Disclaimer: I do not own Mortal Kombat or any of its characters. All rights belong to Ed Boon, Nether Realm Studios, and Warner Bros. Please support the official release.
One year has passed since Outworld's invasion of Earth Realm. Since then, peace, thanks to Kurai, has formed between the realms of Edenia and Outworld. The denizens of each realm have made steady visits to either Outworld or Edenia and have even formed bonds of friendship over time. The forming relationships were uneasy and difficult during the first few months due to many, less than pleasant opinions, but a calm air soon passed over all residents.
Though there are still many in Edenia that openly express their disdain and resentment towards the peace with Outworld. They have even vocally questioned Kurai's loyalty to Edenia and rumors have begun to spread that he is secretly an Outworld spy who is looking to oppose Sindel and Kitana and dethrone them so Outworld can gain power over the realm once again.
Rumors have also circulated that Sindel kicked Kurai out of the palace and banished him to the outskirts of the city. Sindel has dealt with these fanatics and alarmists multiple times and even stated that the rumors are exactly that, rumors. Nothing more than foolish lies spread by idiots who believe that Outworld will attack Edenia once again to take revenge for Shao Kahn.
Kurai was not discouraged by any of the rumors and didn't much care about what the fanatics were saying about him. He knew the real truth. As did Sindel, Kitana, Jade, Ophelia, the Edenian Rebel Forces, and many others that fought beside him during the Outworld invasion. As well as Mileena and her court. That was all that mattered to him.
On the outskirts of the city, near the lake where Kurai had decided to build his home, Kurai wakes up in his bed when the light of the morning sun peeks through the curtain of his window. He stretches and groans while rolling over on his back while a dark skinned arm drapes over his chest, causing him to smile.
Turning his head towards the woman lying beside him, he leans over and softly kisses her lips, causing her to moan before slowly opening her emerald green eyes. "Hmm, good morning, my Prince." Jade says to him with a smile before pulling the blanket up closer to her.
Kurai smiles back. "Good morning, Jade. Sleep well?" He asks her tenderly, causing her to nod.
"Always when I'm with you." She admits with a laugh while Kurai laughs with her then begins to sit up. "Oh, no, no, please. Can't you just lie here for a moment longer?" She asks with a mock whine, which causes Kurai to chuckle.
"As much as I would love to, you know I can't, and neither can you." He tells her as she groans then stretches before hopping out of the bed to put on some clothes.
"Very well, in that case, YOU will accompany me to the big banquet at the palace tomorrow night." She tells him with a smirk, causing him to pause before turning his head in her direction.
"Forget it. You're right. Let's get back in bed." He says quickly and sits down on the bed, which causes her to laugh before crawling up on the bed to hug him from behind. She kisses his shoulder tenderly an wraps her arms around him.
"Kurai, my darling, I know that you don't want the life of a Prince anymore, but you have to at least act like it from time to time, if only to keep up the appearance." She explains to him softly as he sighs.
He looks at her with a soft expression. "Jade, the people in the city think that I'm a spy for Outworld. Why should I honestly care about my appearance as a prince or not? It's not going to change their minds and I don't intend to change their minds because it's not my concern." He says bluntly as Jade nods and kisses his shoulder again.
"I know, my love, I know. But if you don't want to do it for them, for obvious reasons, then do it for your mother. For Kitana. My mother and for me. Also for... Mileena. She's attending with some of her court at the banquet. Although, I still can't understand why you-" She explained tenderly before her tone shifts to a stern one, but Kurai stops her.
"Jade, I'm not having this conversation again about Mileena. Despite your differences with each other, she's been nothing but an ally to us for the past year. You and Kitana should move on by now." He tells her sternly, which causes her to regret bringing it up as she nods her head.
"Yes, yes, I know. I'm sorry. It's still a... strange adjustment. I mean, last year we were enemies, this year we're... allies? It's all just... strange to me." She tells him with an uncertain tone. Her gaze drifts off to the side for a moment before looking back at Kurai. "I just need more time to adjust. That's all. I mean, if you, of all people, are able to accept her, then I should be able to do the same." She continues with a smile as he nods.
They both lean forward and kiss each other again before Jade pulls away with a teasing smirk. "Now then, do your morning routine and go about your day. I have to meet with my mother for the security arrangements for the banquet tomorrow night. And you WILL be there." She tells him with a sly grin as he groans loudly.
She giggles before getting up off the bed as Kurai lies down on his back with a huff. "I'll see you tomorrow night then, Kurai. And don't forget to wear something nice. Something a prince would wear." She says to him before kissing him one more time then leaves room.
"No, I think I'll just come to the banquet in the nude. I'll give the ladies something to look at just for fun." He says with a grin and a side glance to wait for her response.
"You will do no such thing! You do that and Sindel and Kitana will have a fit!" She yells from downstairs sternly while Kurai laughs.
"Ok, fine! I won't! Sourpuss." He says quietly with a smile, but Jade responds back.
"I heard that!" She says before leaving the house to head for the city while Kurai laughs lightly. He gets up off the bed and stretches then gets dressed in his training gear to begin his morning routine workout.
He walks out of his home, a modest two story house, and walks down to the dock at the lake. He walks out to the dock and practices slow and fluid motions while controlling his breathing to begin the routine. He does this for an hour before heading towards the waterfall and sits underneath the powerful, crashing waves of water that descends upon him. The coldness and the intense pain allows him to build up his tolerance for pain.
For Kurai, it's a better alternative than getting beat to a bloody pulp. He does this also for an hour without rest before leaving the waterfall and heads back to his house to practice more of his techniques against the many training posts that he gets himself from chopping down trees that are nearby.
He practices many techniques that he's learned over the many years from many warriors he had befriended before they passed. The Phoenix Cleanse being one of them. After perfecting the technique with Han's help, Kurai decided to take it beyond its use in the battle field when he used the Cleanse on Mileena to get rid of Shang Tsung's wicked sorcery that ailed her mentally.
Not long after that, when Kurai had returned to the Wu Shi Academy in Earth Realm, he offered Kabal to heal his burnt body and repair his lungs without having to rely on the dirty and rusted machines that Kano had implanted into him just so he could breath. But Kabal was hesitant about it, for he had grown quite attached to his new abilities that he had used during the invasion.
Kurai assured him that the Cleanse only gets rid of anything and everything negative, nothing positive. Kabal agreed after that and allowed Kurai to heal his body and, just as he promised, Kabal removed his mask and the breathing machine to take a deep breath of fresh air. He then ran a few laps around the temple itself to see if he had lost his incredible speed. He had not.
After thanking Kurai for healing him, Kabal went with Sonya, Jax, Stryker, and Cage back to America to continue building the Earth Realm Special Forces in order to protect all of Earth Realm and not just America. That was the last time he saw them in person, but they've all managed to keep in touch with each other, even from being realms apart.
Kurai finishes with his technique practices with sweat trickling down his body. He takes a deep breath and looks up at the sun to see that it was nearing midday. "Damn, I went longer than normal. I better clean up before I head to the city and... find something to wear for the banquet." He thinks to himself begrudgingly before heading into his home to take a bath.
Once he cleaned himself up and put on some casual clothes, Kurai heads to the city to pick out something to wear for the banquet that's being held at the palace. Walking through the city, Kurai notices the people staring and pointing at him, which causes him to roll his eyes. "Earth Realm, Edenia, it doesn't matter. The realms are more alike than they think. Except the Nether Realm." He thinks to himself as he walks through the city to find a clothing store that sells suitable clothing for special events, but every clerk in the stores would only turn him away.
Kurai sighs in frustration and rubs his hands down his face and almost decides to find Jade to tell her he won't be attending the banquet, but fate had other plans. "Kurai?" A feminine voice calls out to him, causing him to turn in the direction of the voice.
It's his older sister, Kitana. And with an escort. "Hello, Kitana." He greets her with a friendly smile, but his heart wasn't in it, and she noticed this. She frowns and begins to walk towards him with her escort close behind her, but she waves them off and dismisses them.
"Princess, I must protest-" One of the escorts begins to say, but stops when Kitana shoots a sharp glare at the man, silencing him, he lowers his head and backs away as Kitana continues her approach to her little brother.
"How are you, dear brother?" She asks him kindly before he sighs in frustration again and turns his head in the direction of the store that had just turned him away then looks back at Kitana.
"I'm doing well, all things considered." He tells her half honestly while gesturing his head in the direction of the store behind him. Kitana looks at the store with a disappointed expression before lowering her head.
"The people still giving you a hard time?" She asks him curiously, but Kurai gives an annoyed expression.
"What the hell do you think?" He snaps at her quietly, causing her to flinch. He looks at her with a slight glare and waits to hear if she has anything else to say, but when she doesn't say another word, he begins to walk away.
"Kurai, wait! Come with me to the palace. We can throw something together for you to wear for the banquet and we can talk." She declares as the people around them look at her in shock as one of her escorts walks up to her again.
"Princess, I really don't think that would be a wise-" He begins to say, but notices the look on Kurai's face with white flames in his eyes, which causes him to instantly go silent.
Kurai glares at the escort angrily before glancing at his sister. "I think I'll pass, Princess Kitana. I'd hate for you to ruin your precious image that you've built up for your people." He says sharply, which causes her to flinch again from his tone when he calls her princess, which causes tears to build in her eyes.
"Kurai, I..." She begins to say, but Kurai walks away without saying another word to her. One of the escorts walks up to her and gently places a hand on her shoulder.
"Princess, we should-" He begins, but Kitana raises her hand to silence him and shrugs off his hand, so he remains quiet as she walks away with her escort following soon after.
Deciding that he was not going to be attending the banquet, Kurai heads to the main office of the barracks near the palace to find Jade and Ophelia. Walking into the barracks, he walks past many of the new recruits that are training to become part of the Edenian Royal Army. The new recruits quickly get out of Kurai's way, but one of them foolishly steps in front of the main office and prevents his entry.
Taking a calming breath, Kurai sighs. "Get out of my way, recruit." He orders the recruit, who smirks and shakes his head.
He then leans close to Kurai's face. "I do not take orders from a traitorous prince." He says smugly as the other recruits all laugh behind Kurai with smug grins.
Knowing how this was going to go, Kurai nods his head. "You sure you want to test me today, kid?" He calmly asks the recruit, who nods with a an arrogant smile.
"Let's see how strong you think you-"
WHAM!
The recruit doesn't finish his sentence as Kurai quickly knocks him out with one punch. The recruit collapses against the wall before falling to the floor. Kurai then turns around with a fiery glare in his eyes that causes the other recruits to back away from him fearfully.
Kurai scoffs. "If THIS is the future of the Edenian Royal Army, then my mother is as good as dead. If a single one of you are as good as Ophelia claims, you wouldn't be backing down from a fight, now would you?" He asks strictly, waiting for them to answer as the recruits continue to back as far away from Kurai as possible. "Of course not, because REAL warriors never back down from a fight! And NONE of you can call yourselves as such! Every single one of you are nothing. Nothing but spoiled, rotten, pathetic, cowards." He continues with a snarl as they all glare at him furiously for being called cowards, yet they still do nothing to prove him wrong.
The main office door suddenly opens to reveal Jade. Who is in charge of the Royal Army while Ophelia is still in charge of the Rebel Forces. Jade surveys the room and notices the recruits backed away from Kurai as he glares at them while another recruit lies unconscious near her door.
She sighs and walks up behind Kurai before placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Lady Jade, no!" One of the recruits shouts, but Jade shoots them a sharp glare.
"Silence." She hisses at them before looking at Kurai. "Kurai. Kurai, come on. I think you've scared them enough. Let's talk." She tells him tenderly as she leads him into the main office.
"Lady Jade!" Another of the recruits calls out to her, stopping her before she walks into the office. She impatiently turns to look at the recruit to hear what they've got to say. "Lady Jade, you can do so much better than that traitor." The recruit tells her, causing Jade to glare furiously at them and the other recruits.
"I already have." She says simply before looking down at the unconscious recruit. "And someone help him to the medical bay." She orders them before walking into her office and closes the door behind her.
Kurai sighs deeply as he sits down on a chair near the desk as Jade walks around in front of him and leans against the desk. She looks down at him tenderly. "Darling, what's wrong?" She softly asks him.
Kurai looks up at her with a mixed expression of emotions. The main one being frustration. "This entire fucking realm is what's wrong." He begins. "Jade, I'm not going to that banquet tomorrow night." He tells her bluntly, shocking her.
"What? But you're mother and Kitana will be expecting you." She argues, but Kurai shrugs his shoulders uncaringly.
"Yeah? Well, my mother knows where to find me. It's not like we don't see each other. And Kitana has got her nose stuck up so far into the air, she doesn't know how to look down anymore." He angrily says standing up and walks over towards the window that looks out at the barracks.
Jade sighs softly then walks up behind Kurai before wrapping her arms around his waist. "I know she hasn't tried to reach out to talk since you left the palace, but she misses you, Kurai. You know that. She tells me every day. And even though your mother can see you whenever she wants, she misses you too. The palace just isn't the same without you." She explains to him while he listens.
"The palace just seems so... dull and lifeless now. The servants and the guards do their best to liven things up to keep them happy, but it's forced. The palace has its queen, it has its princess, but it doesn't have what the queen and princess wants. Their prince. The queen's son. The princess's brother." She continues to explain, causing him to sigh, but he remains silent.
"Kurai, you don't have to worry about being the prince. Be the warrior you always have been. By all means. That's the part of you I love most. The survivor. So does your mother and sister, but for their sake, and yours, please, at least act like the prince that they need from time to time. Remember, Kurai, you weren't a warrior before Shao Kahn attacked Edenia. You were still a child. So was Kitana and I. But Sindel never got the chance to raise you and see you grow. That opportunity was given to others that taught you everything you know now." Jade continues while Kurai keeps his gaze out the window.
Jade sighs from Kurai's continued silence and holds him tightly while keeping her head against his back. "Kurai... baby... like I said, you don't always have to be the prince. Be the warrior as much as you want to, but from time to time, for Sindel's sake and Kitana's, be the prince that THEY need. Not Edenia. Not the people. Them. Just them." She concludes as Kurai begins to slowly consider her words, but he's still uncertain.
From how all the people in Edenia have treated him and behaved, he's decided that he doesn't need them. He'll never need them. They may have repaired the palace, the city and restored Edenia to its former glory, but they did not fight Shao Kahn. Nor did they fight the likes of Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Kano, the Lin Kuei Cyborgs, and many others while they were in hiding.
Granted that there is an Edenian Rebel Force, but what all have they really done of value over the years besides reconnaissance and spying on Outworld from the inside? If they were so confident that they could have taken down Shao Kahn any time they wanted out of retaliation, why didn't they? They had over 10,000 years to make a move, but didn't.
It was Kurai's and his allies efforts that took down Shao Kahn. And it was only a little over a year since he came back into Jade and Kitana's lives before they took the bastard down. But what have the rebels done? Or even the Royal Guard?
Kurai shakes his head and sighs. "I'm not going, Jade." He tells her, causing her to sigh sadly. "I know my mother will be disappointed and I don't really care much about what Kitana will think. She cares too much about what the people will think of her now that she'll barely talk to me. We saw each other earlier before I came here, but she couldn't even bring herself to tell me that she understands why I left. I don't even think she wants to understand. She's got her home back. She's got the palace back. She's got her birthright back. That's all she understands." He says spitefully, which causes Jade to look at him in shock as he glares out the window.
"Kurai, you know damn well that's not true." She sternly says back to him, but he just shakes his head.
"She hasn't given me any reason to think otherwise." He harshly says back before she walks away from him.
"Ok, alright. Let's just... calm down a moment, and let's think of something. I really, REALLY, want you to attend this banquet, my love. It's going to be a celebration of Edenia's return to glory after so many years. Sindel and Kitana are also expecting you to attend. But you won't go as a prince? Fine. So, I'll ask you, what will POSSIBLY change your mind about attending the banquet? If not as the Prince of Edenia, then who?" She asks him calmly as she walks behind her desk and places her hands on top of it while she waits for his answer.
Kurai thinks long and hard for a moment before looking at Jade with a serious expression. "I'll be a guard. I'll attend this... stupid banquet as a guard." He tells her before he leans and places his hands on the desk while looking at her. "But I'm not wearing that damned bulky armor. It'll just slow me down. I'll wear something of my own since no shop wants to sell me anything." He continues with a stern expression thinking that she was going to fight him about the armor, but she just smiles brightly.
She leans close to kiss and places a long, lingering kiss on his lips before pulling away with a hopeful expression. "Deal. You'll be a guard. Wear whatever you deem appropriate for yourself. I'll even place you as Sindel's personal guard since she wants you to be there anyway." She tells him brightly before sitting down in her chair and continues with her paperwork.
Feeling somewhat satisfied, Kurai turns to leave the office and head home, but Jade stops him. "One last thing, Kurai." She calls out, causing him to groan frustratedly. She giggles and shakes her head before standing up then walks over to him as he turns around. "Baby, don't be mean. You'll like this." She says with a smile.
"What is it?" He asks her politely, since they've already had their argument.
"Many of our recruits have been slacking off in their training. They're excellent fighters-" She explains but is cut off by Kurai when he points at the office door.
"One of your unconscious recruits is evidence to the contrary, Jade." He says bluntly, which causes her to stifle a laugh then lightly smacks him on the chest before continuing.
"They ARE excellent fighters, Kurai. But they're going to need... an initiative." She tells him with a smirk.
Knowing what Jade wants him to do, Kurai turns his head to the side. "No!" He says says with a stern tone.
Jade grins with a amused expression. "Oh, come on! Why not? Give me one reason." She tells him with a laugh.
Kurai holds up three fingers. "I'll give you three. One, everyone in Edenia, including your recruits, thinks I'm a traitor. Two, not one of your recruits is going to allow a supposed traitor to train them. And three, you say they're excellent fighters, but when they tried to confront me earlier, they folded and backed away from me like cowards after I knocked one of them out cold. They've got no spine, Jade. No guts. If they're going to replace the veterans in the future, then is Edenia is fucked under their protection." He explains, making all of his points to Jade.
But Jade smiles cutely then pecks Kurai's lips. "I wasn't going to ask you to train them, Kurai." She tells him, which confuses him as he loses his serious expression.
"What...? Then... What were you going to ask me to do then?" He asks curiously as Jade continues to smile.
"Tomorrow morning. The barracks training yard. I want you to fight one of the best recruits and show them how much of a gap there is between them and you. Like you said, Kurai, the recruits think you're a traitor. They even think that you're not a threat or a fighter." She says to him as he narrows his eyes.
Not that it bothers him what the recruits think. What bothers him is that they think he'll be nothing but a pushover if they ever get the idea to try and get the jump on him either in the city or at his home.
With a serious expression, Kurai makes sure he understands what Jade is asking of him. "So, what you're asking is that you want me to fight one of your finest recruits. Tomorrow morning. To show them that they're not as strong as they think they are. Right?" He asks, making sure that he didn't misunderstand what Jade was asking.
She nods with a smile. "That's exactly it. Plus, it's like a mini tournament. Not necessarily a Mortal Kombat tournament. It's just something that allows the best recruits to show off with a small audience. Sindel and Kitana included so they'll know who it is that will be protecting them someday." She explains as Kurai thinks about it for a moment.
"Hmph." He grunts while he continues to think, but a grin spreads across his lips when his decision is made. "This should be fun then. I haven't had a decent fight since Shao Kahn." He says seriously as he turns to walk out of the main office and leaves the barracks.
"Kurai, do not hurt him too badly!" She calls to him with worry as he answers back.
"That all depends on him, Jade!" He calls back as he leaves the barracks and heads home to continue practicing more of his techniques. He's got a lot of stress to unload before fighting this new recruit in the morning.
Jade, still worried, but knows Kurai won't go overboard, just chuckles and shakes her head before walking back to her desk and continues with her paperwork for the recruits and their training regimen.