Disclaimer: I do not own Mortal Kombat or any of its characters. All rights belong to Ed Boon, Nether Realm Studios, and Warner Bros.
Outside New York, St. Dominic's Graveyard...
Quan Chi loudly chants a spell while Noob Saibot creates an enchanted circle around a group of soldiers that had been captured and held captive inside the circle.
Kurai and Drake silently run up and hide behind a gravestone as they observe the scene. To them, so far, it's only Quan Chi and Noob Saibot at the graveyard. As Quan Chi continues to chant, his hands begin to glow brightly as Noob Saibot completes the circle.
"Ok, Kurai, we have a problem here. Whatever those two are doing, they're nearly finished." Drake says to Kurai, who nods as he keeps his eyes on both the pale sorcerer and his revenant servant.
"Yeah, and we need to stop them before they sacrifice those soldiers. If we don't, more souls will be added to the soulnado before long and all of New York is done for if Shao Kahn gets what he wants." He says worriedly before looking over at Drake. "What do you say we make our presence known and beat these guys down?" He asks him with a confident smile.
Drake smiles back brightly and nods. "Let's get'em." He says confidently before they both stand up, not worrying about stealth anymore, and walks towards their adversaries.
Quan Chi notices them and briefly stops chanting before addressing his servant. "Noob Saibot, two people are approaching. Who are... Wait. Prince Kurai, I recognize him. But who is the other?" He asks curiously as Noob Saibot looks over at the duo.
Examining him closely, he notices that it's the other person that Kano warned them about. The one that helped Kurai kill two Black Dragon members during the tournament on Shang Tsung's island. Drake Lee. "Drake Lee, my Lord. The one Kano warned us about. But, respectfully, my Lord, Kurai is mine." He says before walking towards the duo to confront them. Quan Chi nods before he smirks disturbingly.
"Then Skarlet shall deal with the other. Skarlet!" He says as he calls upon Skarlet, who appears out of nowhere beside Noob Saibot and walks with him to confront Kurai and Drake.
Drake pauses briefly when he sees Skarlet, but continues walking beside Kurai before the four of them stop and stare each other down. "Oh, man. The one person I was hoping I wouldn't have to fight." Drake thinks to himself as he looks upon Skarlet. And even with her mask covering her face, he knows what she looks like underneath and she's still as beautiful as the last time he saw her.
Noob Saibot steps forward first and points at Kurai. "You. You have no business here, Kurai. Turn back now before you get hurt." The revenant says with a combative tone as Kurai scoffs.
"You and your master are trying to conquer and enslave Earth Realm. The one place that has been my home for many, many centuries... Bi-Han." He says to the revenant, who pauses at the mention of his former name.
Noob Saibot dangerously narrows his eyes and glares heatedly at Kurai after a moment. "That name no longer has any meaning for me. Bi-Han is dead. He was weak, but I, I was brought back stronger. Stronger than I ever thought possible." He declares with confidence, but Kurai shakes his head.
"You're only thinking that because Quan Chi wants you to. You honestly think that he brought you back stronger, Bi-Han? You're delusional if you are. If he brought you back stronger than before, it's only because he needs you to carry out his deeds when he doesn't want to get his hands dirty. If, by chance, you ever decide to turn on him, you won't be strong enough on your own to take him down. Unless something is done about him, you will always be under his heel. You think you're free just because he brought you back? Wrong." The Edenian prince explains as Noob Saibot listens and begins to think whether or not Quan Chi actually helped him, but the revenant eventually shakes his head.
Kurai, however, has already done what he intended. The seed of doubt has been planted in Noob Saibot's head. Now, all that's left is to try and knock some sense into the former Sub-Zero.
"No! Enough! I have a job to do! And that's to stop the both of you! Now, fight me, Kurai!" Noob Saibot says as he and Kurai both rush each other and trade blows on each other before they separate from Drake and Skarlet, who have not said a word to each other until Drake decides to break the silence.
"Skarlet, I-" He begins to say, but stops when Skarlet closes her eyes and raises her hand. She shakes her head sadly before opening her eyes to look at Drake.
"Drake Lee, no. I know what it is you are about to say. For I... surprisingly enough... have been feeling the same way. Even though we do not know each other." She explains before looking away as Drake's eyes widen in shock, but then she looks back at him. "But... you and I can never be. You are an Earth Realmer, I am from Outworld. Your kind and my kind, they can never be." She continues with a hint of sadness in her tone.
Drake takes a step closer, but stops when Skarlet takes a step back, raises her hand slightly and glances back with her eyes fearfully at Quan Chi, who seemed to be half paying attention to the events currently happening near him.
Understanding what she was trying to tell him, Drake doesn't take another step and just talks to the red head. "But what if we could get to know each other? Who cares if our kind are complete opposites and aren't meant to be? I don't. You shouldn't either, Skarlet. Just... give yourself a chance. You don't have to live in fear for your life. Take a chance. Take that leap. I'm sure as hell going to. Will you do it with me?" He asks her sincerely while holding his hand out to her.
And for a brief moment, it seemed as though she was about to accept Drake's offer as her hands began to tremble. She wanted this. She wanted to take the leap with Drake. No longer did she want to be Shao Kahn's bloody assassin. She didn't want to be a slave to Shao Kahn anymore. She desperately wanted to learn more about her new developing feelings and how to process them properly.
Ever since she had laid eyes upon Drake before the Outworld tournament when he was held prisoner, confusing feelings began to develop within her. At times whenever Drake's face flashed across her mind, her chest would ache to the point that it would greatly affect her training.
It was only by a miracle that Shao Kahn hadn't killed her when he noticed that she had fallen behind on her training, but fortunately for her, the emperor still found her useful. However, it didn't stop him from threatening to kill her if things didn't go as planned with the invasion because she wasn't prepared.
Her hand continues to tremble and tears build up in her eyes as she appeared to begin walking towards Drake, but pauses. Her demeanor suddenly changes drastically before she blinks her tears away then glares menacingly with killing intent at Drake as she slowly moves her hands to the hilt of her weapons.
Her fear of Shao Kahn's cruelty and might had taken her over.
Drake, knowing what was about to happen, slowly backs away with his hands raised in a calming manner. "Skarlet... please... no. I don't want to fight you and I know you don't want to fight me." He says pleadingly while Skarlet's expression changes from a glare to one of apologetic sincerity.
"I'm sorry, Drake Lee. I'm so sorry." She whispers before her expression changes again, but it wasn't as menacing as before. She then rushes towards him as Drake raises his arms to defend himself.
Kurai & Drake Lee vs. Noob Saibot & Skarlet...
Kurai and Noob Saibot continue trading blows with each other, neither one getting the upper hand over the other. Kurai parries or blocks each attack Noob Saibot threw at him and it was beginning to frustrate the revenant greatly.
He growls angrily and suddenly throws a ball of black energy at Kurai, which he runs towards and ducks under it at the last minute. Noob Saibot tries to throw another black ball of energy at him again, but Kurai quickly grabs his arms and holds them in place. "Bi-Han, what will it take for you to understand?!" Kurai shouts at him as he and Noob Saibot struggle against each other.
The black clad revenant glares at Kurai angrily. "Understand what?! That I've been brought back stronger than before?! That I am now the perfect warrior?! What else is there to understand?!" He shouts furiously before Kurai suddenly head-butts him, which causes the revenant to stumble and fall backwards as Kurai glares at him.
"The perfect warrior? Is that what you think? Your brother is more humble than you. And you're even more foolish to think that Quan Chi would be stupid enough to bring you back stronger. He has you on a very short leash, Bi-Han." He says to the revenant, who glares at him angrily as he stands back up on his feet.
"Kuai Liang and I share blood, Kurai, but he and I are not brothers." He says coldly as Kurai stares at him stoically with a nod.
"Maybe not... or maybe it's because you never even tried to be. You're so focused on being the perfect warrior you think you are, that you completely forgot who you're family is and where your loyalties should be." He says before shifting into a different stance.
"Ok, I've yet to truly put this to the test, but now is a good time as ever to see if the Phoenix Cleanse can truly cleanse ones body and spirit of evil. I made a promise to Sub-Zero that I would try to save his brother, and I intend to keep that promise." He thinks to himself as he relaxes his body and prepares to cleanse Noob Saibot and restore him to who he once was.
Noob Saibot grits his teeth and rushes towards Kurai to strike him down, but the prince dodges the attack and lightly strikes the revenant in the chest. Noob Saibot, while the strike itself wasn't devastating, feels a sharp pain in his chest like he had just been struck by a battering ram.
He stumbles back wheezing and trying to catch his breath while holding his chest. He looks back up at Kurai with a glare before running towards him and tries to attack him again. Kurai, once again, dodges each attack easily before he lightly strikes Noob Saibot's chest again and backs away from him, the attack causes the revenant to now drop to his knees this time as the pain this time felt more intense than the last.
Noob Saibot looks up at Kurai with a seething glare. "What... What are you doing to me?!" He yells furiously as Kurai says nothing but watches as color slowly begins to return to Noob Saibot's skin.
The revenant shakily stands back up and attempts to launch another ball of black energy at Kurai, but instead just throws nothing but air as he continues to wheeze from exhaustion. Noob Saibot wants to try to run again towards Kurai to continue their fight, but doesn't attempt to, due to his legs feeling shaky just from standing where he is, all the while Kurai stands calmly in his fighting stance.
Noob Saibot takes shaky steps towards Kurai while feeling severely out of breath, but eventually collapses to his knees and uses his arms to hold himself up. He lowers his mask and coughs heavily as Kurai drops his stance and walks over to him. "You... You can't defeat me. You can't. Quan Chi said... that he brought me back because... he saw potential in me. Potential that I had not yet reached." The revenant tells Kurai with each coughing breath before he looks up at the prince, who now stood over him with a sympathetic expression.
"You do have potential, Bi-Han, but you will never reach it while you're with Quan Chi. He's only halting and slowing your progress. As long as you stand by him, remain his slave, you'll never go beyond your limits." He tells the black clad revenant before kneeling in front of him and puts a hand on his shoulder. The revenant makes no attempt to stop him.
"I'm letting you know now, this is going to hurt like it has been. What you choose to do after that when you wake up, is entirely up to you. See you again soon... Bi-Han. Hopefully we'll all be on better terms." He says calmly before striking Noob Saibot's chest harder than before as the revenant gasps in pain before falling unconscious in Kurai's arms.
Full color returns to the now former revenant's body while a dark mist like cloud bursts from Bi-Han's body, screeching and howling as if it were in pain before fading away from sight.
KURAI WINS!
Kurai sighs deeply and gently lowers the cleansed Bi-Han to the ground then turns his head in the direction of Drake's fight with Skarlet. And it seems as though Drake is refusing to fight her, despite her efforts to kill him. However, it also seems like Skarlet isn't fully committing to the killing strikes, even though she is putting up more of an effort than Drake is.
"Skarlet, enough already! I already know your heart's not in this! So, why are you still trying so hard to kill me?!" Drake shouts in frustration at the red head while dodging each sword strike, before suddenly catching both short swords with his hands just as Skarlet was about to cut him down.
Skarlet looks at Drake with genuine sorrow on her face as both hers and his hands tremble. Drake holds the swords in place as blood seeps through his fighting gloves while he struggles to keep Skarlet from dealing a killing blow. Skarlet, still struggling with deciding whether to kill Drake or not while also pushing her feelings down, silently weeps and blinks her tears away with a glare before she answers him.
"Because! Because... if I don't do what Shao Kahn ordered me to do, he's gonna kill me. And I... I have come to the conclusion that... that I..." She struggles to say, but pauses to say the words because she doesn't understand the meaning of the word she's only ever heard in passing.
"You... You've fallen in love with me... haven't you?" He asks calmly as he lets go of the swords when he feels that she's no longer struggling. Skarlet collapses to the ground and holds her head before letting out a blood curdling scream that even caught Quan Chi's attention, but soon didn't care and lost interest before continuing with his ritual.
Drake calmly walks over to Skarlet and kneels down in front of her. "Skarlet, come with us. I understand that you're afraid of Shao Kahn, but you don't have to be. Regardless of how strong he thinks he is, without the people that ate protecting him, he's all alone. He has no one." He explains to her tenderly as she looks up at him.
"But you don't have to feel that way, Skarlet. You don't have to feel alone anymore. Not with us. Come with us and together we'll have an even better chance to take down Shao Kahn." Drake continues before reaching his hand out to Skarlet, who looks at the hand closely and considers taking it.
But Drake suddenly feels that she is still fearful for her life and jumps back before Skarlet can cut him. Kurai rushes towards them to aid Drake, but Drake puts his hand up to stop Kurai. "No, Kurai! Take care of Quan Chi. Skarlet's mine." He tells his long time friend while staring at Skarlet.
Kurai hesitates for a moment before looking over at Quan Chi, who is close to completing the ritual to activate a soulnado with the soldiers still in the center. He looks back at Drake and nods before taking off towards Quan Chi to try and prevent the ritual while Drake stares at Skarlet.
"I take no pleasure in this, Skarlet, but I have to stop you and Quan Chi." He tells her calmly as she just stares back at him.
"Then you'll just have to kill me to do it." She says to him coldly before she runs towards him. Drake shifts to his Oni Iron Fist stance and effortlessly blocks and dodges each of Skarlet's attacks. The red head agitatedly makes risky moves and constantly leaves herself open to a killing blow for Drake during their fight, but he doesn't take the shot.
Instead, he pays more attention to the vital areas that he can use to incapacitate the blood mage. But then Skarlet suddenly grabs hold of the blade of her weapon and slices her hand, shocking Drake. Then the shock quickly goes away when Skarlet forms multiple bloods balls while her hand quickly heals before launching them at Drake.
He dodges each one while running towards her. When he reaches her she tries to quickly cut him down, but only manages to cut his clothes when he moves to the side.
Quickly attacking her vital points, Skarlet begins to feel light headed with her legs wobbly. She stumbles forward while Drake steps to the side, but just as she's about to fall forward, Drake reaches out and catches her before she falls to the ground.
DRAKE WINS!
Skarlet felt paralyzed and tired, but she knew she wasn't dying. She looks up at him with a curious expression. "Why?" She asks. "Why won't you kill me? I tried to kill you." She says to him before he gently grabs and holds one of her hands.
"You really don't know about your new feelings, do you?" He asks her tenderly as she just continues to look up at him, waiting for his answer. He sighs deeply before telling her. "Because... Because I've... fallen in love with you too, Skarlet. It makes no sense at all, I know that, but... but I can't help how I feel. And neither can you, it seems." He tells her as her eyes widen in shock.
"You... You're in love... with me?" She asks him with a cracked tone as Drake smiles and nods his head with a smile. But before Skarlet cand say anything more, she appears to smile underneath her mask as a stray tear drops from her eye before she falls unconscious.
Drake quickly checks her breathing and pulse to make sure that he didn't accidentally kill her and that she was still alive. He feels relieved that she is still breathing and has a steady pulse before he looks up and sees Kurai struggling to get to Quan Chi.
The ritual is not yet complete, but Quan Chi has formed a barrier around him and the symbol on the ground to protect him and prevent the soldiers from leaving, and Kurai from getting in. Not even his now perfected mastery of the Phoenix Cleanse was able to allow him to break the barrier.
Drake gently sets Skarlet on the ground and whispers. "I'll come back for you, I promise." He says to her before running off towards Kurai to help him. Kurai punches the barrier repeatedly throws white hot flames to try and break it, but to no avail.
Drake runs up beside him just as Kurai sighs in frustration. "What the hell is going on, Kurai? What is this?" He asks in shock when he realizes that Kurai can't break the barrier.
Kurai sighs deeply before he answers. "The bastard put up a barrier before I could get near him. Normally I can break protection barriers no problem, but this? This is different. I don't think this barrier is by Quan Chi's design. This is someone else's." He explains as the two can't do anything but watch as Quan Chi continues to chant with a smug expression on his face.
Drake looks at Kurai with a concerned expression. "But who is strong enough to create a barrier like this? If it's not Quan Chi's design, whose is it?" He asks worriedly as Kurai shakes his head.
"I don't know, Drake. That's what worries me." He answers simply as the soulnado quickly takes form and the soldiers in the center of the symbol begin to scream in horrific despair as the life appears to be drained from their bodies.
Both desperate, Kurai and Drake despairingly hit the barrier as they helplessly watch the soldiers die in front of them while their souls are sucked out of them and become part of the soulnado. "NO!!!" They both shout as Quan Chi looks up towards the dark sky with a triumphant grin.
The pale sorcerer looks over at them behind the safety of the barrier and continues to smile smugly. "Behold, Prince Kurai! Witness as Earth Realm comes to an end!" He says triumphantly before he begins to laugh mockingly as the two men stand helplessly as the soulnado continues to grow.
Seething in anger, Kurai's hands are engulfed in white flames. "Not while I'm still breathing, Quan Chi!" He shouts angrily before he steps back and shoots a wave of fire at the barrier, once again, to no avail. But Kurai persists and adds more of his energy to the wave of flames.
Quan Chi laughs mockingly again as Kurai desperately tries to break Quan Chi's protection barrier so he can beat the sorcerer within an inch of his life. Drake, watching Kurai continue to push more energy into the flame wave, feels the sudden need to be of more help to his friend. He steps up behind him and clenches his fists tightly before feeling his own energy build before his own hands are engulfed in gold flames.
His eyes widen in shock as he feels his energy continue to fill him up before he copies what Kurai is doing and suddenly shoots a wave of fire at the barrier. Kurai notices this, but pays no mind to it as it wasn't the most important thing at the moment.
Both Kurai and Drake push their energies further into the flames to break and destroy the barrier while Quan Chi continues to laugh, this time with true amusement. "Try and struggle all you want, you fools! It doesn't matter how many of you there are! The two of you will never be able to-" He says mockingly to them, but suddenly stops as he notices cracks beginning to form in the barrier.
The sorcerer's eyes widen in disbelief as he nervously begins to back away in fear while shaking his head slowly. "No... No... They can't... They're not... They're not strong enough to... It's impossible!" He says with disbelief as cracks continue to form in the barrier before Kurai and Drake yell loudly as both flame waves grow bigger and bigger as more energy is added.
Before long, the barrier shatters and Quan Chi stumbles back from the force as the flames suddenly stop and Kurai rushes towards the pale sorcerer in a blink of an eye. Kurai glares furiously at Quan Chi with flames in his eyes as the sorcerer looks at the Edenian prince as if he were Death itself.
Kurai stuns Quan Chi with a devastating punch to his jaw that causes the sorcerer to stumble clumsily over his feet before collapsing to a single knee, but Kurai doesn't give him a moments rest as he continues to beat him brutally until he is a bloody mess and lies flat on the ground. Now bruised and bloodied, Quan Chi takes wheezing breaths while he twitches on the ground.
Taking a breath before sighing deeply, Kurai looks over at Drake, who had collapsed to his knees from using so much energy he's never used before. He runs over to him kneels down beside him.
He laughs when he notices that his and Drake's hands are both charred from having pushed the flames as much as they did to break the barrier, but Kurai has grown used to that type pain over the years from training. Drake however, has not since it was an entirely new experience for the young man.
"Hurts like hell, doesn't it?" He asks Drake with a laugh and gently pats him on the back as Drake looks up at him with a light smile.
"Hell yeah, it does." He answers with an tired tone as he gently removes his gloves, but winces from the pain. He and Kurai can hear crackles from his charred hands and burnt gloves as he gently pulls them off. He slowly clenches his hands into fists, but winces again and groans from the pain.
Kurai laughs again and pats Drake on the back gently. "Get used to it, buddy. You've just entered a whole new world of fighting. When this is all over, you'll have to continue training with your new abilities if you want to get used to this type of pain." He tells Drake, who's groans in despair from having to worry about training with something else now other than hand to hand combat.
Kurai continues to laugh, but stops and quickly stands up when he notices Quan Chi had somehow recovered from the beating and has opened a portal to escape. The pale sorcerer glares furiously at the two before stepping through the portal and escapes.
Kurai, frustrated with himself that he allowed Quan Chi to escape so easily, looks at the soulnado, which has gradually slowed down from growing, but still continues to grow. He looks down at Drake. "How tired are you?" He asks him urgently as Drake looks up at him with confusion.
"I'm... I'm tired, but not exhausted. Why?" He asks curiously as Kurai points at the unconscious forms of Bi-Han and Skarlet.
"Take them and get out of the graveyard aa fast as you can. I have a feeling that when this soulnado is destroyed, the blowback is going to be huge." He explains as he walks towards the soulnado while Drake stands up to his feet.
"But how are you going to destroy it? Quan Chi completed the ritual." He asks curiously as Kurai looks back at him with a knowing smile. Drake quickly figures it out what his friend has planned and is about to protest, but Kurai's expression changes.
"Drake, we don't have time to argue about this. The longer we argue, the more the this thing grows. Now take Bi-Han and Skarlet and go!" He shouts as Drake pauses from his friends tone, but nods in understanding and runs quickly to pick up the unconscious Bi-Han and Skarlet. With both of them in hand, Drake runs as quickly as he can to get out of the graveyard as Kurai looks upon the soulnado with a saddened expression.
"I'm sorry, everyone. I tried to save you, but I wasn't strong enough. But I promise you, I will not leave you to this cruel fate. I hope that all of you will have peace once this thing is destroyed. And we will stop the tyrant that did all this. You have my word." He says somberly before glaring at the soulnado and launches a large wave of white flames at the sickly green current of souls.
The flames hit the spinning current and seems to screech painfully as the flames are sucked up into the soulnado. The flow of the current seems to be disrupted and slows down before long as the soulnado continues to howl and screech in pain before suddenly exploding.
The explosion causes a blast wave that sends a powerful force through the graveyard which causes Kurai to be sent flying backwards through the graveyard and causes Drake to be sent flying with Bi-Han and Skarlet still in his arms. But it didn't send him flying as far as Kurai as the prince is spinning and flying through the air. "Ohhh, HELL!!!" He shouts loudly before landing in a wooden shack just outside the graveyard.
Noticing this, Drake gently drops Bi-Han and Skarlet before running over towards the now ruined shack with worry on his face for Kurai. "Kurai? KURAI?!" He shouts as he walks through the busted door of the wooden shack and searches frantically for his friend. "Kurai?! Come on, say something, man!" He calls out to Kurai as he moves and shifts planks of wood around to look for his friend.
He then hears movement beside him as he sees a single gloved hand sticking out of the wooden rubble and begins to move the planks around to find Kurai, scratched up and bruised, but still alive. Drake sighs deeply with relief before he hears Kurai begin to laugh. "Dude, what the hell are you laughing about?" He asks him incredulously with an angered expression on his face. What could Kurai possibly find so funny right now when he almost died?
Kurai, with one eye open, looks up at Drake with a painful, but amused, expression. "I hope you saw that, Drake, because I am NOT doing it again anytime soon." He says before he continues to laugh. Drake looks at Kurai with an incredulous expression before a smile begins to creep up on his lips then suddenly bursts out laughing with his friend.
The two continue to laugh for a moment longer before they both remember that they have to regroup with the others back at the church. Drake helps Kurai out of the wooden rubble and the two grab the unconscious forms of Bi-Han and Skarlet again before heading back to the church in the city.
Few hours later, back in New York...
It took the two of them a while to get back to the city and the church, but they managed to make it back safely without trouble. The entire city seemed ominously quiet without the population occupying it. Kurai and Drake kept their wits about them in case any Outworld forces decided to hide in order to ambush them, but luckily, nothing happened.
The two, with Bi-Han and Skarlet still unconscious, walked through the doors of the church and the group looked over at them to see who walked in, only to look in shock when they saw the state Kurai was now in.
"By the Elder Gods, Kurai, what happened?!" Raiden asks him incredulously as the two gently set Bi-Han and Skarlet on the floor before sitting down themselves to take a breather. The group and Raiden quickly runs over to them and checks their injuries as Kitana and Jade closely inspect Kurai's.
Drake points over to Kurai with an amused expression. "The prince here decided to destroy the soulando on his own, since I wouldn't have been able to help much." He answers with a laugh as Kitana, Jade, and the rest of the group looks at the Edenian prince with disbelief.
"He did WHAT?!" The entire group asks loudly as Kurai just laughs embarrassingly. Jade and Kitana both roughly smack his shoulders hard, causing him to wince.
"Um, ow." He says to them with a small smile before they smack him again. "Ok, NOW it's starting to hurt." He says with amusement as they both look at him angrily before Drake continues.
"Yeah. He destroyed the soulando, by the way, but he was sent flying through the air before landing inside a wooden shack just outside the graveyard while I was carrying those two."He says pointing over at Bi-Han and Skarlet, who were still unconscious. "And what does he do after that? He just laughs it off like it was some kind of joyride." He finishes with a laugh. Meanwhile, Raiden hears another crack and pulls off his amulet to see that it has become even more fractured than before.
"What? No! Why is nothing we do enough?!" He whispers angrily before looking back at the group.
Kitana and Jade were now heated as the group tries not to laugh while Kurai just shrugs with a small smile. The two Edenian women look like they are about to scream or shout at him, but both instead take deeps breaths and sigh before walking away before saying anything they might regret.
Once the two women were at a safe enough distance, the group bursts out laughing as Sub-Zero and Smoke run over to the unconscious Bi-Han to check on him. Jax kneels down in front of Kurai and gently pats him on the shoulder. "Damn, boy, are you crazy or do you just like to show off?" He asks humorously as Kurai just laughs before shaking his head.
"Crazy might be the better answer. I've done a lot of crazy stuff, but the flying through the air after destroying a soulnado tops all of it." He says with a laugh before looking over at Kitana and Jade, who now stood on the other side of the church.
Raiden takes this opportunity to now explain to the others, minus Jade and Kitana, what he intends to do. "I'm afraid that I must leave you all for now." He begins, which shocks the group.
"What?! Why, Lord Raiden?" Liu Kang asks worriedly as he and the group listen to Raiden's reasoning.
"My amulet continues to fracture despite all our efforts to prevent a horrible future. Armageddon." He begins while the group listens. "But no matter what we do, no matter what changes I make to prevent things from happening, they all still happen, regardless of what any of us do. I thought originally that individual that must win referred to you, Kurai, but now I'm not so certain." He explains before lowering his head shamefully as the group look over at Kurai then back at Raiden.
"So... what will you do now, Lord Raiden?" Kung Lao asks the thunder god, who raises his head with a determined expression.
"I will must go speak with the Elder Gods and discuss this matter with them. I will also find out why they have not yet punished Shao Kahn for his transgressions against the rules of Mortal Kombat. His actions and violations have gone unpunished long enough." He says as calmly as possible but with a hint of anger in his tone.
Liu Kang calmly walks up to the thinder god. "But the battle is here in Earth Realm, Lord Raiden. We need you here. We need everyone here now that Kurai and Drake are injured." He tries to reason with Raiden, but the thunder god remains adamant that he should consult with the Elder Gods.
"Liu Kang." Kurai calls to the monk, who looks over at him. "Drake and I are injured, yes, but not defenseless. We can still pull our own weight." He tells his Shaolin friend as Drake nods in agreement.
"I understand, Kurai. I do. But-" Liu Kang begins to say, but is interrupted.
"Um, Liu Kang? I'd listen to the badass Edenian prince if I were you." Cage tells the monk with a grin as the others chuckle, but Liu Kang remains unsure.
Seeing that the group, besides a few naysayers, were in agreement, Raiden makes his decision. "Nightwolf, you will lead until we return." He says as Nightwolf nods.
"As you wish, Haokah." The man says before Raiden looks over at Liu Kang.
"Are you ready, Liu Kang?" He asks before Liu Kang looks over at Kitana then to Kurai, who nods his head as both make a silent promise. Liu Kang then looks over at Raiden and nods.
Raiden places a hand on monk's shoulder then both teleport out of the church in a bolt of lightning, leaving the group in an awkward silence before most of them begin to separate and find something to do besides standing around and wait. Kurai looks over at the two Edenian women. Kitana was pacing back and forth while Jade just stood in one single spot.
The prince sighs deeply and slowly stands up. "I better go over there and talk to Jade and Kitana. Better now than later while we wait for Liu Kang and Raiden to return. Not like we have anything else to do right now." He says and begins to walk over to them, but Sonya stops him when she grabs his arm.
"Are you sure you want to do that, Kurai? They both seemed pretty upset." She says to him worriedly before he smile and nods.
"Which is exactly why I need to talk to them now before anything else happens. The worst they can do is kill me at this point." He says humorously, which causes the others to chuckle before he walks over to the two Edenian women while Drake stands up to check on Skarlet.
As he approaches Jade and Kitana, Jade says nothing and turns away from him when she notices him approaching. Kitana strides up to him, stopping him in his tracks, and glares heatedly at him as she points a finger in his face. "I... No, WE should kill you, Kurai!" She shouts at him as he nods calmly. "What were you thinking?! Destroying a soulnado by yourself?! What would become of Jade and I if we lost you now?" She asks as her voice cracks at the thought of Kurai dying after destroying the soulnado.
Kurai calmly grabs Kitana's shoulders and kisses her forehead gently. "I don't have an answer to that question, Kitana, I don't. But for you, at least you'd still have Liu Kang." He tells her, which causes her eyes to widen. "Oh, come on, Kitana. You know better than anyone that I'm not a fool. You were trying to be secretive about it, but even a blind man can see how you two feel about each other. It's really not hard to guess." He says to her as she stands in shock that her brother had figured out her feelings for the Shaolin monk, but she was still angry with him as she clenched her fists.
"As for Jade, well... you both should know better than anyone at this point that I'm not easy to take down. Even if I'm beaten down, I'll just keep getting back up. I've told you both before, I've seen and done many things during my time here in Earth Realm. Granted, destroying a soulnado tops all the things I've done-Ow!" He says before wincing with a laugh as Kitana hits him in the chest with an unamused expression.
"But regardless of all that, Kitana, nothing is ever going to stop me from come back to the people I love and care about. I'm far too stubborn to just give up. Just like you, mother, and father." He says to her assuringly as she crosses her arms and lets out a frustrated sigh.
She looks away for a moment and sniffles as tears threaten to fall down her cheeks, but she manages to hold them back. "I'm still angry with you." She tells him with a whisper, which causes him to chuckle before hugging her tightly.
He gently kisses her cheek then nods. "I know." He tells her before he begins to walk up to Jade. Kitana walks away before Kurai slowly wraps his arms around Jade's waist. She shakes her head and refuses to look at him.
"Jade, please listen to me." He says to her as he gently places his head against her shoulder. "I know that what I did was reckless and risky. Believe me, I know. But if there were any other way to the destroy the soulnado without putting myself at risk, I would have done it in a heartbeat. You know that." He explains to her as she continues to look away from him while her body trembles.
Kurai kisses her shoulder gently before he continues. "But with the rate that the soulnado was growing it wouldn't have taken long for it to cover the entirety of the graveyard. It did slow down after Quan Chi had left, but it didn't matter. If we had left it alone to worry about it later, we might have already been too late. I couldn't let that happen. Drake and I couldn't let that happen. So, that's why I did it. I'm sorry I scared you, Jade, and I know you're upset with me, but something had to be done. I won't ask you to forgive me, I just hope that you understand." He finishes as Jade slowly turns around and begins to kiss him passionately.
After the two share their moment together, Jade pulls her head away and looks at Kurai with tears in her eyes. "Of course I forgive you, Kurai. Always. I know that you did what you had to do, but that's not the reason why I'm upset." She says to him, which causes him to look at her with confusion.
"It's not? Then... why are you upset?" He asks her curiously, because he thought for sure that it was him destroying the soulnado so recklessly was what had her so upset.
Jade places her head against his chest and grips his shirt tightly. "I'm more upset at myself than you." She says before pausing as Kurai just waits patiently for her to continue. "Kitana and I didn't tell you this, Kurai, we should have, but it would have taken too much time and you would've been too late. Kitana and I... we have heard stories, unpleasant stories about Shao Kahn's soulnados during our time in Outworld. People have died just from being sucked up into that despicable abomination." She explains as Kurai continues to listen, but remains confused.
"When you left for the graveyard, I should've just gone with you. Because the entire time you were gone, I was a nervous wreck, though I hid it well. But while you were gone, I couldn't help but think about you getting sucked up into that void and never seeing you again. I tried putting it out of my mind in case the church came under attack, but the thought would not leave my mind." She continues as her voice begins to crack.
"Then when you came back, I felt relieved that you had survived. When we felt the explosion, I couldn't help but think the worst, then Drake started to tell the story of what you did to destroy the soulnado and then thoughts of future events and fights began to flood my mind of how you'll die. But those thoughts weren't of you as the adult you are now. They were about..." She goes on then pauses as Kurai begins to understand why she was upset. She's not upset with him about the soulnado, she's upset with a part of herself for still seeing Kurai as the little boy she once knew so long ago.
He embraces her tightly as she weeps quietly against his chest so the others don't hear. "A part of me is hanging on to the past, Kurai. I see you as you are now, a strong and fearless warrior, but I also still see you as the boy I knew and love when we were children. For the life of me, I can't move on from what happened in Edenia all those years ago. That night... the last time I saw you, you were so... so... innocent. You were naive and curious. Then after that night... so many years later... you came back into my life... battle scarred, hardened, experienced in combat, and laser focused." She continues while listing the things she remembers most from their childhood and from the time he first fought her on Shang Tsung's island.
She then looks up at him with sadness as tears roll down her cheeks. "All those years, Kurai. So much time lost. Kitana and I grew up without you, and when you come back to us, you're all grown up." She whispers despairingly. "We all had one fear, my love. Kitana, your mother, your father, and I... we all feared that you would grow up too fast... and because of Shao Kahn's damned invasion... our fear came true. You grew up too quickly and we weren't with you to see how you grew." She says to him before she begins to cry against his chest while Kurai holds her against him.
He rubs her back gently and whispers soothing words to her as Jade continues to cry against his chest. "Jade, I know that it will take you more than a year for you to move on from seeing me as you did back then. Just know that no matter how you see me, I'll be here with you every step of the way. We both knew that our... relationship would be a challenge, but when has a challenge ever stopped us?" He says to her reassuringly while she begins to calm down.
She pulls away from his chest and nods with a smile before looking up at him. "I know, Kurai, I know. I just-" She begins to say but stops when Kurai gently places his hands on her shoulders.
"Jade?"
"Yes?"
He says nothing else and just kisses her fiercely and pulls her closer to him as she moan softly in the kiss. He hugs her as she wraps her arms around his neck and tries to pull him even closer to her as they deepen their kiss. After a few moments of kissing each other, they pull away from each other and just hold each other silently in each others arms.
After standing in that one spot for a while, Kurai decides to change the subject to something else. "You know, I just remembered something." He begins as Jade rubs her cheek against his chest softly.
"Hmm, what's that?" She asks him curiously.
"Last year, you never did answer my question." He tells her as she looks confused for a moment then looks up at him.
"What question?" She wonders.
Kurai smiles and reminds her. "You never told me how found out about Sadira." He tells her as her eyes widen before she laughs lightly.
She nods before deciding to answer. "Oh, that. Well, that's easy because-" She begins to answer and explain, but is interrupted when everyone is startled by Riptide, who suddenly activates on its own and sits up quickly.
"Major Jackson Briggs, multiple targets are surrounding the church. The Lin Kuei are upon you." Riptide informs the group as Jax quickly runs over to the pedestal.
"Everyone regroup now! Form a circle!" He orders as the group quickly runs over to the pedestal and form a circle around it while Drake, Sub-Zero, and Smoke gently place the two, still unconscious, forms of Bi-Han and Skarlet.
Multiple Lin Kuei cyborgs all suddenly teleport inside the church and surround the group, but they don't make a move. They look as though they are waiting. But for what? Or who?
"Kurai?" Jade whispers worriedly before looking over at him with her hand reaching out. Hearing her whisper, Kurai looks over at her and sees her reaching her hand out. He takes her hand in his and grips it tightly.
"It's ok, Jade. We'll be ok." He assures her as they both look at each other a moment longer before looking back at the Lin Kuei cyborgs that are surrounding them.
The church doors suddenly burst open as a strong gust of wind fills the area, which causes the group to cover their faces as they hear a new pair of footsteps walking into the church and a familiar screech that Kurai, Kitana, and Jade recognize.
"So... Sheeva was telling me the truth..." Kurai thinks to himself as he and his two fellow Edenians look up to see Sindel walking towards them all with an all too serious expression on her face. As Sindel continues to walk towards the group, Kitana and Jade look at her with shocked expressions.
Sindel examines the group closely before her eyes land on her children. Kurai and Kitana. She briefly looks saddened before grinning arrogantly. "Hello... my dear children. No hug?"