Disclaimer: I do not own Mortal Kombat or any of its characters. All rights belong to Ed Boon, Nether Realm Studios, and Warner Bros.
With Jade, Shao Kahn's Palace, Prison Tower...
Jade makes her way towards Kitana's location in the Prison Tower, determined to help her and set her free. As she makes her way near the level Kitana is being held, Baraka stands guard with another Tarkatan inside one of the rooms that leads further up the tower.
They both examine a weapons container that hold multiple automatic rifles. The other Tarkatan picks up one of the rifles and examines it in an odd way with the barrel pointed at Baraka. He snarls and snatches the rifle out of the Tarkatan's hands. "Enough! That is no toy to be played with! They belong to Shang Tsung!" He declares angrily to the young Tarkatan while he puts the rifle back in the container. "We are finished here. Return to your post." He orders him with a growl as the young Tarkatan leaves the room.
He then looks to the side to see Jade walking towards him with intent before he walks up to intercept her. Glancing at him, Jade stops as he walks in front of her, blocking her way. "Stand aside, Baraka. I will see Kitana." She says to him confidently as she begins to walk forward again.
Baraka walks forward to stop her. "No one enters the tower, Jade. Stop now or I will be forced to stop you." He growls as they walk towards each other.
Jade smirks underneath her mask. "You are an excellent guard dog, Baraka, but you must learn to heel." She says to him with an amusing tone, to which the Tarkatan didn't appreciate.
"I do not take orders from you!" He growls angrily while shifting into his fighting stance and extending his arm blades.
Jade vs. Baraka...
Baraka dashes forward with his arm blades fully extended, but Jade leaps over him and kicks him in the back of his head, causing him to stumble forward. Catching his footing then glaring back at Jade, who stood casually with a grin under her mask, he growls before rushing towards her again.
Jade then pulls out her staff and extends it forward at Baraka's face, which stuns him as she twirls her staff in her hands, striking the Tarkatan in the face repeatedly. Walking backwards to gain some distance away from Jade, Baraka blindly slashes his arm towards her, but she counters the attack by blocking with her staff then back fisting him in the face.
He stumbles to the side and shakes his head before glaring at Jade with a snarl then leaps into the air, but Jade throws her razor-rang at him, which cuts him on his cheek. He shouts from the sudden pain, which knocks him out of the air and falls to the floor hard on his back.
Jade chuckles as she catches the razor-rang in her hand while Baraka glares at her and stands back up. "You know, Kurai was right, Baraka. Blind rage can only get you so far before it gets you killed." She says to him, reminding him of Kurai's words, which causes him to snarl. "You can snarl at me all you want, but it won't change the fact he's right. You've lost many fights now, two of which was against Kurai. You've become very arrogant and sloppy with place at the emperor's side. Goro and Sheeva are more level headed than you are." She continues with a smirk.
Baraka growls before roaring at her then rushes towards her again to tackle her to the floor, but Jade extends her staff again then jumps over the Tarkatan, slides her staff between his legs and lifts it up hard into his groin. Baraka's legs buckle and roars in pain before Jade jabs her staff into his lower back, sending him forward into the wall and knocks the wind out of him before he crumples to the floor.
JADE WINS!
Jade walks over to Baraka as he groans in pain and nurses his bruising goin. "Ugh... Edenians have no loyalty." He growls as she stands over him.
"Blind loyalty is never a good thing, as I have learned. You must learn to keep your eyes open, to anticipate the finishing blow." She says to him assertively, causing him to look up at her with confusion.
"What are you even talking-"
WHAM!
Jade stomps on his face, knocking him unconscious before he can finish his question. "You always make it too easy, Baraka." She says with a chuckle before walking away towards the next room where Kitana is being held.
Walking into the room, Jade sees Sheeva standing near Kitana, who is currently chained up. "Sheeva must've been summoned here to guard Kitana after she was taken into custody." She thinks to herself as she walks towards them.
"Kitana, if you had not dishonored yourself by-" Sheeva berates Kitana, but stops when Kitana looks to the side and notices her friend walking towards them.
"Jade!" She calls out to her with relief. Sheeva then looks over at Jade with a glare before beginning to walk towards her.
"My orders are clear. No one is allowed in the tower." She grunts, waving her Jade off, but Jade continues forward.
"Well, as you can see, I am here." She says with a snarky tone.
"Here to help the princess escape, no doubt. You would deny her punishment? The only means of regaining her honor?" Sheeva asks Jade as she continues her confident stride towards the Shokan.
"You and I have very different concepts of honor, Sheeva." She says defiantly to the four armed warrior as she shifts into her fighting stance.
Jade vs. Sheeva...
Jade quickly extends her staff and repeatedly attacks Sheeva's feet to trip her up and cause her to step back before striking the side of her face, which cuts her cheek from the sudden force. Sheeva snaps her gaze back at Jade with a furious glare and roars at Jade before attempting to strike the Edenian down with her powerful Shokan arms, but Jade manages to block every strike before crouching then attacks her knee with the blunt end of her staff.
Sheeva grunts in pain from her knee being struck while backing away from Jade with a glare. Jade advances, twirling her staff slowly in an intimidating manner before spinning to strike Sheeva in her abdomen then suddenly throws her razor-rang at the female Shokan, which she just barely manages to move her head to the side, dodging the razor-rang as it returns to Jade's hand.
The razor-rang then shifts into a dagger, which Jade uses to try and attempt to cut Sheeva, but the female Shokan dodges every swipe before catching Jade's hand, grabs the dagger and yanks it out of the Edenian's hand before attempting to stab it into her shoulder. Jade manages to break out of Sheeva's grasp and roll away to recompose herself as Sheeva tosses the dagger away.
The female Shokan then begins to stomp towards Jade, who was still kneeling down, before she suddenly jumps up into the air and attempts to use her staff to strike Sheeva over her head, but Sheeva manages to catch Jade with one pair of arms while catching her staff with the pair. Sheeva smirks maliciously before yanking the staff out of Jade's hands and away from her before she begins to repeatedly smack Jade across the face with powerful, devastating blows.
Realizing what Sheeva was doing, Kitana struggles against her restraints and attempts to break out of the chains binding her, but to no avail. She could only watch helplessly as Sheeva beats down her friend the same way Goro did to the Great Kung Lao before he finally finished him. "Sheeva, stop! You're killing her!" She yells fiercely at the Shokan, who finally stops her beatdown on Jade, who had bruises and bumps forming on her face, before she was dropped abruptly to the floor.
Jade's breathing was shallow before Sheeva turns to face Kitana with an emotionless expression. "That's the idea, princess. Jade came here to set you free when your punishment will allow you to regain your honor." The female Shokan explains to Kitana while the warrior princess just glares furiously at her former ally.
"To hell with the punishment! Jade was right! Your concept of honor is far different than ours!" She shouts with rage while Jade, who took the time to catch her breath, stealthily snuck over to her staff, and picks back up before dashing towards the distracted Shokan.
Hearing the rapid sound of footsteps, Sheeva turns in the direction of the sound, only to suddenly black out from the attack of an Edenian steel staff before getting repeatedly attacked from all directions, which causes her to stumble over her feet. After getting struck in the face once more by Jade, Sheeva briefly gains back her vision as she sees Jade as a green and brown blur.
Roaring ferociously, she attempts to strike Jade down with a hard punch, but with her vision still blurred, she misses. Jade dodges the punch, moves behind Sheeva, slides between her legs, moving back in front of the female Shokan, then uses the long of her staff to strike Sheeva's knees.
CRACK!
The loud audible crack echoes through the room as Sheeva's eyes widen from sudden and intense pain. "ARRRGH!!! AHHH!!! AAARGH!!!" She screams painfully while dropping to her knees. Sheeva grunts and groans painfully as she Jade slowly stalks around her in circleslike a predator that has cornered its prey, wondering what she should do next to the female Shokan. "What... What are you waiting for?! Kill me!" Sheeva shouts furiously while still in pain.
Jade is beginning to consider it, but thinking back to Kurai, she remembers that he has fought Baraka twice already and has spared him both times. Deciding to do what Kurai would do, Jade stands in front of Sheeva and lifts her head up with her staff to make the Shokan look at her. "I'm not going to kill you, Sheeva. Kurai respects you, and Goro, which only means he hopes to be allies with you someday. Thank the prince the next time you see him, because he is the only reason why you're still breathing." She darkly tells the female Shokan before using the blunt end of her staff to knock Sheeva unconscious, causing the Shokan to crumple to the floor with a loud thud.
JADE WINS!
Sighing from slight exhaustion, and discomfort from the pain building in her face, Jade rushes over to Kitana and tries to get her friend out of the chains holding her prisoner, but the chains are locked and she doesn't have a key on her. "Jade, I'm-" Kitana begins to say, but Jade looks up at her with a smile and slowly shakes her head.
"I know, Kitana. I'm sorry too." She softly tells her as she attempts to try and figure out another way to get Kitana out of her bonds, but a voice in the distance causes them both to freeze and look in the direction of the door.
"STOP HER!" One masculine voice angrily says as they hear rapid footsteps running up the tower. "DO NOT LET HER GET AWAY!" Another voice, a feminine one, says furiously as the footsteps get closer and closer to the room that the two friends are currently in.
Jade and Kitana then look back at each other, both with fear on their faces, fear for one another. "Jade, just go. I'll be fine." Kitana urgently tells her best friend, but Jade protests.
"What?! No! I can't just-" She desperately begins to say, but Kitana cuts her off.
"Just go! Find Raiden! Ask for his help! They'll take me to the Coliseum! Kurai will be there, and he won't allow anything to happen to me! He'll protect me, Jade, I know he will! Now go!" She says, ordering her friend to abandon her for the time being and find the god of thunder and request for his help.
Jade hesitates briefly, not wanting to leave Kitana to a gruesome fate, but reluctantly nods her head before exiting the tower through the balcony.
Moments later, Outworld Beach...
Jade runs along the shoreline of Outworld running away from the Prison Tower before stopping to catch her breath. After a moment she looks back up at the tower with a look of relief when she sees that no one is following her. "That should distance me enough from any pursuers." She says quietly as she turns to begin her search for Raiden, but stops when a figure appears through a misty pinkish purple portal to reveal Kitana's "twin" sister, Mileena, who is now wearing a much less than modest clothing. Pink, black, and gold was the theme, and Jade could see almost everything on her if the outfit wasn't held together so tightly.
Mileena chuckles giddily as she begins to walk towards Jade. "Hmm, others pursue, Jade. I find." She mockingly says to her as Jade's eyes widen.
"By the gods. You... You're Mileena!" She says with disbelief as the clone continues to walk towards her.
"You must return with me. There is going to be a celebration for my sister soon." Mileena says to Jade with an sinister cheery tone. "She's going to go away..." She sings softly with an ominous tone while shifting into her fighting stance, which causes Jade to do the same.
Jade vs. Mileena...
Mileena begins the fight by bringing out a fresh pair of silvef sais, both with pink jewels sitting in the center. Snarling viciously, she leaps towards Jade, looking to land on her and stab her to death with the sais, but Jade dodges her, pulls out her staff, and extends it.
Standing up quickly, Jade turns around just in time to see Mileena rushing towards her with a terrifying roar as she begins to swipe her sais at Jade, attempting to fatally slash or cut the dark skinned Edenian, but Jade dodges each attack before swinging her staff across Mileena's face, sending her to the ground.
Feeling that one of her teeth had been chipped, Mileena growls furiously before standing back up to charge in a rage towards Jade, who pulls out her razor-rang, and throws it at the charging Half-Tarkatan. However, Mileena manages to catch it, but not without it cutting her hand while doing so.
Still in a rage, Mileena launches the razor-rang back at Jade, but the Edenian swings her staff, hitting it, and knocks it to the ground as Mileena leaps into the air. Coming down towards Jade fast, she manages to land on Jade and grasp her tightly before she pulls down her mask and attempts to sink her teeth into her shoulder.
Jade reacts quickly and manages to shove her staff into Mileena's mouth, causing the animal like girl to snarl from being denied the taste of flesh. Mileena continues to snarl and jerk her head aggressively, trying almost desperately to get a taste of Jade's flesh, but the Edenian continues to deny her before head-butting her in the face, stunning her before she is shoved off of her.
Falling back down to the ground, Mileena pulls her mask back up to cover her Tarkatan teeth then looks up at Jade with a glare. She stands back up quickly and charges towards Jade. Jade reactively turns around and manages to elbow Mileena in the face, which stuns the Half-Tarkatan for a moment before Jade uses her staff and repeatedly strikes Mileena in the face with its blunt end.
Stumbling backwards from the repeated attacks to her face, Mileena doesn't see much of anything other than multiple blurs before Jade strikes Mileena's knee, sending her down to one leg. She then swings her staff again towards her head hard, which makes contact as a loud clang echoes through the beach as Mileena falls down to the side, now unconscious against the sand.
JADE WINS!
Panting heavily, Jade puts her staff away then walks over to her razor-rang to pick it up and put it away before looking back at the unconscious Mileena. "I am more of a sister to Kitana than you will ever be, abomination. Now, I must find Raiden." She tiredly says and begins to walk away when a voice causes her to stop abruptly.
"He is here." The authoritative voice says as a bolt of lightning suddenly strikes down near her, and from the lightning, Raiden appears with some of his Earth Realm warriors. Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Johnny Cage, and another warrior that she does not recognize, but she knows that he is of the Lin Kuei clan of assassins.
That very Lin Kuei assassin was currently walking towards Jade with less than friendly intent. "Kitana turns away from Shao Kahn, so you attack her rather than join her?!" The gray clad ninja furiously asks her as he walks towards her.
"What? This is not-" She tries to explain the misunderstanding, but the gray ninja doesn't seem to want to listen.
A bolt of lightning suddenly strikes between the two of them, causing both Jade and the gray ninja to back away from each other. The gray ninja looks back at Raiden with confusion and was about to ask why the thunder god stopped him, but Raiden had already begun to explain. "Smoke, stop! That woman is not Kitana. She is Mileena. A grotesque abomination created by Shang Tsung by order of Shao Kahn." He tells him, which causes the the gray ninja, now revealed to Jade as Smoke, to look down at the unconscious Mileena as Jade walks past him towards Raiden.
Walking up to the thunder god, Jade bows respectfully. "Lord Raiden, I've come to you at Kitana's request." She respectfully says to Raiden as he walks towards her. "Kitana is in grave danger, Lord Raiden. She's being held in the Prison Tower for punishment. Shao Kahn intends to make an example of her for disobeying his orders and refusing to listen to him. She is being held in the tower, but no doubt she will soon be taken to the Coliseum to be made an example of. Although, I fear her punishment will be much more grim than what is being implied. If we do not help her soon, I'm afraid she will be executed if we don't do something." The information instantly shocks Raiden. He never intended for Kitana to be captured. Merely to find out the truth and come back to him and the others to join the fight against Outworld.
However, the mention of Kitana and the word execution in the same sentence catches Liu Kang's attention as he walks towards Jade and Raiden with a concerned expression. "Kitana... executed? Where is she now?" He asks her urgently.
"She was being held captive in the Prison Tower at the palace, but I have no doubt that she's being moved to the Coliseum now, for a public humiliation before her execution." Jade explains as Liu Kang looks over at Raiden, but the thunder god didn't look too worried.
"Lord Raiden, aren't you the least bit concerned about Kitana? You persuaded her to turn against Shao Kahn!" He angrily says to the thunder god, but Raiden still didn't look too concerned as he calmly looks at Liu Kang.
"Of course I am worried, Liu Kang. I may have persuaded Kitana to turn on Shao Kahn, but you must remember who is here with us in Outworld. He is also currently fighting in the tournament in your stead." Raiden calmly explains to the young monk, who looks off to the side to think of who Raiden may be talking about.
Then it hits him. "Kurai." He says looking back over at Raiden, who nods.
"If Kitana is being moved to the Coliseum, as Jade says, then Kurai will not allow anything to happen to his sister. It will only add more fuel to the fire to end the tournament as quickly as possible. Believe me, Liu Kang, I am worried about Kitana, but as long as Kurai is still breathing, nothing will happen to the princess. I'm sure of that." He says, explaining to Liu Kang and the group.
Liu Kang nods and bows respectfully as an apology for his outburst. Raiden pats Liu Kang's shoulder and looks at the growing group. "We must head to the Coliseum now and aid Kurai in the tournament. I believe we have let him hold his own long enough. After his fight with the one called Silva, his strength is depleting. We should head back now." He informs them as they, including Jade, gather around the thunder god and teleport to the Coliseum in a bolt of lightning.
Mileena, however, who had slowly regained consciousness, had heard most of the conversation, and the mention of Kurai's name. Opening her amber yellow eyes, she slowly licks her long Tarkatan teeth with a glint in her eyes. "Kurai... My dear brother."
Outworld Coliseum, with Kurai...
After having spent some time with the two Shokan, Goro and Sheeva, Kurai had made his way back to the Coliseum. Alone, however. After the hour mark, Kurai was making his way back to the Coliseum with the two Shokan in tow, but they both were abruptly summoned away for important business. What that business was, he did not know, and frankly, he didn't want to know.
So, he continued his trek back to the Coliseum by himself. Once he made his way back, he feel the tension in the air. It was so thick that he could have cut it with a knife if he wanted to. It was then he knew that something was happening, and he didn't like the feeling he was now having.
After walking back into the Coliseum, crowds began to fill the seats, and many of the fighters were beginning to return. But the ones that had not yet returned, were Shao Kahn, Kitana, Jade, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, and multiple other fighters who were fighting for Outworld. This began to worry Kurai even more.
After awhile, long after the hour of reprieve from the tournament, Shao Kahn had returned with Shang Tsung not far behind him as he walks up to his throne and sat down. Shang Tsung walks up and stands in his usual spot near the emperor with a sinister grin on his face. What's more unnerving is that the grin was directed at Kurai, as was Shao Kahn's grin when he finally noticed that Kurai was among the returned fighters.
"Just what the hell are you both grinning about? What are you up to?" He asks inside his head as Shang Tsung begins to speak.
"Combatants! Welcome back to the tournament! I hope you rested wisely, because from here on, no one will get another reprieve until after the tournament is over!" He begins as he looks over at Kurai. "Whether it will be Earth Realm that gets that reprieve, or Outworld." He continues before looking over the fighters.
"But first, let's make things a little more interesting, shall we?" He says before looking over at one of the Coliseum gates, which began to open slowly to reveal Kitana... in chains. And she is being escorted by another woman, who bears a striking resemblance to Kitana except the eyes, and the color of the outfit she is wearing, which is even more revealing than Kitana, Jade, or Tanya's, if that is even possible.
The woman in pink escorted Kitana over to the stone pillars that sat near Shao Kahn's throne and hooked up the chains to them, holding Kitana in place. Kitana looks up and searches for Kurai until her eyes land on him. She then looks at him with a pleading expression, asking for him to help her, but he doesn't know how.
Looking over at Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung furiously, he boldly walks up close to the throne before stopping when two guards block his path. "What game are you playing now, Shao Kahn? Why do you have Kitana chained up like a prisoner?" He asks the emperor fiercely as the man just chuckles.
Leaning forward confidently in his throne, Shao Kahn answers. "That's because she is my prisoner, Kurai. She is no longer my daughter. She's lost her worth. Mileena, on the other hand..." He says before gesturing over to the woman in pink, who seems to be smiling before waving at Kurai when he looks over at her while she is standing next to Kitana. "Mileena has worth. Worth that I can proudly call her my daughter even though she is not my blood biologically. She has everything I need for a successor to Outworlds throne." The emperor continues his explanation as Kurai feels his rage building up to a boiling point.
"And you, Kurai, you will soon be joining me. Me and your other sister, as my enforcers." He continues, which only shocks the Edenian prince for a moment before he glares at Shao Kahn defiantly.
"And what makes you think for even a second that I will join you?" He angrily asks the emperor, who begins to smirk at the question before he answers.
"Because if you do not join me, and you continue to fight Outworld for Earth Realm, then Kitana... will die." The answer shocks Kurai to his core as he feels the heat leave his body as he clenches his fists while trying to keep himself from lashing out at Shao Kahn for this transgression.
Breathing heavily while keeping his composure, Kurai says nothing else as he walks back over to his spot amongst the fighters, all the while Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung both continue to smirk, feeling that victory is at hand. Kurai lets out a deep breath filled with anger and rage as he scans the area for any sign of the other Earth Realm fighters, worried about where they might be.
"Come on, Raiden. We're so close to Earth Realms freedom, but I can't do this all on my own. Especially not now with Kitana at risk. Where the hell are you guys?" Feeling helpless as he asks himself before looking over at Kitana, who looks equally worried for her little brother.
Earth Realms fate now hangs in the balance of what Kurai will do from this moment forward. Join Shao Kahn and give him what he wants while hoping he spares Kitana? Or continue fighting Outworlds forces in the tournament with risk of his sister suffering a grim fate?