Disclaimer: I do not own Mortal Kombat or its characters. All rights belong to Ed Boon, Netherrealm Studios and Warner Bros.
Drake walks cautiously over a hollow valley with stone bridges leading from one part of the island to the other, looking down, he can see the impaled corpses and skeletal remains of previous fighters and victims of Shang Tsungs island. The sight of the landscape alone sends a shiver down his spine.
"Remember the old saying, Drake. Don't look down, don't look down." Drake says to himself nervously as he continues walk across the treacherous looking stone bridge.
As he is about to reach the end of the bridge, he hears footsteps walking near the middle of the bridge. He turns around to see a warrior wearing black and purple ninja gear. "Great. I just had to get one of the damn ninjas as my first official fight. What are the fucking odds of that?" He thinks to himself with annoyance as he turns to fully face his first opponent.
The purple clad ninja stands in the middle of the bridge with his head held high before he spoke. "My name is Rain, Prince of Edenia. I challenge you to Mortal Kombat, mortal." He declares, causing Drake to tilt his head in confusion. "Prince? I thought Kurai was the only prince of Edenia? Either this guy is lying, or he is just full of himself." He thinks to himself before nodding to Rain. "I accept your challenge." He answers as he bows respectfully to Rain, but the ninja does not return the gesture.
Looking up at him with confusion, Rain scoffs. "I do not bow to peasants." He tells him arrogantly, making Drake frown with narrowed eyes. "Alright, I'm definitely kicking this guys ass now." He thinks to himself before standing up straight while glaring at the so called prince.
Drake Lee vs. Rain...
Drake and Rain dash towards each other as Rain suddenly jumps up, surprising Drake, before clotheslining him, causing Drake to land roughly on his back and roll off the bridge.
He quickly grabs hold of the ledge and holds on tightly as Rain walks over to him while looking down at him with a disappointed expression. "Pitiful... and pathetic. YOU call yourself a warrior? What a disappointment." He says to him with annoyance before lifting his foot up to stomp on Drakes fingers, but Drake, who had glared up at Rain furiously, quickly builds up momentum from side to side then pulls himself back up on the bridge with a kick to Rains face, causing him to stumble then land on his back.
Sitting up quickly, Rain looks up at Drake with a furious glare as Drake glares down at him also. "Don't you even think about underestimating me, you self entitled prick!" He shouts at him loudly as he stands in his fighting stance.
Rain glares and stands back up quickly before dashing towards Drake and throws a series of hard punches and kicks while Drake dodges and blocks most of them, but Rain still manages to land some hits in.
Drake throws a right hook that connects with Rains jaw, causing him to stumble back as Drake continues with the offense. Kicking him with his right leg, Drake hits Rain in his left leg then his torso, going back and forth between the leg and torso before giving him a roundhouse kick to his face.
Rain spins around and stumbles backwards in a stunned state, but manages to shake off his dizziness as Drake makes a move to punch him in the face. He catches Drakes right fist and smirks at him as Drake struggles to use his strength to overpower Rain, but fails to do so.
Rain uses Drakes own fist to hit him in the face before flipping him down to the ground on the bridge and wraps his arm around in a hold. "Yield. Yield or I'll break your arm. You can't beat me, peasant." He tells Drake arrogantly while applying pressure against Drakes right shoulder. Drake shouts and yells from the growing pain in his shoulder, but he refuses to give up as he glares defiantly at the purple ninja.
"Fuck you! I'm not giving up! I'll never give up! And you're not the prince of Edenia! Anyone would be a better prince than you could ever hope to be, you sorry son of a bitch!" He yells defiantly as Rain just smirks with arrogance.
"I may be a son of a bitch, peasant, but at least I'll live to see the end of this tournament." He tells his with a humorous tone, as he applies more pressure on Drakes shoulder.
CRACK!
"ARRRGH!!!" Drake shouts out painfully as Rain roughly shoves Drakes arm away before standing up and stepping away a few feet from him. "You want to keep going, mortal? We can keep going, but you probably won't survive for much longer." He tells Drake with a humorous, but arrogant tone.
Drake breaths heavily from the pain as he rolls over on his side and presses his right arm on the bridge and presses body weight against his his arm.
POP!
Drake pops his shoulder back in place and sighs deeply before glaring up at Rain with flaming red eyes. Rain frowns deeply at the sight and looks at Drake with a curious expression. "Hmm, well, this is certainly most curious. But this won't help you." He tells Drake darkly as he pulls out a katar dagger from his hip and dashes towards Drake to stab him in the chest, but Drake catches his arms and lets out a deep huff.
Rain struggles to yank his arm out of Drakes grasp, but Drake wouldn't let go. He them begins to punch him in the face and knee him in the gut, but Drake doesn't flinch once. He stands up slowly with Rain still in his grasp as Rain glares at him angrily, Drake then clutches Rains throat, causing him to grunt in surprise as his eyes widen with slight fear.
Panting heavily, Drake lifts Rain up in the air with ease as Rains legs flail, trying to get some kind of footing but can't. He then flips out of Drakes grasp and lands on his feet before backflipping to get some distance away from him.
Drake, seeming to lose all sense, stalks after Rain just as he reaches the end of the bridge. Kneeling down, Rain launches a bolt of lightning towards Drake, which strikes him in the middle of the chest, but to no effect. Frowning with disappointment at himself, Rain decides to bring his katar dagger back out and dash towards Drake, hoping to impale him.
As Rain reaches Drake and almost impales him, Drake catches his arm and rolls his shoulder to stand behind him.
CRACK!
"ARRRGH!!!" Drake breaks Rains arm, causing him yell out painfully before turning around to try and strike Drake in the face, but Drake ducks and punches Rain in the stomach, causing him to fold over from the surprising massive pain before Drake uppercuts him and sends him flying through the air before landing roughly on his back on the bridge while dropping his weapon into the spiked valley below.
Leaning his head up, Rain sees Drake walking towards him with his burning red eyes staring straight at him. No mercy, no forgiveness and no respect. Rain, not one to beg for his life, crawls away as fast as he can from Drake to spare his pride the humiliation of being beaten down or killed by a mortal peasant. As he reaches the end of the bridge, Rain stands up to run and forfeit the fight, but suddenly stops in shock when he sees Drake right in front of him, glaring at him fiercely.
"Impossible...! H-How did you-Urk!" He begins to ask, but is suddenly stopped when Drake grabs his throat and begins to choke the life out of him.
Having no way to escape Drakes shockingly strong grip, Rain punches, kicks and claws at everything he can on Drake, but nothing has any sort of effect that helps.
"Kill! Kill this swine! He doesn't deserve the life he lives!" Drake hears in his head as he continues to squeeze the life out of Rain, whose eyes slowly begin struggling to keep themselves open.
"What are you waiting for?! Kill him! It's easy! You wanted to kill him for being so entitled, didn't you?!" The sinister voice asks him, making his red eyes start to flicker back and forth to their bright green. "I... I did, but..." He begins to say, but pauses.
"But what?! Why change your mind now?!" The voice impatiently asks as Drake struggles to regain control back over his own body and not... whatever this thing was in his head.
"I don't want to be a cold blooded killer. I don't want to be... like this bastard here. If I do kill, I'll only kill to protect, not because I want to or because I can." Drake answers seriously just as he manages to regain control of himself, but Rain looks to be losing consciousness.
Drake immediately lets go of his throat and lets him drop to the ground as air flows into Rains lungs, causing him to gasp greedily for air. He crawls away from Drake, who pants heavily and looks on in horror as he almost killed someone in cold blood.
"So be it." He hears the voice once more before it suddenly stops, allowing Drake to collapse to his knees from exhaustion.
DRAKE LEE WINS!
Panting heavily, Drake looks at Rain, who continues to back away from him as much as he can, before he stands back up on his feet. "Remember this day, prince. Remember the day that a peasant, who should kill you, chose not to. You may be of a higher standing than me, but between the two of us, only one of us is the better man." He says to Rain, making him glare furiously at him while still gasping to get as much air back in his lungs as he can.
"This... This isn't... over... peasant." Rain threatens him in between coughs and breaths while getting up to walk away. Drake just stares at him unemotionally before turning around to walk away himself and leave Rain to recover, since he has been eliminated from the tournament.
However, a feeling of dread washed over Drake. Why did he lose control like that? He's never lost control like that before. And what was that sinister malicious voice in his head? He didn't like it. He would have to talk to Kurai about it when he gets the chance. Maybe after the tournament is over. IF he survives.
Hours later, with Jade...
Jade had returned to Shang Tsungs temple hours earlier to see the healers of the temple so they help heal her wounds she had received from Kurai. Now sitting on her bed in her room, she sighs deeply as the prophecy of the White Flame Phoenix replayed over and over in her head, but there was another part of the prophecy that was bothering her.
"The White Flame Phoenix shall rise from the ashes and bring the realm of Edenia back to the light..." She repeats it over and over again in her head while trying to remember the rest of the prophecy. It began to bother her that she couldn't remember.
She remembers something about the return of, not just the white phoenix, but also... a golden dragon? She went through all the history and knowledge she had learned over the years in Edenia and also Outworld, but nothing was coming to mind. The phoenix, being Kurai, obviously, but who is the dragon? Jade couldn't understand why she was having such a difficult time trying to figure this out. Why? Why was it so hard to remember one little prophecy from years ago that is beginning to have meaning?
"Ahhh!" She shouts in frustration before lying down face first on her pillows and scream again, but the screams were now muffled.
She then hears her door click before it opens. She lifts her head up from the pillows to see Kitana walking in, looking a little roughed up, with a concerned expression. "Jade? Is everything alright? I heard you shout." She asks with concern.
Jade chuckles and shakes her head. "I'm fine, Kitana. I'm sorry I worried you. I'm just... a little frustrated that I've been eliminated from the tournament." She admits truthfully, but was secretly glad that she was so that she wouldn't have to hurt Kurai.
Looking at her friend with surprise and shock, Kitana walks over to Jades bed and sits down on the edge. "You were eliminated? This early?" She asks Jade with genuine shock, causing her friend to nod. "By whom, then?" Kitana asks, wondering who managed to best her friend in battle.
At this point, Jade decides to choose her words carefully, especially if she going to keep Kurais survival a secret from Kitana. At least for now.
Sighing deeply, Jade answers. "Kurai." She says simply, shocking Kitana.
"He eliminated you? Already? But... how? You're one of our best fighters, Jade. How did he manage to best you in Mortal Kombat?" She asks her with curiosity. How did a nobody fighter manage to defeat one of Outworlds best warriors in combat?
Sure, he defeated Baraka, but Baraka has been known to lose fights either because of his arrogance or his anger. Most times have been because of his arrogance, but he still has many wins than losses, but those numbers have steadily changed many times over the years.
But Jade, losing to resident of Earthrealm? In what world does that make sense?
Jade shrugs with a soft chuckle. "This fighter, Kitana. He really is something else. The scars on his body? He has been in many fights. He's a survivor. Despite my own experience, he refused to lose. He's a determined and experienced fighter." She tells her friend, which causes Kitana to look away thoughtfully for a moment before looking back at Jade with a look of curiosity.
"During your fight, did you find out why he seems so familiar to us? Did he give you any sort of inkling or idea as to why... our hearts ache when we even think of him? Because when I told you I had that feeling last night earlier this morning, you told me you had the same feeling before you went to bed." Kitana explains and asks her friend while softly rubbing the center of her chest.
Seeing her friend rubbing her chest, Jade wanted nothing more than to burst and tell Kitana that her little brother, her only remaining family, was still alive. But, she made a promise to Kurai and she would keep that promise. Especially if it meant keeping Shang Tsung in the dark about Kurais survival.
With a shrug, and putting up a convincing front, Jade shakes her head sadly. "No, Kitana. If there is an answer somewhere, we won't figure it out anytime soon. And probably not even during the tournament." She explains as Kitana sat and looked at her anxiously.
Shaking her head frantically, Kitana feels tears building up in her eyes as she tries, and fails, to put up her own front. "No, no, no! It has to be during this tournament! If this Kurai is from Earthrealm, then he only has a limited amount of time to live! If I don't figure out why he seems so important to me, to us, I feel like I will go mad from this ridiculous enigma! This... this... riddle!" She exclaims before covering her face with her hands.
Jade watches her friend remorsefully as tears flow down Kitanas cheeks, but Jade understood why Kurai doesn't want his existence or his heritage known yet. She can only hope Kitana understands as well when the time comes for her to finally get the answer to the question that is currently plaguing her mind and heart.
Gently placing her hand on her back, Jade scoots closer to Kitana then hugs her tightly. "Kitana, we shouldn't rush this. If we are to know who this Kurai is before the tournament ends, then the gods will deem it so. But should it be the opposite, then we will just have to be patient. I'm sure all will be revealed in time, but lets not rush this, understand?" She tells her friend confidently, causing Kitana to look at Jade with a grateful expression.
She immediately hugs back her friend and the two hold each other for a moment before Kitana suddenly winces in pain, causing Jade to look closer at her injuries. "Have you gone to the healers yet, Kitana?" She asks her, making Kitana shake her head.
Jade sighs and chuckles softly before helping Kitana up to her feet and walking towards the door to leave the room. "Come on, then. Let's get you healed up. And maybe you can tell me what happened and what caused you to look this way." She tells the princess, who only blushes when she remembers the fact that she herself had been bested by someone from Earthrealm. The young Wu Shi academy monk, Liu Kang.
That evening, with Kurai...
Kurai walks along the courtyard in Shang Tsungs temple while keeping an eye out for any potential challenges that may present itself.
Walking up near the altar that Shang Tsung has been using to address the fighters since they got here, Kurai suddenly hears nearby loud thudding footsteps that sound similar to someone walking in combat boots.
"Well, well, well. About time I found ya, mate. It's already nighttime and I should've already been gone by now. But you're a difficult man to find." A short burly looking man says to him with an Australian accent as he walks into the temple courtyard.
Walking in a circle around Kurai, the man examines the surroundings around him and whistles. "I gotta say, I'm impressed with this place. Not quite my style, but it's nice enough. I'd live here." The man says as he continues to walk in a circle around Kurai.
Kurai, keeping a close eye on the man, notices an enlarged serrated combat knife strapped to his right boot. Looking back up the man, Kurai sees he's still looking away from him and examining his surroundings before he decides to finally speak to him. "And who are you? You said you were looking for me. Do I know you?" He asks him curiously, causing the man to suddenly stop as he begins to chuckle darkly.
"Nah, mate. Ya don't know me and I don't know you, but I know that you and a friend a'yers killed two of my men last night. Strong men who shouldn't have possibly lost to a scrawny little bastard like you and your bastard of a friend." The man tells him angrily as he turns his bearded head towards Kurai, showing Kurai that the right half of the mans face is a metal plate with a glowing cybernetic red eye.
"That's a new one." Kurai thinks to himself as the man turns to fully face him. "Who the hell are you?" He asks him, making the man chuckle darkly as he crouches down and pulls out his large combat knife.
"Who am I? Who am I?! I am Kano, ya fucking bastard! That's who the hell I am!" He exclaims before rushing towards Kurai with his combat knife raised to stab against Kurais chest.
But Kurai sidesteps Kano and uses his foot to trip him, causing him to land face first into the stone ground with a loud and audible crack.
Kano groans as he stands back up Kurai backs away from him to keep his distance. Whoever this guy was, he clearly wasn't participating in the tournament, but why was he here? And Kano? "That's the name I heard Sonya say last night here in the temple. Now I recognize him. He was walking out of the temple during Shang Tsungs speech to the fighters." Kurai remembers as Kano stands up then turns around to face Kurai with his cybernetic eye glowing brightly.
"Ya got lucky there, mate, but it won't happen again." He says to him threateningly as he inhales deeply and seemed like he was going to attack Kurai again, but this time from a distance. Kurai prepares himself for an attack from Kano and was going to use his kunai to kill this sorry snob, when a voice rings out from the altar.
"Kano! Enough! You have no more business here! You've done your job, now take your men and leave my island!" Shang Tsung yells at Kano, causing the red cybernetic eye to stop glowing as Kano turns his head to glare at the elderly asian man.
"Stay out of this ya'ol goat! This is between me and that bastard there!" Kano says pointing to himself and Kurai, but Shang Tsung glares at the Australian man and shakes his head.
"No, Kano. There is no business to be done here. Your job here is done. Leave my island now, you're not a participant in this tournament." Shang Tsung orders Kano, but Kano wanted to continue protesting. "No! Not until the blood this bastard has spilt has been paid! He and a friend a'his killed two Black Dragon members! Two of my men! I will have vengeance!" He shouts defiantly, pointing at Kurai.
But Shang Tsung, suddenly teleports in front of Kano, making him stumble back in shock as the old man glares at him with glowing pale green eyes. "This is your final warning, Kano. Leave my island now, or your soul will be mine." He threatens Kano darkly, making the man back away fearfully before glancing at Kurai then points at him threateningly.
"Ya better watch your back, pretty boy. Because if you don't, I'll be stabbing my pretty knife right through your heart." He threatens him as Kurai just stares at him without a single look of fear on his face before he puts his knife away then walks out of the temple grumbling and mumbling to himself.
Shang Tsung and Kurai then look at each other. Kurai with an distrustful expression and Shang Tsung with a knowing smirk that has Kurai on edge.
"Why help me, Shang Tsung? You could've just just let us fight each other in Mortal Kombat. One less insect to worry about, right? So, why did you help me?" Kurai asks him curiously, but remains guarded in case the man tries anything.
Shang Tsung chuckles darkly, causing Kurai to be ready for anything. A setup, a trap, anything. It wouldn't surprise him if Shang Tsung tries something.
Shang Tsung continues to chuckle before stopping then makes a slight bow, which confuses Kurai. "Why, I couldn't let Princess Kitanas little brother be harmed by a nonparticipant, now can I?" He says to him, causing Kurai to instantly freeze at what the old man just said.
"Shit... How did he...?" He wonders before putting up a convincing front, but it wouldn't fool Shang Tsung at this point. "I don't know what you're talking about, old man." He says calmly, causing Shang Tsung to chuckle.
"Now, now, Kurai, I mean you no harm here. I haven't spoken a word to anyone about this. Not yet at least." He tells Kurai while walking up to him, but Kurai stands on edge, ready to strike or defend himself if he has to.
"Let's say, for argument sake, that this is true, how did you find out?" He asks Shang Tsung curiously, which only made him smirk before he whistles loudly.
Hearing a loud hiss coming from the rooftop of the temple, Kurai turns his head in the direction of the hiss he heard to see Reptile standing on top of the rooftop with what looks like a smug expression on his face before disappearing. This causes Kurai to deeply sigh in frustration. "Reptile, right. You had him follow me to keep an eye on me." He says to Shang Tsung, instantly figuring out how Shang Tsung knows who he is. "I got fucking careless." Kurai berates himself in his head as Shang Tsung chuckles.
"Yes, I had Reptile follow you. But it wasn't for long. After your... brief meeting with Raiden, Reptile heard you and your friend... Drake Lee, was it? Talking about why you lied to a god and the thunder god Raiden of all people. After that he came back not long after and informed me of what had transpired, although I was confused and stumped until I heard Kitana silently talking about you earlier this morning, asking herself why she felt such a familial connection to you. It was then I remembered something important, something I had brushed off and cast aside so many years ago." He explains as Kurai watches him with a fierce glare.
"I remembered being told that Sindel had a second child. A son. The Prince of Edenia. Princess Kitanas little brother. The child that was lost to us after the battle of Edenia. After that is when Shao Kahn adopted Kitana as his own and took Sindel as his queen when he defeated and killed King Jerrod in Mortal Kombat." Shang Tsung continues to explain as Kurai began to shake and tremble with rage.
After sighing deeply to calm himself, Kurai glares at Shang Tsung, who looks at him with an arrogant smirk. "It didn't take long after remembering those facts to put... two and two together, as the mortal of Earthrealm would say." He says proudly as Kurai just continues to glare.
"Alright, you got me then, old man. Now, what do you want from me?" He asks him furiously, but he still managed to keep himself calm as Shang Tsung just smirked and walks up to him.
"I have a request for you, Prince Kurai. If you agree, I shall happily give you all the answers to your questions. And all the answers will be in Outworld, waiting for you." Shang Tsung tells him with a smirk, tempting Kurai to cut his head off just to wipe that smirk off his face.
"And if I don't?" He wonders out loud, causing Shang Tsung to smirk even wider. "If you don't, then I reveal to all here on the island who you really are. Including, Raiden and your sister. I will also reveal your survival to Shao Kahn and all of Outworld." He answers him, sending a cold shiver down Kurais spine.
Kurai didn't want the Emperor of Outworld to find out he was still alive. He has heard of Shao Kahns merciless reputation at the Dark Wu Shi temple, and it was one that often gave him nightmares during his earlier years in Earthrealm. But he still didn't know what Shang Tsung wanted from him. So, Kurai decides to go with the flow for now and let Shang Tsung think that he has Kurai in his wrinkly old claws. But the old man is dead wrong. This isn't his first mind game, but Shang Tsung is a more experienced player than others that Kurai has encountered in the past.
Swallowing his pride, Kurai sighs deeply before looking at Shang Tsung with a serious expression. "Alright, let's hear it. What do you want from me?" He asks the old man, causing him to grin wickedly.