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With Drake & Kai after separating from Kurai...
Drake and Kai had split from Kurai and went in different directions to explore the ship and find any survivors. After opening one of the doors leading into the ship, they bring out their flashlights and see a gruesome sight of mutilated bodies and blood splattered all over the floor and walls.
Drake and Kai both cover their mouths and cough from the disgusting stench that filled the air while trying not to vomit. "Jeez. I had an idea that it would be bad, but I didn't think it would be THIS bad." Drake says through some coughs while Kai nods his head in agreement.
"Yeah, I'm being honest when I say that I was hoping that there are survivors. But now I'm not so sure there are any anymore." The rookie Shaolin says hopelessly while shaking his head.
Drake nods, agreeing with Kai's sentiment. "Yeah, I hear ya. I was holding on hope too, but with what we're seeing right now, it highly unlikely there are survivors." He tells him before they both carefully maneuver their way around the bodies so they don't trip over them.
The two make their way down the narrow hallways of the ship to find their way down to the lower levels to hopefully find any survivors while Kurai went up to the bridge to repair the radio equipment. As they approach the lower levels they enter the engine room to find it complete darkness and none of the engines were running.
It was all dead silent to the point it was unnerving. Not wanting to be stuck in an uncomfortable silence the entire time, Drake decided to make conversation with Kai.
"Ok, Kai, um... I want to ask you something, if that's ok." He begins quietly as he and Kai carefully maneuver their way through the engine room while keeping a close eye on sharp corners.
Kai quietly sighs exasperatedly. "You want to know why I decided to stop being a martial arts celebrity and wanted to become a Shaolin monk, a real fighter, am I right?" He asks him with slight hesitation, knowing this topic would come back up eventually.
He may have already explained it privately to Kurai, Liu Kang, Raiden, and the other Shaolin monks, but he expected that he would have to explain it to their friends at some point.
Drake nods. "Yeah. I know you must be annoyed that it keeps popping up every now and then. I'm just genuinely curious as to why Art Lean, a world class fighter and martial arts champion, would suddenly feel that he needs to be trained in the ways of the Shaolin." He tells the rookie Shaolin.
Kai nods with understanding as he and Drake both make their way through the engine room to find another entrance way that leads to the holds. "Well, to start, my father, Albert Lean, is a martial artist himself. So, naturally, he taught me everything that his father taught him." Kai begins to explain as Drake listens while they continue to maneuver through the engine room.
"Over time I was being noticed by talent agents and they all approached me, but my parents turned them down initially. That is until one of them made them an offer that wouldn't just benefit the agent, but my family and I as well." He continues as they approach a stairway leading up.
"So, they took the offer, my martial arts career took off, money was pouring in, I was winning tournaments, and life was going great for us. Until the attack on New York." He says with a low tone that causes Drake to stop in his tracks.
"You were all in New York when Shao Kahn invaded Earth Realm?" He asks Kai incredulously.
Kai stops, but doesn't look at him, and just nods somberly. "And... you're parents... I mean... Are they...?" Drake asks hesitantly, but Kai shakes his head.
"Oh, no. Don't worry. They're perfectly fine. We evacuated the city just in time before the casualties became too severe. Although, I will admit that they were traumatized from the experience." He reassures him, causing Drake to sigh with relief and nod his head.
"Yeah. I'd imagine that anyone would be if they're day was ruined by a sudden invasion." He tells the young Shaolin, which causes Kai to nod.
"Indeed. But I didn't help matters all that much either when I made repeated attempts to get back into the city. I was stopped before I could get close, of course." He tells Drake, which shocks him as he looks at Kai incredulously.
"Why would you attempt to do that? I mean, you had made it out safely with your family. Why would you try to throw yourself into a situation that you didn't understand?" Drake asks him curiously, wondering why Kai would risk his safety just to fight.
Kai sighs heavily. "Because all the fights and tournaments I had won were all rigged by my parents and my agent. All the fighters I fought were paid to take a fall so I could build my reputation as well as my so called legacy." He explains, which shocks Drake again and renders him speechless at the revelation.
Kai continues. "Before they told me, before they shattered my pride as a fighter, I said that I had to do something, anything to help the people that may not have gotten out of the city during the invasion. But both my mother and father were against it. My mother, more so. And the more I insisted, the more they fought me about it. That's when my mother told me that I wouldn't survive out of desperation." He tells Drake, who continues to listen.
"I begged her to tell me that wasn't true. That she was just saying that to keep me from going back to the city, but she didn't even have the heart to tell me and my dad couldn't even look me in the eye when she told me. After that I told them both they can go to hell and I rushed out. But like I said, all my attempts were stopped by the marines before I could even get close." He exasperatedly continues with gently rubbing his face.
"After Shao Kahn was defeated, thanks to your friend Kurai, I left without a word to my parents and sought out the Wu Shi Academy in China. I haven't spoken a word to them since. You should know the rest from there." He concludes as Drake nods. But one question remained.
"And... the name?" He asks, which causes Kai to look back at him with confusion. "Your new name, I mean. Why the name Kai?" He elaborates as the young Shaolin nods when he understands the question.
"Well, you know, a new name, a fresh start. For me, the name of Art Lean was tarnished by phony and false wins. I wanted a name that could bring... honor and inspire hope in people. I don't have any particular reasons for why I chose the name. I just liked it and I want it to inspire something in others. That's all." He says with a nonchalant shrug and a smile.
Drake smiles back and nods with understanding before they continue up the stairway and enter a new room with a door that leads to the holds. Kai turns the hatch and opens the door before they walk through it.
And just like when they first walked into the ship, the two are met with even more corpses strewn out across the floor and blood splattered on the walls and ceiling. Drake shakes his head despairingly. "Damn it. The deeper we go, the worse it gets. Now I'm feeling that there aren't any survivors. I can only hope that Kurai is faring better than we are." He says sincerely as Kai nods.
"Yes, let's hope so. But let's keep looking. If we turn back now and there's someone still alive down here, we'll regret it for sure. Come on." He encourages Drake and pats his shoulder gently before they continue on.
The long walk felt like an eternity as Drake and Kai kept a close eye on everything corner and opening they came across. Because while they had not yet encountered a horde of demons, they couldn't shake the eerie feeling that they were being watched, even though they were currently alone.
They continue their long walk down the dark and narrow hallway of the lower levels until they reach another door and begin to open it cautiously by turning the hatch. They open the door slowly, causing the metal to creak which makes them pause when the sound echoes off the hollow walls.
They both wait with baited breath for anything to make a sound that could signal them to run, but nothing came. They both sigh shakily and chuckle softly before opening the door further then walk into the holds.
They enter the holds and look down into the large, empty with their flashlights. Though they didn't have their hopes up because the holds are the same as it has been for them since arriving on the ship.
But this time was a more gruesome and stomach churning sight. A massive pile of corpses were piled up in the center of the holds with blood still flowing underneath the bodies. Drake sighs dejectedly and turns his head away while Kai gazes upon the pile with utter horror.
"My god... who could... why would someone do something like this?" He asks with disbelief. He could not believe that someone would go to such lengths to make sure there were no survivors.
Drake sighs with a glare. "If Percival Silva really is involved, it really doesn't surprise me that he would do something like this. He's always been the one to give the Dark Wu Shi Academy a bad name. In his head, he always thought that he was the better fighter, but really, he was the worst of us." He says as he turns to walk away and exit the holds, but movement among the corpse pile catches his eye.
"Kai, did you see that?" He asks curiously, which makes Kai look down closer at the corpse pile, but sees nothing.
He shakes his head. "See what?" He asks with concern.
Drake keeps his eyes peeled on the large, bloody pile for any sign of movement. A survivor? No. Those bodies were piled on top of each other for a reason. Then he made a decision that he instantly knew was going to be a mistake.
Sighing frustratedly, Drake spots a metal ladder on the wall that goes down further into the holds. "Wait here. I'm heading down there to take a look." He says simply and walks over to it as Kai looks at him incredulously.
"Drake, are you nuts? You can't go down there alone! This is a basic horror movie set up!" He hisses quietly as Drake stops near the ladder and looks back at him.
"Kai, you said so yourself. If there is the slightest chance that there is a survivor, or survivors, down there and we turn back, we'll regret it forever. Just watch my back from up here. I'll take a quick look. And if it's nothing, then we head back topside and regroup with Kurai at the bridge." He tells him reassuringly before climbing down the ladder.
Kai shakes his head and sighs heavily as Drake climbs down the ladders before he reaches the very bottom where the pile of corpses lie. Drake looks up at Kai briefly before cautiously approaching the corpse pile.
"I wasn't expecting to see you here, Drake. I was actually expecting Kurai." A voice echoes off the walls of the big room, startling both Drake and Kai as a figure walks out from behind the large pile of corpses to reveal Percival Silva, though he didn't look human or alive. His skin was pale and his eyes looked bloodshot. As though he hasn't slept for months. Silva wasn't dead, but he wasn't alive either like Drake and Kurai thought.
"But I guess I'll just have to wait a little longer." Silva says darkly before looking up towards Kai, who has a bewildered expression on his face.
"Oh? I wasn't expecting a Shaolin to be here either. I guess Kurai isn't brave enough to come face me now that I'm back stronger than before." Silva says with a smirk, which causes Drake to scoff.
Silva loses his smirk and looks at Drake with disdain. "What is it that you find so funny, Drake?" He asks lowly while glaring at the young blonde with his bloodshot eyes.
Drake just smiles before answering. "Kurai? Not brave? God, you're even more delusional than before, Silva." He tells the resurrected man, who glares daggers at him and grits his teeth.
Before Silva could say anything to retort, Drake continues. "Tell me something, Silva. Who did you sell your worthless soul to in order to be resurrected? Hmm? Not Shang Tsung, I imagine, since he's been dead since the invasion. Was it Quan Chi? I don't think so either because he has the likes of Scorpion." He says to the older man with a mocking smile, while Silva seethes in anger at the insults.
"His ego is still so easily damaged that it's sad." Drake thinks to himself before he begins to laugh.
"So, tell me, Silva. If it's not Shang Tsung or Quan Chi, who brought you back? I mean, seriously, who would be stupid enough to bring your worthless carcass back to life if you have nothing useful to contribute? Considering that Shao Kahn tossed you aside like the piece of garbage you are." He mockingly says to Silva, who by this point is now shaking with rage from Drake's disrespectful insults.
"Drake, what the hell are you doing? You're getting him riled up." Kai thinks to himself with concern from the scene he is witnessing. Why is Drake mocking this man?
Just as Silva's rage reached its boiling point, he roars and charges towards Drake. The young blonde prepares himself for a fight against Silva, but the resurrected Silva stops when a cloaked, hooded woman suddenly appears and rises up out of a pool of blood near the corpse pile.
"That's enough for now, Silva. We've done our part here. We have their attention now, and Lord Shinnok doesn't want to have a full confrontation. Not yet." The woman says, smirking underneath her hood.
But Silva growls and shakes his head angrily. "No! You go to hell! I'm taking care of Drake here and now! After that, I go after Kurai! And you're NOT going to stop me, Delilah!" He shouts furiously before charging towards Drake again but suddenly drops down to the floor, seemingly in pain.
The woman, Delilah, just chuckles as she flexes her hand in a choking manner while Silva drops closer to the floor wheezing. Silva's body feels stiff and not in his control as he tries to fight against Delilah's hold while Drake and Kai both watch the scene in shock.
"Release... Release me, Delilah! You can't just... expect me to leave now...!" He manages to choke out as he painfully turns his head in Delilah's direction and glares up at her while she just chuckles darkly.
"Oh, Percival, I know just how much you want to get your revenge. You want it so desperately that it's... honestly not very appealing. Don't forget, it was your arrogance and fragile ego that lead to your downfall and death. I honestly would've thought you'd learned that by now. But what more can you expect from a little boy in a mans body?" She coldly belittles him as he glares up at her furiously.
She then releases her hold over him as he takes a deep gasping breath before she looks over at Drake then a subtle glance at Kai. She grins under her hood when she feels power radiating off of Drake. She felt similar power radiating off Kurai earlier during her brief conversation with the prince.
"I'll give you a moment to climb back up and reach your friend, Drake. After that, prepare yourselves." She warns him as Drake feels uneasy from just standing in the woman's presence. There is something about her that is making him feel on edge.
He gulps as he steadily walks back away from Delilah while keeping an eye on her. "Prepare... for what?" He asks cautiously as he approaches the metal ladder.
Delilah's grin grows wider before she answers. "Don't worry, you'll see." She tells him ominously as he begins to climb up.
Then she speaks again. "Oh! And before I forget, Drake. Be a dear and tell Kurai that he should return to Edenia soon. It would break my heart to know that he didn't get a chance to say goodbye to his family." She says sinisterly with a dark chuckle, which causes Drake to pause while he is climbing before he looks down at her with a glare.
"What have you done?" He asks her coldly. She looks up at him and just continues to grin, which infuriates Drake.
"Don't worry, nothing yet. But you better hurry." She tells him giddily, but this only causes Drake to climb faster. He quickly reunites with Kai and they both look down at Delilah, who smiles up at them both, while Silva, who had gotten back up to his feet, glares up at them both.
"Now that you are both up there, I think it's time that we conclude our business here. Like I said, we have your attention now, and we're just getting started." Delilah says to them ominously before letting out a loud sharp whistle then quickly disappears with Silva.
Suddenly, the corpse pile explodes and loud roars are heard as multiple demons appear from inside the pile covered in blood and gore. The demons all snarl and growl at Drake and Kai before many of them sink their claws into the metal walls and begin to climb up, while others with wings fly towards them.
Drake and Kai quickly kick a couple of demons away from them that managed to get close before running towards the exit that they came through, leaving the holds.
Bursting through the doors of the lower levels, Drake and Kai frantically run back towards the main deck of the ship while trying to contact Kurai with the demons all frighteningly roaring close behind them.
"Kurai?! Kurai, do you read me?! Respond!" Drake says into his radio communicator.
BZZZT!
Drake receives no response and groans in frustration. "Damn it, where is he?! And why aren't our radios working?! There's nothing here that can possibly be jamming them!" He shouts as he and Kai burst through another door that lead to the engine room before closing the door behind them and locking the hatch to hopefully but themselves some time.
"Let's just get back to the main deck! The radios were working on the surface before we separated!" Kai tells him urgently as he and Drake then make a mad dash to the nearest door to run back to the main deck.
Meanwhile, with Kurai...
Kurai vs. Hornbuckle...
Kurai begins his fight with Hornbuckle by rushing towards him and tries to punch the fake Shaolin monk, but Hornbuckle blocks each punch before kicking him away. This surprises Kurai.
"Ok. Maybe this guy isn't such a pushover." He thinks to himself before deciding to switch to a more defensive style.
Hornbuckle notices this and instantly thinks he already has Kurai against the ropes. He arrogantly smirks then rushes Kurai to punch him, but Kurai parries each attack before countering with a punch to the young man's face.
Stunned, he stumbles back before Kurai leaps into the air and strikes him with a hard punch to his jaw. Kurai continues his onslaught of punches and kicks to Hornbuckle, causing him to stumble back even more as they both head towards the starboard wing deck.
Kurai continues his onslaught before Hornbuckle suddenly catches his fist, surprising him. Hornbuckle then kicks Kurai in the chest before he backhands him.
Now Kurai stumbles back as Hornbuckle rushes him, but Kurai keeps up his defense and dodges each of the attacks. Hornbuckle then tries to sweep Kurai's legs out from under him, but the Edenian prince dodges by jumping over him then lands behind him.
The fake Shoalin tries to turn around quickly to backhand Kurai again. But Kurai catches his fist before kicking him in the knee, which causes Hornbuckle to drop to one knee. Kurai then breaks Hornbuckle's arm which makes a loud audible crack as Hornbuckle screams loudly from the pain.
KURAI WINS!
Kurai pushes Hornbuckle away as the fake Shaolin collapses against the wet metal ground of the ship. Hornbuckle groans painfully while cradling his broken arm before glaring up at Kurai furiously.
"Perhaps you're not as weak as I thought you were, Prince of Edenia." He says angrily to Kurai as they both stare each other down.
"But know this, I will not make the same mistake twice. We will meet again, Prince." He says lowly before he suddenly makes a mad dash then leaps off of the Port wing deck, shocking Kurai.
He runs over to the Port wing side of the ship and glances over the railing to see where Hornbuckle had plummeted, but to shock, no body could be seen.
Kurai relaxes and lets out a heavy sigh, but he tenses again when he hears muffled, but loud, roars coming from inside the ship.
Suddenly, the doors of the Port and Starboard wing decks blast off their hinges as demons clumsily pile out of the bridge on top of each other. Kurai looks at the demons and groans with annoyance as they lay their eyes on him.
"Great. I knew they were still here, but I honestly wish I was wrong." He says to himself and slowly backs away to the Stem part of the wing deck as the demons begin to stalk him.
They all growl and snarl at him as Kurai then faintly hears a voice over the sound of the storm. "Kurai! Down here! We need your help, buddy!" The voice says as Kurai turns around to see Drake and Kai engaged in combat with the demons.
He turns his head back towards the demons approaching him before making a irrational decision. "Damn it... I'm gonna have to jump down. I don't have time to fight through all of them just to get to Drake and Kai. They might not last long." He thinks to himself carefully before looking up at the sky.
Multiple bolts of lightning strike across the sky as Kurai smiles lightly. "Raiden, you better be listening." He says before turning around and hops on top of the railing to prepare to jump.
Realizing what he was about to do, the demons roar before dashing towards Kurai, but he jumps down and manages to grab hold of the large wire that lead up to the wing deck. He slides down the wire by his hands then lets go at the last second before he went flying into the Atlantic.
He tucks and rolls just as he hits the deck then springs up to kick away some of the demons near Drake and Kai, knocking them hard against the railings. Drake and Kai both smile before the three of them stand back to back with each other as the demons close in.
"Kurai, buddy, I know our situation is dire right now, but we have to get back to Edenia right now." Drake tells Kurai, which makes the Prince gain an expression of confusion but he doesn't take his eyes off the demons.
"Back to Edenia? Why?" He asks curiously as the three of them keep their eyes on the demons.
"The woman, Delilah." Kai begins as Kurai tenses up at her name. "She said something about wanting you to say goodbye to your family. I think it's safe to assume that she has something planned for your mother and sister." Kai continues as Kurai glares furiously at the demons before launching a white hot, blazing torrent at the demons.
"Raiden! Get down here now! We need you!" He shouts furiously as he continues to throw white flames at the demons while Drake and Kai keep them away from Kurai.
They continue their efforts of holding off the demons for several moments. Then suddenly, a large bolt of lightning strikes the center of the rear deck, which send multiple demons flying into the air while also killing a handful of them.
In the center of where the lightning struck was Raiden kneeling down with his lightning staff before he slowly looks up and glares angrily at the demons. "Begone from here vile demons of the Nether Realm! Your kind is not welcome in Earth Realm!" He shouts thunderously before swinging his staff at the demons near him, which kills them instantly while sending other demons flying into the metal hulls of the ship.
The demons begin to back away from the group fearfully before turning around and retreating just as multiple portals appear out of thin air. They all frantically jump into the portals before they close, which leaves Kurai, Drake, Kai, and Raiden as the only people on the deserted ship.
Raiden taps his thunder staff against the ships deck once as strings of electricity crackle on the staff. He turns towards the small group with a worried expression. "Did you three find any survivors? What have you found out?" He asks them worriedly, but Kurai desperately shakes his head.
"No survivors, Raiden, we'll explain later. But you've got to take us back to Edenia. Right now." He tells the Thunder God urgently, which causes Raiden to look even more worried.
"Why, Kurai? What's happening in Edenia?" He asks the Prince with concern.
But Kurai had an expression of dread on his face. "Whatever it is, Raiden, I think it's already happened." He says fearfully.