Disclaimer: I do not own Mortal Kombat or any of its characters. All rights belong to Ed Boon, Nether Realm Studios, and Warner Bros.
Kurai vs. Shang Tsung & Quan Chi...
Kurai begins the fight by launching his steel kunai towards Shang Tsung's leg, which causes the sorcerer to shout in pain before Kurai yanks back the kunai and pulls Shang Tsung towards him.
As the sorcerer comes towards him, Kurai kicks him in the head and knocks him back down to the ground before yanking the kunai out of his leg then glares at the pale sorcerer, Quan Chi. Shang Tsung groans in pain while holding his leg as Kurai and Quan Chi slowly walk towards each other.
"Ok, Kurai. You're worn out, but you're not out of the fight yet. Do what you can to take these two creeps down, and do it quickly, and Earth Realm is golden. But you've got to be quick." Kurai thinks to himself as he and Quan Chi get closer to each other with glares on their faces.
"Know that I'm going to take great pleasure in breaking you, prince, before I turn you over to Shao Kahn." Quan Chi says to him angrily, which only makes Kurai smirk.
"You have to defeat me first if you intend to do that, Quan Chi. But you and I both know how our last fight went, so, let's see if you can back up your claim." The Edenian prince defiantly says to the sorcerer before dashing towards him with a hard strike to the pale mans face before sweeping his legs out from under him.
Quan Chi lands roughly on his back, which causes the wind to be knocked out of him as Kurai lifts his leg over his head then quickly lowers it down to kick the sorcerers head into the ground. But Quan Chi quickly rolls out of the way in a panic to get away from Kurai. Glaring at Quan Chi, Kurai follows after him with deadly intent, but quickly dodges to the side when he felt Shang Tsung rushing up behind him.
After dodging, Kurai blocks a few swift strikes from the bearded sorcerer, but then kicks his knee before targeting his wounded leg with his kunai, which causes Shang Tsung to cry out in pain. Kurai then roughly kicks Shang Tsung away from him just as Quan Chi launches a flaming green skull at Kurai, who, just like the previous tournament, stops it with his bare hand. He then morphs the skull once again into a white flaming phoenix then launches it straight at Quan Chi, who had enough sense to get out of the way of the attacks trajectory as it explosively impacts into the ground.
The massive explosion shakes the entire Coliseum as a shockwave sends the crowd backwards into their seats. The crowd all look at each other briefly before looking back at the arena then lets out an explosive cheer of excitement.
Kitana looks into the massive smoke cloud desperately to find any trace of Kurai, hoping the he is still alive, but then snaps her gaze over at Liu Kang when she sees him coming up to her slowly. "Liu Kang, what do you think you're doing?" She asks him quietly while cautiously glancing in Shao Kahn's direction to make sure he is not looking in their direction.
Liu Kang presses a finger to his lips to shush her before trying to figure out a way to get the princess out of the chains holding her. "I'm getting you out of here. As long as Shao Kahn is holding you against your will, he'll have leverage over Kurai. And I won't allow that." He answers her with a whisper as the smoke from the explosion just now begins to disappear.
As the smoke gets clearer and clearer the crowd and all the fighters see that Quan Chi, while managing to avoid the blast, is now lying down face first in the dirt of the Coliseum groaning in pain. Shang Tsung crawls away backwards from Kurai as he walks up to Quan Chi.
Shaking his head slightly, Quan Chi turns his head in Kurai's direction to see him walking towards him with a calm expression on his face. The pale sorcerer tries to get up quickly to defend himself against the prince, but was not quick enough as Kurai had reached him and struck him across his face and rendered him unconscious due to his weakened state.
Shang Tsung, after crawling away from Kurai a good distance, managed to get back to his feet and used his ability to turn into other fighters to hopefully surprise Kurai and catch him off guard as he morphs into Scorpion and launches a flame covered kunai at him.
"GET OVER HERE!!!" He shouts as the kunai shoots towards Kurai, but to everyone's shock, Kurai grabs the blazing hot kunai with his hand without looking before turning his gaze towards the sorcerer, who is still currently in the form of Scorpion, with a menacing glare.
"Just like Silva, Shang Tsung. All those souls you take and as well as their abilities, and yet you're just as weak as he is. If not weaker." He says to him as Shang Tsung glares with Scorpion's eyes and makes the kunai hotter as more flames burst to life, but this only makes Kurai smirk slyly. "Shang Tsung, nothing burns hotter than phoenix fire." He says to him before yanking Shang Tsung towards him.
The sorcerer flies through the air towards Kurai before the prince punches him in the face then kicks him sending him down roughly to the ground. Kurai then walks up to Shang Tsung, now in his normal form, and looks down at the beaten sorcerer as he glares up at him. "Stay down, Shang Tsung, it's over." Kurai says to him coldly before looking up at Shao Kahn with a glare.
KURAI WINS!
Kurai then walks over to the throne as Shao Kahn seethes over the princes victory before grabbing his war hammer and rises to his feet then walks down the steps of his coliseum throne but stops just before his feet touch the dirt. "Hmph, you may have won, Kurai, but I still have your sister at my mercy." He warns him, but Kurai just scoffs.
"Don't be so sure about that, Shao Kahn." He says smugly before pointing in the direction of where Kitana was being held. Shao Kahn looks over in the direction Kurai points to before his eyes widen with rage as he snaps his gaze back towards the fighters to find Kitana only to see her running in Raiden's direction with Liu Kang holding her hand.
Snapping snap his gaze back towards Kurai with a menacing glare, Shao Kahn shouts. "YOU TREACHEROUS EDENIAN SCUM!!!" He yells angrily while raising his war hammer before swinging wildly.
CLANG!
Shao Kahn swings his weapon at Kurai, which manages to hit the prince while in his weakened and exhausted state, and sends the warrior prince through the air before landing roughly on the ground and sliding on his back before he crashes roughly into the wall on the other side of the Coliseum.
Unconscious, Kurai lies still on his back on the Coliseum ground as dead silence fell throughout the entire area. Kitana and Jade, witnessing Kurai being hit and flying through the air, both gasp in shock before trying to run desperately towards him to see if he's still alive, but Smoke and Liu Kang stops the both of them before they managed to get far.
Kitana struggles in Liu Kang's arms while shouting and screaming in desperation. "Let go of me! I have to get to him! Let me go! I can't lose him! LET! ME! GO!!!" She shouts as she and Jade struggle against Liu Kang and Smoke to try and get to Kurai.
Shao Kahn, with a cold expression, walks up to the unconscious Edenian prince with Kitana and Jade shouting in the distance while raising the war hammer over his head. "Farewell, Prince Kurai. You should've just joined us. Say hello to your mother for me." The Outworld emperor says coldly as he swings down his hammer to kill the warrior prince.
As the hammer came closer to Kurai's head he suddenly hears a familiar melodic voice he hasn't heard for centuries. "Wake up, Kurai!" The voice says to him loudly, which causes him to snap his eyes open and catch Shao Kahn's hammer before it crushes his head.
Catching the hammer, Kurai glares up at the Outworld emperor while the large man glares back at him furiously. Kahn presses the hammer down to try and overpower Kurai, but the prince barely budges as they both continue to glare at one another and try to overpower each other.
Over with Raiden's group, Liu Kang manages to hold Kitana back long enough for him get in front of her and run towards Kurai and Shao Kahn before jumping into the air with a flying kick to the emperor. Kahn gets knocked away from Kurai and drops his hammer before quickly getting back up to glare at Liu Kang.
Liu Kang, keeping his eyes on Kahn, stands in front of Kurai to guard him. "Kurai, are you alright my friend?" He asks him as Kurai struggles to stand up while Kitana, Jade and the rest of Raiden's warriors run over to the exhausted prince.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Liu Kang. Thanks for the save." Kurai answers as Kitana and Jade both hug him tightly while quietly weeping and whispering their thanks to Liu Kang for saving him.
Liu Kang just smiles and chuckles lightly. "Don't worry about it. We're a team. We all look out for each other. Now let me take it from here." He says to the prince while preparing to fight the Outworld emperor, but Kurai shakes his head.
"No, no. I can still fight." He says to him while trying to stand up, but his legs begin to feel wobbly before collapsing back down to the ground. He quietly curses under his breath for allowing Shao Kahn to get the drop on him and tries to stand up again, but Kitana and Jade hold him down to prevent him from standing.
"Kurai, please. You're in no condition to fight anymore. If you fight Shao Kahn now, you'll die. And I don't want to lose you. Not again." Kitana says to him pleadingly as she looks at him with tears in her eyes. Kurai looks at his sister then over at Jade, who nods with an equally worried expression, then at Liu Kang, who still kept his steely gaze on Shao Kahn.
Liu Kang sighs deeply. "Kurai, you're a strong warrior and you've held your own beautifully during this tournament, but Kitana's right. You're in no condition anymore to fight." He says to the prince with regret in his tone before finally looking back at him with a smile. "Now let someone else take over from here. You've pulled your weight long enough in this." He tells his friend with a hopeful tone.
Kurai, panting and breathing heavily, looks over at his friends, who each nods individually in agreement with Liu Kang, before looking at Raiden, who also nods. The prince then lets out a deep sigh before looking back up at the Shaolin monk and nods. "Alright, Liu Kang. You can take over from here, but be careful. The bastard doesn't know how to fight honorably. So don't expect him to." He warns Liu Kang, who nods before looking back at Shao Kahn with a fiery glare while Cage and Kitana help Kurai to his feet and walk over away from the fight that was about to take place.
Liu Kang vs. Shao Kahn...
"You tried to kill Kurai through dishonorable means, and you used his sister to try and gain a foothold on him. That all stops today, Shao Kahn." Liu Kang says to the emperor, which only makes Kahn smirk.
"Don't try to lecture me, boy. I kill who I want when I want. The weak die and the strong survive." He says to the monk, who frowns deeply at the comment.
He then thought about what Kurai had said to him about how Shao Kahn doesn't know how to fight with honor, so he shouldn't expect him to. Gaining a steely gaze, Liu Kang nods with conviction. "Alright then, Shao Kahn, if that's how you want to do this, we'll play by your rules." He says simply before rushing the emperor with a sharp jab to his gut.
Kahn briefly stumbles back from the air knocked out of him, but plants his feet firmly into the ground and glares at the young warrior monk. "I AM SHAO KAHN, THE EMPEROR OF OUTWORLD!!! THE CONQUEROR OF WORLDS!!! YOU'LL TASTE NO VICTORY HERE, LIU KANG!!! YOU'RE NOTHING COMPARED TO ME!!!" He shouts angrily at Liu Kang with wild strikes to the monk, but Liu Kang dodges them with ease before landing a spinning heel kick to the emperors head.
Kahn shakes his head and regains his balance before gazing at Liu Kang with a seething glare then roars furiously while charging him. He attacks Liu Kang with wild but experienced strikes which the monk manages to block, but fails to block a devastating right hook from the emperor that stuns him and lose balance.
Kahn continues his onslaught by relentlessly attacking Liu Kang's face and torso until bloody bumps and bruises begin to form on the young monk's body. Liu Kang stumbles back and glares at Kahn who only smirks as he walks towards the Shaolin monk. "I told you, boy. You're nothing compared to me. Earth Realm could never produce worthy or competent warriors. Case in point that worthless fool ,Percival Silva, and your weak ancestor, the so called "great" Kung Lao." He says to the warrior monk.
Liu Kang looks away and spits blood out of his mouth before looking back at the emperor. "What about Outworld?" He asks, which causes Kahn to stop in his tracks and narrow his eyes.
"Excuse me?"
Liu Kang smirks and continues. "You heard me. You really think Outworld has any worthy or competent warriors compared to Earth Realm? You have the likes of Shang Tsung and Qualm Chi who are both powerful sorcerers, yes, but they're completely incompetent as fighters. I fought Shang Tsung in the previous tournament and he lost. The only reason why he almost defeated me in the first place is because of interference from Quan Chi. Speaking of which, Kurai fought against Quan Chi and even he lost. They both may be powerful sorcerers, but they're not warriors. And yet, you say that Earth Realm doesn't have worthy warriors, when in fact, Outworld just doesn't measure up."
Kahn seethes in anger from being reminded of Shang Tsung's failure in the previous tournament, but for Liu Kang to insult his empire to his face was beyond unforgivable for him. So he breathes deeply before glaring dangerously at Liu Kang while walking towards him again. "You just sealed your fate, foolish monk. I'm going to take great pleasure in killing you before I take over your home realm." He says to Liu Kang coldly before suddenly rushing towards him.
Liu Kang dodges Kahn's attack just in time before punching his throat, blocking the air from going into his lungs, before kicking him devastatingly in the side. Kahn gets knocked back and glares before shouting wildly then tries to attack Liu Kang again, but the Shaolin monk dodges each attack with some effort before kicking in Kahn's knee. Kahn groans as he stands back up. "Time for you to taste your own blood, Shao Kahn. On your feet!" Liu Kang shouts as Kahn stands up while his fist glows brightly with a fiery glow.
"You'll never... be rid of me... mortal. You can try... all you want... to kill me... but I'll just... keep coming back. You think you've... won here? Hah! You're not... even close." Kahn wheezes with each breath while looking at Liu Kang with an arrogant smirk.
Liu Kang just glares at the emperor with his fist raised. "For the Shaolin and Earth Realm!" He shouts loudly before driving his burning, glowing fist through Kahn's chest. Blood flows out from the emperor's mouth before Liu Kang pulls out his fist as Kahn's body falls backwards to the ground with a loud thud.
LIU KANG WINS! FATALITY!
Shang Tsung looks at Liu Kang and Shao Kahn's limp body in shock, not believing that Liu Kang had won against the emperor of Outworld. "I... I cannot believe it...! Earth Realm... has won...!" He quietly whispers with disbelief in his tone.
A golden light suddenly shines down on Liu Kang, which causes the Earth Realm warriors and the denizens of Outworld to witness the crowning of the champion.
"The Elder Gods have spoken. Earth Realm is free of Shao Kahn forever." Raiden spoke as Shang Tsung, recovered from his initial shock, motions his head at the Tarkatans standing nearby to pick up the fallen emperors body and take it away.
Raiden takes off his amulet and sees that it has cracked again instead of repairing itself. The thunder god sighs deeply with a shake of his head. "As I thought, even though Shao Kahn is defeated, the future has not yet changed." He quietly says to himself as he looks up to Kurai, who was being helped by Kitana and Jade as they walked over to Liu Kang. "Perhaps if I had not been so foolish and arrogant in allowing Kurai to fight in our stead the whole tournament, perhaps he would have had enough energy to defeat Shao Kahn and the outcome would be different. But the past is past now, all we can do now is move forward."
Kurai, with Kitana and Jade's help, walked over to Liu Kang with a smile. "Somehow this doesn't surprise me. I do all the work and you end up with all the glory." He says with a chuckle, causing Liu Kang and the others to laugh.
Liu Kang shrugs with a smile. "Sorry my friend, truly. This WAS supposed to be your moment after all, but I couldn't stand by and let you die. I could never live with myself if I allowed that to happen." He says to him as Kurai smiles in return and holds out a hand, which Liu Kang takes happily.
"I get it, Liu Kang. Thanks for having my back." He gently says to the warrior monk, who nods in thanks. "Plus, if you had let me fight Shao Kahn and I died, Kitana would never let you hear the end of it." He continues jokingly, causing the others to laugh again while Kitana, and Jade, both nod their heads at that fact.
They all look to their right when they see Goro, Sheeva, and Baraka walk over to them. Goro walks up to Liu Kang first and bows respectfully. "Well done, Shoalin monk. You've proven again how capable a warrior you are." He tells Liu Kang, who nods with a smile as Kurai looks at both Shokan warriors, who then bow respectfully to him.
"And you, Prince Kurai, very, very well done. If you didn't prove yourself a capable warrior before, you certainly have today." Sheeva says to him with an almost proud tone. Goro nods in agreement which makes Kurai smile and nod his head.
"Thank you, Sheeva. And I would like to thank you both again for guarding me during the tournaments recess. I'm indebted to you for that." He says to both Shokan gratefully, but both Shokan warriors wave it off.
"Think nothing of it. It was our pleasure." Goro says to him as Kurai nods before bowing respectfully to both Shokan while the others did the same. As most of the groups begins to walk away towards Raiden to prepare to return to Earth Realm, Kurai notices Baraka still standing in his spot staring at him.
He painfully walks over to him as Jade and Kitana continue to help him. He nears the Tarkatan warrior and stops just in front of him. "Something on your mind, Baraka?" He asks him curiously, but Baraka doesn't answer at first.
He then shakes his head. "No. I'm just... curious about something." He answers honestly, causing Kurai to look at him curiously.
"And that is?" He asks.
"You've defeated me twice and spared me both times. Why? We're enemies, not allies. Why spare an enemy that could kill you someday?" Baraka asks the prince curiously, wondering why he hasn't killed him yet, even though he's more than capable of doing so.
Not even needing to think about his answer, Kurai gives Baraka his answer. "We may be enemies now, Baraka, but that doesn't mean we always have to be. I don't kill unless I'm given a good reason to. So just do yourself a favor, Baraka, and don't give me a reason. Other than that, I don't kill those that I want to build future relations with." He says to him sincerely with his hand held out, waiting for Baraka to shake his hand.
After thinking about Kurai's answer, Baraka nods then takes Kurai's hand in his own and shakes it before walking away with the rest of the Outworld warriors.
After a few moments of walking back over to Raiden and the rest of the group, Kurai looks at Raiden with a tired smile. "Problems, Kurai?" The thunder god asks him with concern, but Kurai shakes his head gently.
"No, Raiden. No problems." He answers honestly before remembering something important. "Wait. Raiden, what happened to Jax? And where's Sonya? Are they alright?" He asks him with concern as Raiden takes a moment to think.
"Sonya is fine. We managed to rescue her early during the tournament. But Jax... He and Sonya had an encounter with the one called Ermac. Jax... lost his arms during the fight, which caused them to withdraw from the tournament and escape from Outworld. Jax still lives, but is gravely injured." He tells him and the others somberly as Kurai looks at him with a shocked expression before nodding in understanding.
Realizing that no one had anything more to say or ask, Raiden teleports him and the rest of the group safely back to Earth Realm and the Wu Shi Academy.
Wu Shi temple, Earth Realm, Hours later...
Back at the Wu Shi temple, after Smoke had parted ways with the group to look for Sub-Zero, nighttime had arrived after the long day that the entire group had had in Outworld. The remaining group was in the Wu Shi temple feasting after another victory for Earth Realm with the other monks. The group talked amongst themselves laughing, telling jokes and stories of their lives in light of their many near death experiences during the tournament.
"No, Cage. There is no way you said that to that girl." Kurai says to Cage who laughs while putting a grape in his mouth and nodding.
"Actually, I did. I was far worse with my flirts back then compared to now." He answers Kurai while continuing to laugh.
Laughing at Cage's story with a shake of his head, Kurai dreads his next question. "I think I already know the answer to this, but did it work?" He asks the Hollywood star curiously with an amused expression, which makes the man burst with laughter as Liu Kang, Kung Lao, and a few other monks all listen in.
"Of course not! Are you crazy? The girl slapped me, called me a pig, and walked off." He answers before laughing heartily as the others burst with laughter from the story as they continue to drink and feast.
On the other side of the room, Raiden stands in a corner with a smile on his face as he watches the group chat with each other. But two women had not yet joined in on the festivities. They sit a good distance away, but stayed close enough to keep an eye on Kurai.
Kitana and Jade, while both happy that they were out from under Shao Kahn's heel, they both felt out of place with the group and Earth Realm. "Should we go? We... We don't exactly... fit in here." Jade asks Kitana curiously, but the princess doesn't have an answer.
She looks in Jade's direction and shrugs. "Where would we go? We don't know this realm as well as Kurai does. He's practically been here his whole life, and we both have missed out on it." She tells her green clad friend, who nods in understanding. "I won't tell you what to do, Jade, but I'm not leaving him. You and he are the only family I have left." She continues before looking in Kurai's direction, who continued to talk and laugh with the rest of the group and the Wu Shi monks as they traded multiple different jokes and stories.
"And I don't want to lose him when I am just now getting him back. And I don't want to lose you either, Jade. So, please... stay with us." She pleads with her friend while looking at her again.
Understanding what Kitana was saying, Jade looks over at Kurai for a moment before looking back at her lifelong friend and sister in arms. She smiles and nods before embracing Kitana in a tight hug. Kitana hugs her back as they both sigh contentedly before looking back at Kurai.
"Believe me, Kitana, even if I did leave, I doubt I would stay away for long. Besides, I couldn't stay away from Kurai even if I wanted to. He's become... so much more than the boy I once knew." She tells her friend, who glances at her subtly with a sly grin on her face before looking back at her little brother, who had looked over at them and smiled before resuming his conversation with the others.
Back in Outworld...
Outworlds warriors, including Sektor and Cyrax, all gathered in Shao Kahn's throne room after his defeat to discuss what should be done next.
"Shao Kahn is finished." Goro began causing all the others standing in the room with him to nod.
"Mileena is his heir. She should rule." Baraka spoke next voicing his thoughts on the matter, but the others didn't seem to like the idea. Mileena was practically a new born. Allowing her to rule this early would be like gifting an infant with their first weapon only to hurt themselves because they don't know how to properly use it.
Shang Tsung scoffs at the notion and begins to brush it off. "Please, Baraka. Mileena? She exists only because of my sorcery." He says to the Tarkatan, which only makes the warrior grit his teeth at his suggestion being shut down while Mileena glares at the sorcerer furiously.
"And you only continue to breathe because I restrain mine." A deep voice says off on the other side of the throne room causes the others to turn around in shock to see Shao Kahn, still alive, walking into the throne room with Quan Chi walking closely beside him.
"Emperor! You live!" Sheeva gasps in shock before she and the others bow low as the revived emperor walks towards them.
"I am not so easily killed, Sheeva. Quan Chi accelerated my recovery." Kahn says to the female Shokan as he walks over to his throne.
"Emperor, I-" Shang Tsung began to say, but was instantly interrupted by an infuriated Shao Kahn.
"Not. One. Word. Because of you, Outworld can no longer merge with Earth Realm!" Kahn snaps his fiery gaze in the sorcerers direction as Shang Tsung lowers his head to avoid the emperor's eyes.
Quan Chi then steps up in front of the two men and clears his throat. "Ahem. Lord Shao Kahn, if I may. There may yet be an alternative." He began as Kahn looks over at the pale sorcerer with a curious expression.
Quan Chi just smiles. "Invasion."
"What?! Invasion?!" Shang Tsung asks incredulously as the others in the room, specifically Goro, Sheeva, and Baraka, weren't sure if they liked the idea as they began to chat quietly about the idea. To invade Earth Realm without the victory of a Mortal Kombat tournament goes against every code and rule the Elder Gods put in place. To defy that is to defy the Elder Gods.
Kahn raises his hand to silence his warriors before looking back at Quan Chi. "Do you mean to mock me, Quan Chi? Sindel's Ward prevents me from setting foot in Earth Realm." He explains with an exasperated tone as Quan Chi continues to smile.
"Have you ever considered why your wife and empress chose to betray you in this particular fashion?" He asks Kahn curiously, which causes the revived emperor to scoff in annoyance.
"Of course. But even after millennia, her motives are still a mystery to me." He explains to the sorcerer before continuing his the path to his throne. He finally reaches it and plops down with a relaxed groan as Quan Chi walks to the foot of the throne.
"She realized, my lord, that the safeguards afforded by the Elder Gods through Mortal Kombat are but fiction." He begins to explain. "She sacrificed herself to give the protection the Elder Gods could not. So Earth Realm could not suffer as had Edenia."
"Indeed." Kahn nods in acknowledgement.
"I have mastered the spells necessary for her resurrection. Her ward will be nullified. And with it the barrier that prevents your entry into Earth Realm." Quan Chi continues as he explains to Kahn what will happen once Sindel is revived. "I will return her to you, of course. You will find her much more... cooperative when she returns."
Kahn looks uncertain for a moment before looking at the Nether Realm sorcerer. "This is a very... magnanimous offer, Quan Chi. What do you expect in return for doing this?" He asks Quan Chi with an untrusting expression. People normally don't offer to do something so sinister and dark as this without asking for anything in return.
The pale sorcerer just smiles and bows low. "I wish only to serve, Emperor." He answers.
"Hmph. I am weary of sorcerers, Quan Chi. Go to the realm of Edenia. Prove your worth and bring Sindel to me." Kahn orders the sorcerer, who bows again with a hidden smirk before turning to exit the throne room and enter the realm of Edenia with his new revenant servant, Noob Saibot, following closely behind him.
Goro steps up to the foot of the throne to present the revived emperor with a new question. "My Lord. What of Silva? What should we do with him?" He asks Kahn curiously, but Kahn scoffs at the traitors name.
"Leave him to rot in the Dead Pool, Goro. He'll soon be forgotten. No one will miss him. In the meantime, I want all of you to spend your time making preparations and gathering as many of our forces as possible. In one year... we begin our invasion of Earth Realm."