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 makes his way to the Coliseum where the tournament is currently taking place, and no doubt where Shao Kahn and his court will be to participate. Most likely they are all already there considering the thunderous cheers from the crowd chanting their emperors name.
Walking through the gates to see many fighters waiting for the tournament to begin, the crowd suddenly falls silent at his entrance. The fighters, wondering why the crowd stopped chanting, turns their gazes in the direction of the entrance to the arena to see a new face slowly walking towards them with the confidence of an entire army.
Shao Kahn smirks when he sees an opportunity arise. He stands up from his throne, sitting near the center of the Coliseum, and declares Kurai's name to the crowd. "Hail, Prince Kurai! Son of King Jerrod and Queen Sindel! Prince of Edenia!" He shouts as the crowd then becomes thunderous again, but not with cheers, but with boos. All directed towards Kurai and anyone from Earth Realm.
"TRAITOR!!!"
"EARTH REALM SCUM!!!
Kitana and Jade both frown from the shouts and boos directed at her little brother, but was too afraid to speak out of turn while Shao Kahn only continues to smirk smugly as the crowd shouts all types of profanities towards Kurai and anyone else from the realm of Earth, but his smugness quickly washes away when he saw the look on Kurai's face.
Not a single care in the world. Kurai only gave the emperor and his court a focused, intense glare as he crossed his arms, waiting for Shao Kahn to officially begin the Outworld tournament.
Clenching his teeth, Shao Kahn looks to the crowd then raises a hand to silence them, which they did. "Let Mortal Kombat begin! ARE YOU READY?!" He says to the crowd, to which they cheered loudly as Shao Kahn sits back down in his Coliseum throne while he and Kurai share an intense gaze with each other. "Just you wait, Kurai. Everyone here will see just how weak and pathetic you are. Just like your father." He thinks to himself before looking over at Shang Tsung, who was standing beside him, and nods.
Shang Tsung nods in acknowledgement and steps forward. "The first match of the tournament shall be... Baraka!" He declares, causing the crowd to cheer for the Tarkatan as he steps forward and showboats for the crowd.
"Vs!" Shang Tsung continues as the crowds cheers quickly die down while they wait to hear who Baraka's opponent will be.
"Prince Kurai!" He declares, causing him to step forward and stand near Baraka while the crowd boos and shouts profanities at him again.
"COME ON, BARAKA! SHOW THAT TRAITOR THE STRENGTH OF OUTWORLD!" A crowd member says, encouraging Baraka, but the Tarkatan didn't feel too confident.
After hearing what Kurai did to some of his clan members during the attack on the Shaolin temple made him realize how much Kurai was holding back during the tournament on Shang Tsung's island. He was already considering dropping out of the fight to spare himself a humiliating and painful defeat. But considering how Goro showed respect to the prince without having fought him, it made Baraka realize that if he is to die now in this tournament, he would rather it be a quick and honorable death at Kurai's hand, and not a slow, painful one at Shao Kahn's.
Deciding to steel himself and just fight the prince, regardless of what the outcome may be, Baraka bows respectfully to Kurai, shocking him, Shao Kahn, his court, and the entire crowd. Baraka keeps his eyes on Kurai, who decides to bow respectfully in return, despite his shock.
Standing up straight, Kurai and Baraka enter into their fighting stances as they wait for Shang Tsung to begin the match.
Kurai vs. Baraka...
"FIGHT!!!"
Baraka shoots out his arm blades with a roar, causing the crowd to cheer, before rushing towards Kurai, who also rushes towards the Tarkatan.
Before the two of them clash, Kurai jumps over Baraka's head and lands behind him with a kick to his back, which sends Baraka stumbling forward, but manages to keep his footing. He turns around with a fierce glare at Kurai, who only stares at him stoically before entering his fighting stance again.
Baraka runs towards him and tries to strike Kurai with his arm blades, but doesn't manage to land a a hit as Kurai dodges each and every strike until he grabs Baraka's arm and holds it in place. Baraka then tries to stab Kurai with the other arm blade, but Kurai, instead, catches the blade itself and holds it in place like his arm.
Smirking wickedly, Baraka tries to retract the arm blade back into his arm to cut Kurai's hand, but it doesn't budge. Staring at Kurai in shock, Baraka tries to free himself from the prince's grasp, but Kurai refuses to let go of his arm or his arm blade.
Leaning close to Baraka's face, Kurai stares at him intensely. "You should've just quit the fight before it started, Baraka. I would not have thought less of you if you had." He says to him, but Baraka snarls.
"Even if you wouldn't, all of Outworld would, and Shao Kahn would definitely kill me for showing such weakness." He tells the prince, which causes Kurai to briefly glance in Shao Kahn's direction before looking back at Baraka.
"Maybe so, but you remember how our last fight went. You can try all you want to defeat me, but the fire that is blind rage can only get you so far before that flame dies." He tells the Tarkatan, who bares his teeth fiercely and roars before Kurai flips him and throws him half way across the Coliseum on his back.
Groaning painfully, Baraka retracts his arm blades and stands up. Glaring fiercely at Kurai, who stares at him stoically again, he rushes towards him and begins to try and fight him the more traditional way.
Trying to land a solid strike on Kurai, Baraka continues to fight the prince, but Kurai only dodges and counters the Tarkatans attacks with ease before landing a powerful strike to his face, which stuns Baraka. Kurai grabs Baraka's shoulders and knees him painfully in the gut, causing the Tarkatan to double over in pain while getting the air knocked out of him.
Kurai then uppercuts Baraka, which sends him flying through the air, but Kurai grabs one of his legs them brings him back down to the ground of the Coliseum face first. "Finish him!" Shang Tsung shouts, but Kurai just frowns before looking at the downed Tarkatan.
Baraka groans and begins to try to get back up, but Kurai stomps his foot on his back, knocking him back down to the ground coughing. "Don't bother, Baraka. Just yield. I don't want to kill you, but don't force my hand." He tells him sincerely.
Baraka growls painfully and looks around at the crowd in the arena, all booing at Kurai for manhandling him and calling him all kinds of profanities. But Baraka knows he's outmatched, he doesn't like to admit that, but Kurai has experience and techniques that he has only dreamed of.
Baraka begrudgingly sighs defeatedly before nodding. He looks over at Shang Tsung with a seething expression. "I yield." He says to the sorcerer, who glares at the Tarkatan as Kurai lifts his foot off Baraka's back before helping him up while the crowd boos. Kitana lets out a quiet sigh of relief as the match ends, but Jade wasn't worried at all. After fighting Kurai first hand at the previous tournament, she knows just how well he can take care of himself.
KURAI WINS!
As Baraka stands up on his feet, he keeps his head down, avoiding Kurai's gaze. "I... I am unworthy to stand in your presence... Prince Kurai." The Tarkatan says to Kurai somberly, but the prince just shakes his head and gently places a hand on his shoulder.
"Surrendering is not defeat, Baraka. And you are not unworthy. You just can't rely solely on your rage to win a fight. Anger and rage can only get you so far before that fire dies... and gets you killed. I would know, because it almost happened to me once." He says to the Tarkatan, who looks up at him curiously as Kurai pats his shoulder. "Work on controlling your rage and we can fight again." He tells Baraka with a smile before looking at Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung then looks back at him. "Under better circumstances too." He finishes as Baraka nods gratefully before walking over to the sides since he's been eliminated from the tournament.
Glancing over at Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung, Kurai stares at them both for a moment before walking back to stand with the crowd of fighters, who all look at him warily while most of the Outworld fighters look at him respectfully, including Goro, and Sheeva.
After a moment, all the fighters look back at Shang Tsung, who had just finished a quiet conversation with Shao Kahn, as he announces the next match. "Onto the next fight of Mortal Kombat! The next match shall be between Princess Kitana..." The sorcerer declares as the crowd cheers.
"Vs!" He continues, causing the crowd to silence themselves.
"Orin from Earth Realm!" He finishes as the crowd begins to boo at the young looking monk from Earth Realm. Kitana steps down from beside Shao Kahn and steps onto the dirt ground of the Coliseum as Orin walks up to her to face her.
But it seems the thunderous boos from the crowd of Outworld had already gotten to him. Whatever confidence Orin had before now was gone in an instant. His whole body begins to tremble as he looks doubtful and feeling unsure if he should be here or not.
"AW, LOOK AT THAT! THE EARTH REALM MONK IS SCARED OF THE PRINCESS! WELL, YOU FUCKING SHOULD BE FILTH!"
One of the spectators shouts, which causes Kurai to frown in annoyance at the constant negativity aimed at Earth Realm. "I think now I understand why Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn wanted to hold the tournament here in Outworld. All these people are so biased and prejudiced against Earth Realm that it causes the fighters from there to feel unworthy and doubtful of themselves as well as their abilities." He thinks to himself as he looks around at the crowd as many men, women, and even children, are shouting profanities at the monk, Orin.
They're even continuing to shout profanities at Kurai himself even though he is not currently fighting. But Kurai has been called all types of things over 9,000 years. Nothing these people can say or call him will cause him to doubt his own ability as a fighter. But, it isn't himself that Kurai is worried about at the moment. It's Orin.
Orin seems like a capable and worthy fighter, but all the negative energy that is coming off of the crowd in droves, is causing the young monk to feel dispirited. And that's causing Kurai to feel worried for the monk, but also curious as to what all Kitana will do during the fight.
"Alright, sister. You've got a thousand years worth of experience over me. Show me what you can do." He thinks to himself as Kitana and Orin face each other with Shang Tsung about the begin the match.
Kitana vs. Orin...
"FIGHT!"
Kitana rushes towards Orin looking to end the fight quickly by striking him down with a powerful blow, but Orin catches her fist, twists her wrist, causing Kitana to grimace in pain before Orin flips her over on her back roughly.
Orin remains as calm as he can while trying to ignore the shouts and boos from the crowd, but the negative energy he was feeling was causing him some difficulty to do that. Glaring at the monk, Kitana spins herself on the ground before suddenly standing up, causing the crowd to cheer as she rushes Orin again.
Orin dodges and counters Kitana's strikes, but she fakes him out with a kick that looked to hit his abdomen, but as Orin moves to block it, Kitana swiftly moves her leg to his head and kicks him hard, stunning him.
Orin stumbles backwards and wipes away the blood from his cheek where Kitana had kicked him. He flicks the blood away and stares at Kitana, who wasn't giving him a moments pause as she leaps into the air with a flying kick that hits him square in the chest, sending him backwards before landing roughly on the ground.
The Coliseum crowd cheers for Kitana as Orin coughs while trying to catch his breath from having the wind knocked painfully out of him. Kitana walks up towards him to drag him before Shao Kahn, but Orin, catching his breath, flips back up to his feet, shocking Kitana, before kicking her hard in her abdomen then back kicks her in the face when she had doubled over in pain.
Kurai grimaces at Kitana getting hurt, but they are still, for the moment, enemies from different realms. So, he must remain calm while he watches his sister fight.
Getting up from getting kicked in the face, Kitana glares at Orin, who was walking towards her, before trying to strike him, which he dodges when he barrel rolls past her then stands up behind her. Orin moves to strike her from behind, but Kitana quickly pulls out her steel blade fans and flicks them open, stopping Orin when he sees the design of an Oni demon on the fans staring back at him.
Stunned with fear, Orin backs away from Kitana, which lets her begin her counter attack as she swiftly, and gracefully, strikes Orin with quick precise attacks all over the young monk, cutting him in multiple places that causes him to cry out in pain. Orin backs away and tries his best to block or counter Kitana's attacks, but to no avail.
Cutting him one last time, Kitana kicks Orin down with multiple cuts all over his face, abdomen, arms, and legs. Orin looks up at the princess with fear as he holds up a hand fearfully, signifying that he's no longer a threat as Kitana looks down at him.
Shao Kahn looks over at Shang Tsung, who nods, as the sorcerer looks at Kitana and the defeated monk. "Finish him!" He tells her, as Kitana flicks her fans in her hands, closing them into what looks to be deadly daggers. She puts one of them away then leans down to grab Orin by the back of his head and pulls him close to kill him, but hesitates when she remembers Liu Kang's words to her.
"I have failed my father. Disgraced him. You must kill me."
"I will do no such thing. Just because you lost, does not mean you deserve death."
His words flashed through her head before she subtly glances over at Kurai, who is watching her closely, waiting to see what she will do. Her hand begins to tremble as she clutches the dagger firmly, but sighs deeply before lowering it, causing the crowd to now boo instead of cheer.
She stands up straight and puts her daggers away as Shao Kahn glares at her. "Kitana! Finish him!" He shouts at her, causing her to tense when he shouted, but when she didn't make another move to kill Orin, he clenches his teeth angrily before he reaches out with his hand and sucks out Orin's soul, causing the young monk to let out a death cry as his body shrivels up into a hollowed husk.
KITANA WINS!
"Kitana! You will join me!" He demanded assertively, causing the princess to sigh sadly as she subtly looks back over at Kurai, who was glaring fiercely at Shao Kahn before she walks back over to the emperors side with a somber expression, but hid it well enough from everyone in the Coliseum, including Shao Kahn himself.
Trembling angrily, Kurai tries his best to keep himself from making the reckless and rash decision of challenging Shao Kahn to Mortal Kombat and rid all the realms of him. He manages to do so just as a ninja dressed in blue walks past him towards Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn.
Kurai looks at the ninja in shock when he recognizes the Lin Kuei symbol that was part of the stitching design of the ninjas garb. "What the hell? Sub-Zero? But he's dead." He thinks to himself as Sub-Zero stands before the emperor and the sorcerer while two servants drag the corpse of Orin away to clear the field.
"Shao Kahn! I challenge Scorpion, the murderer of my brother! You will deliver him to me!" The second Sub-Zero declares to the emperor, who looks at the Lin Kuei ninja with rage from being demanded to do something. He stares at the blue ninja with narrowed eyes as Shang Tsung chimes in.
"No one makes demands of the emperor! Who are you, Lin Kuei ninja, to make demands and challenge a fighter when you are not participating in the tournament yourself?" The sorcerer asks him defiantly, curious as to who exactly this new Sub-Zero is.
"I am Sub-Zero! Ninja of the Lin Kuei clan! And I will fight my brothers killer, sorcerer!" Sub-Zero shouts back at him, causing Shang Tsung to scowl before looking over at a blank open spot among the fighters.
"Reptile!" He shouts, causing the green reptilian ninja to appear out of nowhere as he steps forward with a growl directed at Sub-Zero as the Coliseum crowd cheers.
"I have a strong feeling this won't end well for this new Sub-Zero." Kurai thinks to himself as he watches this unexpected event unfold.
Sub-Zero vs. Reptile...
"FIGHT!"
"I don't have time for this!" Sub-Zero yells as Retile snarls while leaping into the air to land on the blue ninja's body and try to mutilate him, but the new Sub-Zero rolls out of the way behind Reptile and punches him in his back, causing the reptilian ninja to grunt painfully before back kicking the blue ninja back.
Sub-Zero briefly stumbles backwards, but keeps his footing as takes off running towards Retile, who opens his mouth and flicks out his long tongue to grab hold of Sub-Zero's foot then trips him up. Landing roughly on his back, Sub-Zero looks up to see Reptile in the air coming down towards him fast.
He rolls out of the way just as Reptile lands where his head just was, causing a large crack to form in the ground as he stands up. He forms a ball of ice in hands then launches it at the reptilian ninja, but Reptile spits out a wad of acid at the ice ball, the two clash into each other as the ice melts from the acid before falling to the ground.
Sub-Zero runs towards Reptile and kicks him, which Reptile barely blocks before backflipping into the air, kicking Sub-Zero's chin and causing him to stumble. Shaking it off, Sub-Zero throws another ice blast at Reptile just as he lands on his feet, freezing him and leaving him defenseless.
He walks up to the frozen Reptile and punches him in his face, causing that part of the Reptile sculpture lose mask as the ice falls. Hissing from the pain, Reptile snarls ferociously at Sub-Zero, but the blue ninja uppercuts him into the air, which causes the rest of the ice is break and fall off of Reptile while Sub-Zero grabs hold of his foot, tosses him to the ground hard then spins him around in a circle before letting him go.
Reptile flies through the air before landing roughly on his belly, causing him to groan painfully. He tries to get up, but Sub-Zero had already leapt into the air just before Reptile landed and came flying down towards his opponent before driving his knee into the reptilian ninja's back, which causes Reptile to scream loudly in pain.
Sub-Zero stands up and walks away from Reptile, who couldn't get up from having the wind knocked out of him as well as losing all strength in his legs to stand.
"Finish him!" Shang Tsung demands, but Sub-Zero looks at the sorcerer defiantly and shakes his head.
"No. I am here for one purpose and one purpose only. Scorpion. Deliver my brothers killer to me, now. I have defeated one of your warriors. Now, give me Scorpion!" He says to the sorcerer, who scowls at the Lin Kuei ninja for his defiance as the crowd boos at the blue clad ninja.
SUB-ZERO WINS!
Sub-Zero stares at Shao Kahn as Reptile slowly, and painfully, stands up before walking away. "Your followers hold you in high esteem, warlord. They fight and die for your own amusement. My brother, Bi-Han, participated in this foolishness. I do so only to face his killer!" He impatiently says to the emperor, who leans forward in his throne with a grin.
"Hmph. And so you shall, Sub-Zero." He says sinisterly before looking over at the second sorcerer in his court.
"Quan Chi, you know what to do." He says to the pale sorcerer, who only grins as he holds up a fist covered in a bright green aura. Not moments later, a fiery portal briefly opens then out steps the yellow clad Shirai-Ryu clan member, Scorpion.
Scorpion stares with confusion at the new Sub-Zero as he steps forward. "What sorcery is this? You are not Sub-Zero." He states as Sub-Zero takes a step back away from the specter with an insulted scoff.
"I am his family and clan! I fight for his honor!" He says to Scorpion confidently, which only infuriates the specter.
"HE HAD NO HONOR!!! AND YOU WILL DIE AS HE DID!!!" He shouts as he and Sub-Zero enter into their fighting stances.
"FIGHT!" Shang Tsung shouts.
"Oh, hell." Kurai whispers.
Meanwhile, Prison Tower, Outworld...
Skarlet returns to the prison tower and walks towards Drake's prison room to check on him periodically to make sure he is still alive. She walks in just in time to see Percival Silva draping an unconscious Drake over his shoulder and was about to leave the room.
"Silva! What is the meaning of this? Where are you taking Drake Lee?" She asks him angrily, but Silva just scoffs before looking in her direction.
"I am tired of waiting for your emperor to give me what I want! I will take Drake with me and challenge Kurai myself!" He shouts arrogantly, which only causes her to pulls out her twin short blades and prepares for a fight.
"This is treason! If you turn your back on Shao Kahn, there will be no reward for you! This is not part of the plan!" She warns him, but Silva grins sinisterly with a dark chuckle.
"Kurai's death will be reward enough. Once I prove who the superior warrior is, there will be no one to stop me. Not even your pathetic, fucking emperor. I'll show all the realms who they should really be bowing to. Me. Not a bunch of brainless meatheads that don't know how to fight." He says to Skarlet psychotically before looking at the unconscious form of Drake that is holding in his arm. "Just like this waste of flesh here." He finishes before looking back at Skarlet.
The red head ninja glares dangerously at Silva as she clenches her twin short blades tightly. "Silva, I can already tell that you are not even half the warrior Drake is. You are nothing but a sad little boy who wants everything handed to him instead of earning it." She says to him, causing him to glare angrily at her before he begins to chuckle darkly again.
She stares at him intensely, before suddenly gazing upon Drake's unconscious form, which makes her feel worried for her prisoner. She then looks back at Silva. "The emperor will have your head for this, traitor. If you take Drake now and challenge Kurai, whatever reward you think you deserve, you shall not receive it. Your only reward shall be death by the emperors hand." She warns him darkly, but Silva just continues to grin.
"We'll see about that, little girl. We'll see." He says just before she lunges at him to cut him down, but Silva disappears. Looking around her and examining her surroundings closely, Skarlet sees that Silva and Drake are now gone.
"Damn it. I must report this to the emperor." She seethes frustratingly as she runs out of the prison to tower and towards the Coliseum.