ringing." Vera responded annoyedly, aiming her gun once more in the hopes he would give up.

Erron almost considered it for half a second, then raised his revolvers and let out two more shots. Mokap and Vera hit the deck to avoid the bullets, and when Erron walked over to try and shoot them dead for good, Mokap launched into a somersault and kicked him, knocking the mercenary back.

Vera got to her feet soon afterward, ready to back up her newfound ally.

"Alright…" Erron said in between breaths. "Y'all wanna be stubborn…. I can be stubborn too."

"Trust me buddy, you ain't seen stubborn till you've had kids." Vera countered, a sentiment Mokap couldn't help but chuckle at due to his own experience in the matter.

"We'll see…" was the only response Erron had, raising his revolvers only for them to be telekinetically torn from his hands by Mokap and thrown onto the ground.

"Let's say we make this a little more fair." He suggested.

Vera nodded and holstered her handgun. "Sounds good to me." She said before raising her fists.

"Naw…" Erron disagreed. "Fair and square's never really been mah style."

He then unsheathed his sword made from Karbrac's broken blade, sparing a glance at the Tarkatan to ensure he was focused on the two Shaolin monks, hoping not to trigger his rage by using the weapon. Erron swung at the two wildly, not exactly being a classically trained swordsman. Mokap and Vera both tried to avoid the strikes, but inevitably they found themselves getting scratched and suffering a few near-misses that could cost them their lives if they weren't careful.

The same notion was true for Hanzo and Eyota, who found themselves surrounded by several Osh-Tekk guards, and additionally set upon by the two Shokan that along with Zenkaro had been brought to guard Sheeva.

Though relatively inexperienced, Eyota was faring well against the Osh-Tekk soldiers. Swinging two glowing green constructs of tomahawks, she was quick to parry any melee attacks that came her way and counterattack with swift slashes, leaving noticeable gashes in her foes before she knocked them back with precise kicks. Eyota felt no need to kill her foes in order to dispense them, and hoped her restraint would inspire them to reconsider their place as soldiers of a tyrant.

Hanzo on the other hand had no such noble intentions. These were minions of the man who had tried to kill his student and his student's fiancé on more than one occasion. To him, this was a crime against the Shirai Ryu, and all who stood beside Kotal Kahn were guilty.

The long-dormant fury of Scorpion was not quite on full display as it was when Hanzo led his clan in Raiden's assault on the Brotherhood of Shadow, but he was certainly showing his foes little mercy. With one hand he slashed through opposition with his Mugai Ryu. With the other, he directed his Kunai, it's chain lit with hellfire, to tear through those who were foolish enough to step into its path. One of the Shokan knocked Hanzo down with a fireball, and then leaped into the air to crush him with all four of their fists. Hanzo teleported out of the way of the descending attacker in a burst of flame, before reappearing behind them and launching his Kunai directly through the Shokan's back and out of their chest. His large foe fell over dead with a loud sound.

The other Shokan pulled out two swords and raised them to cleave Hanzo down for the murder of its compatriot, but before it could, Eyota summoned forth a spritual construct of a bear equal in size to the Shokan. The bear spirit roared and shoved the attacker down with considerable strength.

Hanzo made no time to offer thanks as he was quickly preoccupied with a group of Osh-Tekk who saw fit to test their luck against him.

Ultimately however, though the throne room was consumed with battle, there was only one struggle that held the power to decide the fate of two realms. The battle between Raiden and Kotal Kahn himself.

The Thunder God's brazen first strike reminded him all too well of Rain's first attack that launched the ambush at Tarkata. This was enough to stir the current emperor's rage on its own, but the mere fact that such treachery by Earthrealm had come at a time when he had already suffered a humiliating near-defeat by Mileena and Tanya, Kotal was enraged.

His tattoos and eyes glowed red as he channeled forth his blood magic powers, strengthening every punch he threw at Raiden. Each blow staggered Raiden, causing him to take a step back every time. Kotal threw one more punch, but before it landed, Raiden disappeared from his view in a crackle of red lightning.

Another crack of thunder was heard, and it was mere seconds before Kotal felt red eyes like his own glaring at him from behind.

Before Kotal could even turn around, he was hit with a lightning-infused palm strike and thrown to the ground.

Raiden marched forward as Kotal rolled over and tried to get his bearings.

"I understand the anger you feel in being unable to keep your realm in order," Raiden told him, his voice conveying none of the sympathy those words might have entailed. "But there is one thing you fail to understand," Raiden summoned his staff into his hand and raised it over his head to skewer Kotal on its blade.

"My rage is greater!"

Raiden stabbed downward, and unlike when Tanya had nearly killed him in an eerily similar motion, Kotal didn't take any chances trying to catch the blade. Instead, he rolled out of the way, before getting back up and slamming into Raiden with a charge not unlike Shao Kahn's, enhanced by his blood magic power.

Kotal then rushed for his throne, and grabbed his large greatsword from its display posts. He raised the sword to counter whatever attack Raiden might attempt next.

"You will not take Outworld's throne from me!" Kotal shouted.

Raiden shot out another blast of lightning, loosening Kotal's grip on his sword but not causing as much pain now that the current emperor's blood magic powers had been activated.

Kotal then charged at Raiden and swung his greatsword in an arc. Raiden again teleported out of the way, and the next time Kotal swung he parried the attack with his staff.

"How many times do you have to say those words before you realize you are fighting a battle you cannot win?" Raiden asked as the two pushed against each other with their rage evident. "And for a title you have not earned?"

"Ask your masters the Elder Gods," Kotal answered. "They are the ones who named me ruler."

"You are even more deluded than I had believed," Raiden realized. "I will end the madness that has overtaken you swiftly."

Kotal managed to push Raiden back, raisng his greatsword over his head and preparing to cleave Raiden in two.

"The only madness here is your brazen assault," Kotal countered. "What happened to preaching peace-"

"Raiden?!"

Raiden's concentration on his crusade was broken as his eyes fell upon the most recent arrival to the throne room:

Bo' Rai Cho.

His arrival also confused Kai and Kung Jin, though Karbrac's relentless prevented them from dwelling on it.

"Why are you here?" Raiden demanded.

Taking advantage of the Thunder God's distraction, Kotal swung down. Raiden attempted to dodge but didn't quite manage it, a large gash being left in his shoulder and a dent in his armor. Raiden growled in pain and blasted the emperor with lightning. He grabbed the sword and tossed it to the ground.

"I had hoped to convince Kotal Kahn to be kinder to his people," Bo' Rai Cho explained, sparing a glance at the current emperor and suspecting his efforts might end up being in vain. "I come here and find his guards inhospitable, then I make them unconscious. And now…. I find this. Raiden, what are you doing?!"

"Neutralizing a threat to Earthrealm." Raiden answered quickly.

"You are meant to be a protector, not an aggressor," Bo' Rai Cho argued. "You are starting a war!"

"I am ending one." Raiden corrected.

But before he could make his point by resuming his battle with Kotal, a black and grey blur came into the room and stopped near him, revealing none other than….

"Kabal?!" Sonya asked aloud before being punched in the face by Ruby, something she returned in kind.

"Listen, Sparky," Kabal said remarkably casually for someone who had arrived in the middle of a battle. "Things aren't going so hot with plan 'make trouble'. Kit's sister showed up with a bunch of her pals. Bride of Frankenstein's out cold and I don't know how much longer we can last, so if you could—"

"The others… they are in danger?" Raiden asked, his concern genuine.

"I'd say so." Kabal more or less confirmed.

That was enough for Raiden. He couldn't have them lost under his watch again. Flashes of lightning hit all throughout the throne room, transporting each and every one of Raiden's allies, including the recently arrived Bo' Rai Cho and Kabal, to the same Outworld village he had dispatched the revenants to the outskirts of when this all began, right as Kotal Kahn attempted to swing his serrated sword at the Thunder God. He roared in rage when the attackers disappeared.

When Raiden's allies rematerialized, what they saw before them was understandably a shock. Mileena and Kitana were still locked in battle, while Jade and Tanya did their best to hold off Nightwolf, and Rain and Emerald were guarding over Sindel, who seemed to be slowly starting to regain consciousness.

"This isn't good…" Rain said worriedly.

"Raiden, what's going on here?" Sonya asked.

"I will handle this." Was all Raiden told her.

He stepped forward and zeroed in on Mileena.

"How unfortunate that a second chance at life would beget such poor choices." Raiden criticized, raising one hand as it began crackling with lightning.

Seeing this seemed to summon some of the remaining humanity in Kitana. She summoned a blast of wind to knock Mileena down, then raised the skull mask over head and turned to the Thunder God.

"Raiden, wait!" She pleaded.

It was too late. Raiden let loose a blast of lightning at Mileena. Luckily, in the nick of time, Rain teleported between Mileena and the Thunder God and let loose his own lightning.

Red and purple energy collided as the Thunder God and Edenian set their power against one another.

"You are powerful, Son of Argus," Raiden acknowledged. "But you face a true god."

"I don't care for such hollow titles!" Rain yelled back.

Raiden didn't bother answering, continuing the clash of energy before raising his other hand and shooting out another bolt of lightning. The two bolts combined and soon proved to be more than Rain could handle, the blast throwing him back and sending him colliding with the ground.

"Rain!" Yelled Mileena, rushing over to help her friend.

Emerald tried to do the same, only to be hit with a punch from the face courtesy of Sindel.

"Not this again…" she said to herself, preparing for renewed battle only to be thrown back by a blast of wind as Kitana went over to her mother.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

Sindel merely nodded, clearly still disoriented. She stumbled and almost fell over, but Kitana grabbed onto her arm and kept her standing.

Meanwhile, Mileena knelt down next to Rain, examining the extent of his wounds.

"L-Look out…." Rain warned just as Mileena felt a shadow come over her.

Raiden.

"I should have known you would prove to be Shao Kahn's heir through and through," Raiden said disdainfully. "Attacking your own family. Despicable."

"I was defending the people of this village from their unwarranted assault!" Mileena argued. "I want to save them from Shinnok's madness!"

Raiden made no attempt to acknowledge her point, summoning his staff and simply saying "This ends now!"

"Raiden, stop!"

Again Bo' Rai Cho intervened at the right moment, walking up next to his old ally and placing a hand on his shoulder to try and temper his rage.

"This is not the way to peace, my friend," He said wisely. "Please, stop now before you do something you'll regret."

"My only regret is not culling every last minion of Shao Kahn who survived his invasion!" Raiden shouted. "Show them what it's like to-"

"I know the pain that rages inside you," Bo' Rai Cho sympathized. "It is the same one I felt when I learned of Liu Kang and Kung Lao's fates."

"Can someone explain to me what the fuck is going on?!" Johnny interrupted, his friends and allies equally as baffled.

"I was about to ask the same thing." Agreed Kai.

"I know even less than you, man!" Mokap added.

"I assume keeping them in the dark didn't prove viable." Kitana surmised.

"It is of no importance," Raiden told her. "This mission has failed. We must return to the Sky Temple to prepare for what comes next."

"What are you talking about?!" Johnny asked.

"You're… working with them?" Jacqui began to realize.

"Hey, they used to be our friends." Jax reminded his daughter.

"In that case Mr. Briggs," Takeda countered. "Shouldn't step one be de-zombifying them like what happened to you and Hanzo?"

"Perhaps that is no longer possible…" theorized Hanzo. "Due to my rashness in killing Quan Chi…"

"Hold on a moment," requested Eyota, her gaze settling upon her now-revenant predecessor, who's battle with Jade and Tanya had ceased as all three had stopped to acknowledge what was happening before them. Tanya understandably rushed over to Mileena's side, leaving Jade and…

"A… Akicita?" She asked.

"Eyota…." he responded, breaking eye contact with her out of shame. "I had hoped you would not see me like this until Raiden deemed it time for you to end my curse."

"Why… why would he wait even a moment before saving you and your friends?!" Eyota asked, baffled by the information. "That was the whole reason he contacted me!"

"Other matters needed to be attended to." Raiden argued.

Eyota and the others were understandably shocked and in some cases horrified by the callousness now on display.

"Raiden, look at yourself!" Pleaded Bo' Rai Cho.

"Holding their fates hostage!" He motioned to the revenants, Kabal now having moved himself next to Kitana and Sindel to watch what might happen next. "Keeping secrets from the people who trust you!" He motioned to Eyota and the Special Forces. "This has to end! You cannot go on like this!"

"After I have ensured that no threats shall menace Earthrealm ever again," Raiden responded, raising his staff.

Bo' Rai Cho grabbed his arm to stop him just as Tanya aimed her naginata at him.

"Hurt her and so help me I'll—"

"Everyone, please, just calm down!" Pleaded Jade.

"J-Jade?!" Sonya asked, finally registering her presence. Johnny and Jax's eyes widened as they went through the same mental process.

"You're-" Johnny started.

"Alive?!" Jax finished.

"Oh sure, rub it in!" Yelled Kabal.

"I… it's a long story," Jade explained. "I wish it were under better circumstances, but it's good to see you all again, my friends."

"The heck with it." Johnny decided, going over and giving his old friend an earnest hug, one Jade returned.

"Now do you see what miraculous reunions can occur when you are honest?!" Bo' Rai Cho pointed out.

"Raiden, listen to him!" Shouted Kung Jin, himself knowing all too well Bo' Rai Cho's wisdom.

"Whatever you're going to do," said Mileena. "Just help my sister and my mother. Please."

"On that note," added Hanzo, looking at the revenants directly. "I am sorry for this fate you have been forced to endure. The blame lies squarely on my shoulders."

"Raiden, do not hurt my daughter!" Sindel insisted.

"Please…." Kitana added more quietly.

"Be silent!" Raiden demanded. "None of you understand! I must ensure that no more sacrifices need to be made to ensure Earthrealm's safety!"

"We want the same thing," assured Sonya. "But there has to be a better way to go about this."

"The hell do you know about sacrifice?!" Demanded Takeda. "You just let everyone else get hurt around you, you never put yourself in the crosshairs!"

"I know more than you will ever—"

"You know of loss, Raiden." Bo' Rai Cho interrupted.

"You presume to lecture me?" Raiden asked.

"Sacrifice is a choice you make," Bo' Rai Cho explained. "Loss is a choice made for you."

Raiden considered his words for a moment, but the moment was cut short when yet another one of his deceptions came back to bite him.

"HEY!" Shouted Cassie as she walked onto the scene, her anger quite evident.

"Cass, what's going on?" Sonya asked.

"Not now mom." She responded, her attention focused on Raiden.

"This may not be the most opportune of times to say it, but… congratulations." Jade offered.

"Thanks." Johnny and Sonya said in unison. The fact that the two of them specifically had borne a child was a surprise to Jade, whose most recent memories of the pair were Sonya's inability to stand Johnny.

Still, she could definitely see the boldness both possessed present in their daughter.

"Sure was nice of you to bring the party over here," Cassie said sarcastically as she glared at the Thunder God. "Saves me the trouble of walking all the way back to the palace to whoop your ass."

"Is there a problem, Cassandra Cage?" Raiden asked.

"Yeah, you sent me after the wrong guy!" Cassie shouted. "And now, Shujinko almost died! Because of me!"

"Shujinko?!" Bo' Rai Cho questioned.

"What would Master Shujinko be doing in Outworld?!" Kai asked, receiving a shrug from Kung Jin in response.

"I see you have failed to grasp the lesson." Raiden surmised.

"What fucking lesson?!" Cassie asked.

"That only a fool trusts blindly," Raiden informed her. "Additionally, this task was meant to prepare you for battle with the real Shang Tsung."

"By murdering an innocent man?!" Cassie questioned.

"Innocent?!" Raiden asked back. "If he were innocent, he would have returned with the Edenian Kamidogu weeks ago. Shujinko has always been a pawn of darker powers. In finishing him, you would have slowed their plans."

"You sanctimonious peace of…" Cassie ran out of use for words.

In an instant, the green glow enveloped her body and in a flash of emerald light, she punched Raiden square in the face, of the shock of everyone present.

Raiden's hand began crackling with lightning, as Bo' Rai Cho stepped in at just the pivotal moment.

"Raiden, don't!" Bo' Rai Cho shouted.

Before Raiden could fire a blast of lightning, Bo' Rai Cho grabbed his arm and tried to pull it away.

Only for the lightning current to hit him instead.

It all happened in an instant. Raiden found himself unusually struggling to contain his power and once he finally managed to stop the lightning, it was too late….

Bo' Rai Cho was burned all over his body, unable to even stand. As he fell over, Raiden managed to catch him.

"No…" Raiden said to himself, as everyone present looked upon them in utter shock.

"Raiden…" Bo' Rai Cho choked out. "Listen to me… all is not lost. Never… never give up hope. Remember… it is not enough to fight for Earthrealm. You must also…" he coughed as he struggled to cling onto his last few moments.

"You must also fight for life…"

That was the last thing Bo' Rai Cho said before the light faded from his eyes and his body went limp.

Raiden picked up his body, looking at it solemnly as he considered all of his past failures. This moment, now among them.

"You murderer!" Yelled Kung Jin, tears welling in his eyes as he ran over to attack Raiden, only for Kai to hold him back.

"Let me go!" Jin demanded! "He murdered him!"

"I know!" Kai admitted. "But this isn't going to help right now! Please Jin, I don't wanna lose you to."

That was enough to calm Jin down, at least for now.

"Raiden…" Sonya tried to summon the words, but he didn't let her finish.

In a crack of lightning, Raiden disappeared from Outworld alongside the revenants and Bo' Rai Cho's body.

Her chance to reason with or console him gone, Sonya activated her communicator, typing on the miniature keyboard on her right gauntlet as she did so.

"This is General Blade, we need evac from Outworld," she informed. "Send portal to the following coordinates. Time open interval: 50 seconds."

"So that's it?!" Cassie asked. "A man just died and it's back to business as usual."

"Cassie, not now." Sonya responded.

"I can't believe you!" Cassie shouted. "You're just going to move on?! I used to look up to you, wanted to be just like you!"

The portal came as ordered.

"Cassie, we can talk about this later," Sonya said firmly. "Let's go."

"No."

"Excuse me?" Sonya asked.

"You heard me," Cassie responded. "I can't do this anymore. I can't pretend it's just another day on the job when people are dying."

"You knew the job when you signed up." Sonya reminded her.

"The job description didn't say anything about letting a whackjob lightning god get away with murdering an innocent man," Cassie countered. "Or trying to get us to do his dirty work by fighting his battles and being sent to take out people only he thinks are dangerous!."

"Nor suffering through such deceit and treachery." Eyota said to back Cassie up, her thoughts still lingering on her predecessor, and the way her ability to save him had been turned into a bargaining chip.

"Raiden just needs some time to-" Sonya started to explain.

"I. Said. No." Cassie stopped her.

The glow returned to Cassie's body, and before she could do anything about it, Sonya found herself shoved through the portal by her own daughter.

"Cassie!" Shouted Johnny.

"What the hell?!" Asked Jax.

"She's right," argued Jacqui. "Sorry dad."

Jax soon learned what his daughter was apologizing for when she grabbed him by his jacket and hurled him through the portal.

Hanzo and Johnny were about to intervene, but Takeda took the cue and extended his whips, using them to wrap around the two's waists.

"Grandmaster Hasashi, Mr. Cage, I hope there's no hard feelings." He said before using his whips to throw them both through the portal as well.

That left Mokap and Vera, who Kai and Jin turned to, but quickly raised their hands in surrender.

"Easy kids, we're with you." Mokap explained.

"Yeah, Raiden crossed the line," Vera added. "Besides, if I'm here your dad might be a little less worried out of his mind, Jacqui."

Jacqui herself couldn't argue with the logic, and soon after, it became a moot point as the portal automatically closed once the 50 seconds were up.

She then began pressing some buttons on her gauntlet. "Ok, I've turned off our tracking so they won't be able to follow us."

"Wherever it is we're going…" added Kai, somewhat distantly as he was still processing Bo' Rai Cho's death.

"I apologize for not intervening," Emerald said to both her allies and the Earthrealmers as she walked over to rejoin Mileena's group. "That Thunder God's anger reminded me of Shao Kahn himself… I suppose I just froze. You have my condolences."

"It's not your fault." Kung Jin assured her.

"Now it's just up to us to figure out what to do next." Takeda reasoned.

"I'm not sure I would consider this the soundest course of action," chimed in Jade. "But I wish you all the best of luck."

"Hey, you're the one my dad said had the same glow power thing as us, right?" Cassie asked.

"Indeed," Jade confirmed. "Perhaps one day I can teach you how to better utilize your power. Unfortunately, I have a war to fight."

"Don't we all?" Jacqui sympathized.

"We all have burdens to bear." Added Eyota.

"Hold on a moment!" Shouted Tanya, marching over to the Earthrealmers with Mileena following behind whilst holding up Rain.

"You four!" She pointed at Cassie and her squad. "You're the ones who handed my beloved over to Kotal Kahn!"

"Tanya, calm down," suggested Jade. "I'm not entirely sure what happened, but I'm sure—"

"What I'm sure of is that they stood idly by while she was executed!" Tanya interrupted. "I… I almost lost her forever!"

"Tanya, please!" Pleaded Mileena. "The fault is my own…."

"Empress, that simply isn't true." Tanya argued.

"Had I not been arrogant enough to believe I could wield Shinnok's amulet, they would not have been in that situation to begin with," Mileena countered. "They were only trying to prevent my war from reaching their realm! Besides…."

She looked at Kai and Kung Jin. "Who am I to cast judgment when your mentor died defending me."

"Listen," requested Cassie. "That's really nice of you to say, especially considering… the last time we saw each other. But we deserve some of the responsibility."

"We didn't step in to stop D'Vorah," Jacqui continued for her. "That's on us."

"But you did stop her from killing my dearest Tanya, and my good friend Rain," Mileena pointed out. "For that, I am forever grateful."

"They did?" Rain asked. "Oh, right. We were unconscious."

"Hush now, you need to rest," advised Tanya, before returning her attention to the Earthrealmers. "Thank you…" she managed to say after a few moments.

"Whatever journey lies ahead, face it together," Jade advised. "Trust in each other."

They all nodded in response.

"You are honorable souls," Eyota complimented. "We wish you luck in your struggle against Kotal Kahn."

"Thank you." Mileena replied.

"So uhh…. are you a vampire?" Mokap asked Mileena offhandedly, pointing at his own teeth to signify what he was talking about.

Mileena chuckled. "No, but I'm friends with one."

"Huh…" Mokap responded.

"Empress Mileena, perhaps it would be best for us to regroup," Emerald suggested. "It has been… a day."

Mileena nodded. "You're right."

"Here, allow me." Rain offered.

Mileena cautiously let go of him, waiting a few moments to confirm that Rain had recovered enough to stand on his own. Soon after, Rain summoned forth a water portal leading to the rebellion's base.

"Ladies first." He offered.

His allies waved goodbye to the Earthrealmers before entering the portal. Rain himself followed, and soon after the water portal closed.

"Woah…" said Mokap in reaction to the Edenian's power.

"Well that was…. something." Added Vera. "Wasn't another fight though, so I'm calling it a positive."

"It was closure on a mistake," Takeda suggested. "Something we needed.

Noticeably absent from the conversation was Cassie, who has turned her attention elsewhere.

"Cass, you alright?" Jacqui asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"No," Cassie answered honestly. "But that's not what this is about. Listen, do you hear that?"

Jacqui focused and managed to pick up the same sound in the distance that had caught Cassie's attention. "Yeah…. sounds almost like…. lasers?"

Takeda began trying to scan with his telepathic powers. "I'm picking up some minds, but… a lot of them are… incomplete, almost. Only two are really coming in all that clearly."

"Two people that need help, I'm guessing." Suggested Cassie.

"Another adventure already?" Mokap asked.

"That's kinda how it is." Jin explained.

"Well, it'll take some getting used to…" Mokap responded, understandably worried about what dangers might lie ahead.

The source of the laser sound was in truth the Tekunin footsoldiers chasing the recently escaped Frost and Sektor.

Frost ran as fast as she could to get away from the cyborgs, while Sektor turned his head and a full 360 degrees in order to fire back at that then with his laser cannon. Though a few of the pursuers were shot down, they remained numerous and seemingly unshakable.

Matters were made worse when several of the cyborgs teleported themselves in front of Frost and Sektor, cutting off their path and gradually beginning to surround them.

"You have any ideas?" Frost asked her ally

"[Calculating] If we survive a few more seconds, I might." Sektor answered.

It was seeming like they wouldn't have a few more seconds, until several of the cyborgs were pierced by bullets, and a few by flaming arrows, and others by arrows that glowed green.

The cyborgs looked over at a nearby canyon, as did Frost and Sektor. Above them were Cassie and the rest of the group.

The cyborgs prepared to fire on the group, but Jacqui activated the electric charge on her gauntlets and then leaped down. When she hit the ground in a manner akin to a superhero landing, a blast of electricity was sent out that short-circuited all of the cyborgs within a ten foot radius or so.

The ones further away began to fire, but Jacqui activated her arm-mounted forcefield quickly enough to deflect their blasts.

The others were quick to join the fray. Cassie activated her glow and ran down the side of the canyon at impressive speeds, tackling down a cyborg directly in her path using the power. Kung Jin fired an arrow with a rope attached to it into the rock face on the opposite side, then used his bow to slide down like a zip line, kicking the nearest cyborg as he landed.

"Show off." Kai commented with a smirk as the rest of the group was telekinetically lifted down by Mokap, who soon after did the same for himself.

Takeda began tearing through cyborgs with his whips while Kai and Mokap used their respective powers to augment their physical strikes, making them decently a match for the cyborgs. Eyota made good use of her tomahawks while Vera ducked behind her daughter's forcefield and started taking shots, the bullets having little effect on the cyborgs' armor, but keeping them at bay when combined with the general mayhem of the situation.

Cassie punched and kicked her way through a few cyborgs with her green energy powers, before making her way over to Frost and Sektor.

"Cassie?!" Frost asked, entirely baffled at seeing her at this time and place. "What are you guys doing here?!"

"Long and messed up story," Cassie answered. "Same as you I imagine."

"More or less," Frost admitted. "Thanks for the save."

"Anytime," Cassie assured her. "Circumstances aside, it's great to see you aagin! You look good."

Frost wasn't sure how to respond to the sudden compliment, and quickly started realizing that she didn't have a mask on to hide her blushing, so restored to shooting out freezing blasts at oncoming cyborgs while Cassie took out her pistols and started firing on the attackers, Sektor's laser cannon providing additional support.

"Hey, no aimbot!" Cassie joked.

"Huh?" Frost responded.

"You don't play many video games, do you?" Cassie asked.

"Umm… our old temple had a Super Nintendo…." Frost answered.

"Retro, I dig it," Cassie complimented. "Seriously though, who's the Crimson Dynamo?"

"[Information] I am Sektor," the cyborg answered. "[Assumption] You have likely heard of me as an enemy. [Assurance] I am not your enemy in this situation."

"Otherwise you'd be leading the evil cyborgs," Cassie guessed. "I've had my fair share of sorted company today, not about to pick a fight with you. Besides, Frosty seems to trust you."

"Yeah we've…. learned to understand each other." Frost confirmed.

"Cool," replied Cassie. "So any idea on how to get out of here?"

"Was kind of hoping you guys would have one." Frost admitted.

The group continued to battle their way through cyborgs, silently deciding to figure out their next move after dealing with the enemy forces.

Luckily for them, they'd receive help.

A small squadron of Lin Kuei suddenly descended into the canyon. Leading the charge was Sub-Zero himself, his lower arms covered by ice to smash through the Tekunin cyborgs with brute force. To either side of him was Sleet and Chloe, Frost's training partners and friends.

In addition to the martial arts he had learned from Sub-Zero, Sleet was also a Cryomancer like his mentor and friend, although his abilities were fairly underdeveloped. Rather than summoning ice, he could only manage snow, which he used to his advantage in blinding his opponents with the miniature snowstorms he was able to create.

Chloe by contrast had no powers, but had grown a liking towards the advanced technology that had been salvaged from the Cyber Lin Kuei. Underneath her uniform she wore gauntlets with hidden blades that were able to extend for melee combat, as well as become charged with electricity, a modification she had made after the Tekunin's attack on the Lin Kuei.

Closer to the back of the Lin Kuei assault force was Cyrax, slicing through enemy cyborgs with his green pulse blade. He wasn't the only one sticking out from the crowd, as soon behind him were Sareena, Ashrah, and Stryker. Ashrah joined Cyrax in taking down enemy combatants with bladework, while Sareena and Stryker blasted through their foes, the former with sorcery and the latter with his hellfire-enhanced pistol.

With their combined combat skill, it was only a matter of time before the group successfully managed to defeat all of the Tekunin cyborgs.

Once that was done, Sub-Zero dissipated the ice around his arms and changed priority to reunions.

"Frost!" He said happily, embracing her in a hug. "I feared that I had lost you. It is a miracle that you were able to escape unharmed."

"Umm… that's…. not entirely true." Frost confessed.

Sub-Zero stepped back and finally got a look at her cybernetically augmented eyes, as well as the lines across her arms denoting the surgery that had enhanced her strength.

"Worry not, Frost," he assured, placing a firm hand on her shoulder. "What was done to you does not change who you are. You were fortunate to escape when you did."

"Not without help." Frost admitted.

"Well I'll be…" said Cyrax as he walked over to take a look at Sektor. "See old friend, you've still got a heart after all."

"[Embarassment] Our alliance was mutually beneficial." Sektor explained.

"I can imagine," Cyrax acknowledged. "They really did a number on you…"

"[Hate] Not they. Him," Sektor cryptically corrected. "[Information] There is much we must discuss, Kuai Liang. [Reasoning] Likely better suited for after we have returned to Earthrealm."

"Yeah, how are you guys just jumping realms now?" Kung Jin questioned.

"A gift from our Cryomancer ancestors," Sub-Zero explained. "I must admit Kung Jin, I am surprised to see you and your team here. As well as you, Vera, and two others I have not met."

Kai cleared his throat. "It's a… long story."

Sub-Zero understood not to pry and merely nodded. "Well, I hope you return safely to the Special Forces."

"We're not going back." Cassie clarified.

"Part of that 'long story'." Jacqui explained.

"Let me guess," Stryker chimed in. "Something to do with Raiden?"

"And we have a winner," said Mokap. "Say, you look like a cop, not a ninja."

"Kurtis Stryker, NYPD," he introduced himself. "At your service."

"My husband fought alongside a Stryker during the invasion…" Vera recalled. "First Jade and now you too?"

"You guys ran into Jade?" Stryker asked. "How's she doing? I know this civil war mess can't be easy."

"Seemed alright last we saw." Answered Takeda.

"If you don't mind my asking," said Sareena. "If you don't plan to return to the Special Forces, where will you go?"

"They could come up with us!" Frost suggested a tiny bit too excitedly. "We could find room for them, right Sifu?"

Sub-Zero put his hand to his chin. "I believe we could accommodate them, yes. A very thoughtful suggestion, Frost."

"Your generosity humbles us, Lin Kuei." Added Eyota.

"Yeah," agreed Cassie, sparing her a warm smile. "Seriously, thanks."

"N-No problem…" Frost replied, smiling back somewhat awkwardly.

Sub-Zero concentrated, and through the mystical power of his grandfather's armor, activated the

ice portal that would transport the Lin Kuei to their base in Arctika.

"Here, I'll take him." offered Cyrax, unfastening Sektor from his makeshift harness and carrying him for later repair.

The load being taken off her back evidently left Frost open to surprise hugs from either side courtesy of Sleet and Chloe.

"So glad you're ok!" Said Sleet.

"We were all worried sick about you," Chloe added. "Sifu especially."

"Don't worry guys," she assured them. "I'm back."

Though given everything she had learned, she wasn't sure what that entailed just yet.

Frost got out of her own head when she took note of the other Lin Kuei filing through the portal, along with the clan's three senior houseguests.

The Lin Kuei's newest guests were understandably wary after everything they'd gone through on this day alone. But they knew they were among friends, and that was enough to convince them to take this next step.

And they were hardly the only ones shaken by this day. Elsewhere in Outworld, Mileena and her entourage returned to their base of operations. Mileena made a beeline for her room. Sensing her distress, Tanya was quick to follow.

When she walked in, she found Mileena staring into a wall-mounted mirror, holding an all too familiar piece of fabric in her hands.

"Beloved, are you alright?" Tanya asked.

"No." Mileena answered honestly. Every word Kitana had said still rang in her mind. She knew it wasn't her sister's true self, but it stung all the same.

Tanya walked over and placed a hand on Mileena's arm.

"You don't need to wear that anymore," she assured her. "Listen to me. You are beautiful, and anyone who says otherwise is lying."

Mileena moved her arm away. "It isn't about that… I… I'll be fine, Tanya."

"Mileena, you can talk to me." Tanya reminded her.

Mileena silently placed her veil over her mouth. "I know. When I'm ready to talk, I'll let you know."

Tanya nodded, deciding to give Mileena some privacy for the moment.

Before she left the room, she paused.

"I love you, Mileena."

Mileena turned back and nodded.

Just as Tanya was about to leave, Mileena quickly went over to her, lowered her veil, and gave Tanya a quick kiss, a form of nonverbal reassurance that she was going to be alright.

"I love you too, my dearest Tanya."

The turmoil Mileena felt was strangely mirrored in the intense storm that hung over the Wu Shi Temple in Earthrealm, creating a perfect backdrop for the red lightning strike that signaled Raiden's arrival.

In his arms, the Thunder God carried the deceased body of Bo' Rai Cho. His face was solemn and grim as he marched toward the temple's mausoleum, intending to give his friend a proper Shaolin resting place.

As Raiden walked, the eyes of dozens of nearby Shaolin monks who had been mediating peacefully prior to his arrival fell on him.

And one very angry set of eyes in particular.

Out of the corner of his eye, Raiden saw a blue flame being lit. It wasn't long before he registered Liu Chow coming in to attack him.

"MURDERER!" The Shaolin screamed as he charged forward.

Raiden was seemingly oblivious at first, placing Bo' Rai Cho's body down in front of the mausoleum. He then raised his palm and shot out a blast of lightning that sent Liu Chow flying back and crashing into a rack holding wooden staves the Shaolin used for training.

It wasn't long before the winds strengthened and Fujin had arrived on the scene. He landed right in front of Bo' Rai Cho's body and took one horrified look at it before giving that same look to Raiden.

"What have you done?!" Fujin demanded.

"Give him a proper funeral," Raiden commanded. "It is the least he deserves. I must prepare Earthrealm's defense for the coming conflict."

Raiden turned to leave. He wouldn't admit it, but he was too ashamed to even look at his brother another moment. He knew that he had failed. Again. And again one of the people closest to him had paid for it. He had no other choice now, he had to prepare for war. He had to—

"RAIDEN!"

He turned back to look at his brother once more.

"Are you trying to save Earthrealm or redeem yourself?"

Raiden didn't answer, merely disappearing in another flash of lightning.

And he was not the only one certain of what was to come next…

The Earthrealm attackers having departed, Kotal Kahn gathered his court around him to deliver his plans.

"This brazen and heinous attack by Earthrealm has left us no other choice!" He announced. "Outworld must prepare for war!"

No one decided to point out that they were already in a war, figuring it would only anger the current emperor further.

"Karbrac, Motaro, and Queen Sheeva, I ask that you prepare the armies of Outworld for the coming battle," Kotal requested. "I will organize the Osh-Tekk people myself. Ruby and Erron Black are to serve as my guard."

Kotal got out of his throne and began leaving the room.

"Where are you going, oh mighty emperor?" Kollector asked, hoping that Kotal would fail to catch the sarcasm in his voice.

"To my chambers." Kotal answered, leaving the room before he could be questioned further.

Once reaching his chambers, Kotal Kahn curiously chose to lock the doors behind him.

He waited for a moment, before a sudden orange light burst into the room.

Strangely, not one Kotal registered as a threat.

"Opposition to my rule grows even stronger," Kotal explained to another party. "Now even Raiden seems to overthrow me. Overcoming both he and Mileena will be a great challenge."

"Fear not, Kotal," advised a voice. "In the end, the true ruler of Outworld will prevail. The Elder Gods chose you to guide this realm. Do not begin to doubt them now."

Kotal nodded. "Of course, forgive me. I am just… stressed."

"All great leaders feel stress." The voice assured him.

"You are right," Kotal conceded. "Thank you…."

"...Damashi."