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Outworld, Kotal's Home...
Kotal sits in a candle lit room with his arm sitting on a wooden table as he releases an exasperated sigh. Why had Jade turned him down? Why did she choose Kurai, a traitor of Edenia and his bloodline, over him? What did Kurai have that he didn't?
He couldn't understand why she turned him down. Long before Kurai had shown up, he and Jade loved each other during their time in Outworld. Didn't they? Yes, they did. They loved each other unconditionally. They were perfect together.
And then that damned Shao Kahn had to send him on a mission which turned out to be a setup that caused the deaths of his men. Warriors that were loyal and faithful to Kotal and his leadership.
But Kotal alone had survived and was brought back by Shang Tsung himself to his torture chambers in the Flesh Pits. And Jade no doubt mourned him once she heard he had died. But he had survived, and he had every intention of returning to her when he had the chance.
So why? Why, when he manages to return to her, she turns him away and chooses a traitor? It didn't make sense to him. Why would she choose him? Kotal wracked his brain over and over again until it hurt trying to figure out why Jade chose Kurai before she left with him.
Then he figures it out as he slams his fist against the table. Kurai! He must've used some type of magic or potion to poison and corrupt Jade's mind to choose him instead of Kotal. Just like Shang Tsung would do! That's it! That's why Jade is not herself!
"That sick bastard! That's why she chose him! Well, I'm going to free her soon enough. But how?!" Kotal whispers angrily to himself before he hears a knock on his front door.
He stands up from his chair and walks over to the door. He opens it to see a cloaked young man with his head lowered. "Can I help you?" Kotal asks the young man politely, wondering who he is and why he's here.
The young man slightly lifts his head before he answers. "You are the one named Kotal, yes?" He asks Kotal curiously, which causes Kotal to answer with a nod. The young man nods in return. "Excellent. I have an offer for you. If you're interested in it, I will tell you everything you need to know." He continues cryptically as he catches Kotal's interest.
But Kotal becomes wary of the young man standing before him. "Let's hypothetically say I am interested, what information would you be willing to share with me?" He asks cautiously while keeping his eyes on the young man for any sudden moves. But the young man doesn't any.
He just smirks underneath his hood. "Well, to start, I'm certain that you are concerned for Lady Jade's well being. Are you not?" He says to Kotal, which instantly catches his attention as he beckons for the young man to come inside his home.
The young man walks inside as Kotal closes the front door after making sure no one had followed him. He turns to the young man with a determined expression. "I'm listening." He says simply as the young man grins before lowering his hood to speak to Kotal face to face.
Earth Realm, Shinnok's Fortress...
Shinnok arrogantly stares down at Kurai and the four women with him before looking over at both Silva and Hornbuckle. "Hornbuckle." He begins, which causes the young asian man to look over at Shinnok. "I know that you have a score to settle with Prince Kurai down there, but I'm afraid that I must give Percival here a chance first, since he has had a longer history with him than you have." The former Elder God explains as Hornbuckle frowns with disappointment.
Shinnoks laughs. "Oh, don't be so glum, my young friend. Should Percival fail to deal with Kurai, then you shall have your chance immediately after. I give you my word." He continues as Hornbuckle, still disappointed that he won't be fighting Kurai, nods his head in understanding before Silva begins to walk down the steps towards Kurai.
Kurai himself takes a step forward. "Kurai, wait!" Tanya calls out to him quietly, which causes Kurai to stop and look back at her. "Please. Don't do this. We can fight off the demons and escape. There's no need for you to fight Percival Silva." She pleadingly whispers to him, but Kurai shakes his head.
"With the condition you're in, Tanya, it will be impossible to try and escape at this point. Plus, with Shinnok here, it will only make our escape that much more challenging than it needs to be. I'll just have to buy ourselves some time." He calmly explains to her, which she understands, but she still doesn't like it.
"But..." She mumbles, still wanting to protest, but Kurai just smiles and winks at her. She nods with understanding after a moment before Kurai turns his focus back to Silva, who had walked to the bottom of the steps of the palace.
Silva glares at Kurai with his glowing, undead eyes as Kurai walks over close to him. "Are you done wasting your time with the worthless whore now, Kurai? If you are, then let's pick up where we last left off in Outworld and fight." The former temple master says harshly, causing Kurai to clench his fists angrily before they both shift into their fighting stance.
The demons, centaurs, Malek, Shinnok, and Hornbuckle all watch with anticipation for the coming fight between Kurai and Silva. While Sindel, Kitana, Ophelia, and Tanya all stand off to the side and watch themselves with concern on their faces.
Kurai vs. Percival Silva...
Kurai tenses his muscles and readies himself for Silva to make the first move. He has a lot frustration built up and he intends to use it against the former temple master.
Silva moves first and rushes towards Kurai to throw a punch, but Kurai dodges it nonchalantly. He throws another punch with a kick, but Kurai dodges those as well. Already feeling frustrated Silva lashes out and throws a series of punches and kicks at Kurai, which he dodges easily before catching one of Silva's fists in his hand.
Kurai grins. "My turn." He simply says before striking Silva in the abdomen, which causes Silva to reel in pain while being sent back a few feet away from Kurai.
Silva's feet skid against the stone ground before he collapses to one knee. He coughs up a bit of blood before looking up at Kurai with a seething glare. "I won't lose to you again, Kurai! Not again! I refuse to lose to welp like you!" He shouts angrily before taking out a small vial from his pouch.
Kurai looks at the vial in Silva's hand to see that it contains blood on the inside, but what was it for? He soon gets his answer as Silva pops off the cork and hastily drinks the blood inside, shocking Kurai.
"What in the hell is he thinking?! Is he THAT desperate?!" Kurai wonders in his head as Silva gulps down the entire vial and tosses it to the ground. The glass vial shatters and Silva glares up at Kurai with a feral grin as his body begins to quiver and convulse.
Silva's muscles begin to bulk up and grow in a painful way that causes Kurai and his family to watch in horror at his transformation. Silva groans and shouts in pain as his body and muscles continue to morph and shift in an unnatural way while also growing taller than he had been before.
Now fully transformed into an ugly, hulking abomination of his former self, Silva continues to groan painfully before crouching over and vomiting up his own blood. His feral gaze then focuses back over to Kurai before unleashing a terrifying roar.
He rushes over to Kurai and leaps into the air before flying down to crush the prince with one blow. But Kurai rolls out of the way before the now monstrous Silva crashes into the ground. Sindel and the others move out of the way to avoid the rampaging Silva and stay out of the way of the fight.
Shinnok, mildly shocked at what Silva has just done to himself, shakes his head with disappointment and sighs exasperatedly. He turns and begins to walk away before stopping to glance at Hornbuckle. "Hornbuckle, my young friend." He calls to the young man, who turns his head and looks in Shinnok's direction as the Elder God continues. "When Silva fails to take care of Kurai, you have free reign to step in and fight him yourself. But only after Silva fails, because he will no doubt lose this fight once again." He informs the young man, who nods gratefully before turning back to continue watching the fight.
Shinnok walks into the palace with one thought on his mind. "No doubt this is Delilah's doing with what Silva has done to himself. Where the blazes is that woman anyway?! I haven't seen her since Kurai was brought here. She better not have run off." He thinks to himself angrily as he begins his search in the palace for Delilah.
Silva, in his blinded, animal like rage, he continues to try and fail to kill Kurai with a single blow. But with his new hulking and bulky form he has become far too slow to keep up with the Edenian Prince. Kurai easily dodges each of Silva's attack, but he is also at a disadvantage as well.
Each time Kurai manages to land a blow on Silva the attack does absolutely nothing to him. It does not slow him down or even hinder him. Kurai can only dodge each of Silva's attacks and hope that whatever it was he drank wears off soon. But with the rate Silva is going currently, that doesn't seem likely.
Kurai then remembers what Han had said to him before leaving with Raiden for England. He remembers Han telling him that if he wishes to survive against the likes of Shinnok, he will have to use a certain style that he used during his time of endless rage after Sadira's death.
Dodging another slow attack from Silva, Kurai sighs deeply and shakes his head dejectedly. "Fuck it..." He says quietly before shifting into the stance of the harsh and brutal style he had abandoned long ago once he returned to his senses.
The Divine Dragon.
Silva circles Kurai slowly with a feral glare before rushing towards him with a ferocious roar and throws a punch with his massive fist. Kurai remains calm and throws his own punch towards Silva's fist. Their fists collide with each other and sends a massive shockwave through the palace that knocks everyone off their feet, even the demons and centaurs.
Sindel and the others, who had also been knocked off their feet, sit up quickly and look at Kurai in shock. Silva himself, even in his feral, animalistic state, also looks at Kurai in shock. His massive fist stopped completely by Kurai's smaller fist.
Silva growls furiously and takes a step to try and overpower Kurai with more leverage, but the prince doesn't budge an inch. Kurai, with a stone cold expression, stares at Silva before pushing his fist away, which causes Silva to stumble back. He growls and tries to attack Kurai again, but Kurai had already moved in close and delivers a devastating gut punch to Silva.
The hulking abomination's eyes widen in pain and shock as he grabs and holds his gut while walking backwards away from Kurai. Kurai doesn't make a move and waits for Silva to come for him again. Silva shakes his head and growls before glaring at Kurai again. He stands up and roars ferociously before running towards him, looking to grab him in a hold.
But Kurai rolls out of the way just as Silva tries to grab him and punches him in his ribs, causing a loud, audible crack to be heard all throughout the courtyard of the palace. Silva roars in pain and holds his side while walking away from Kurai, who had not once dropped his guard in case Silva is trying to deceive him.
Silva walks over to the steps of the palace and drops to his knees. He looks over at where Kurai was standing but doesn't see him there. He looks up to see Kurai in the air, flying down towards him before he suddenly feels massive pain in his jaw. Silva's head from Kurai's punch snaps towards the palace steps before he collapses to the ground.
He then, after a moment, begins to shrink back down to normal size. Sickening crunches and cracks are heard as Silva's body returns to normal. The man coughs up blood and spits out a few teeth before painfully craning his head in Kurai's direction to see that he was the one left standing. Obviously he wasn't aware or in control of his actions while in his hulking state.
Gritting his teeth, Silva curses under his breath before glaring up at Kurai. "Why? WHY?! Why can't I beat you?! You are nothing compared to me and I still lose?! What madness is this?! This has to be a sick joke! The gods favor warriors like me, Kurai! Warriors with pure talent and natural ability! Not you! So why?! Why do I constantly lose to a weakling like you?! HUH?!" He shouts with frustration at Kurai, who takes a step forward and stomps on his head roughly.
"To be honest, Silva, I don't really care anymore about telling you how I, and so many others, are able to beat you. Even if I do, you're not going to listen anyway. You'll just keep finding ridiculous ways to justify yourself and your actions while condemning the people you deem weak or unworthy. So I'm just not going to waste my breath anymore." He tells Silva coldly, who weakly grasps Kurai's foot and tries to pry it off him, but can't.
Kurai pulls his foot away and grabs Silva by his hair and forces him to stand up before looking directly into his eyes. "If you're given the opportunity to come back again, Silva, do yourself a favor. Don't. Because if you come after me again, the results will remain the same as they always have." He says to him coldly before he devastatingly strikes him once in the chest with the Phoenix Cleanse. But instead of purifying Silva, he stops his heart.
Silva collapses to his knees as he stops breathing and his eyes close slowly until he sits on the ground, unmoving.
KURAI WINS! FATALITY!
Kurai doesn't get a chance to rest as he dodges a flying kick from Hornbuckle. The fake monk lands on his feet and turns to lunge at Kurai with another attack, but the prince quickly kicks him away and begins to throw white balls of flame at the demons, the centaurs, and Malek, who all scatter to get away from the flames. But there were some that weren't so lucky. The flames then begin to spread throughout the courtyard and the palace is set ablaze.
Kurai turns his head over to his mother and the group. "Mother! Take them inside the palace and wait for the others to get here!" He shouts to her, but Sindel pauses and wants to protest against this plan. But under the current circumstances, no one had the necessary time to argue. "GO!" He shouts to her again, making her freeze from his tone, but nods and helps Ophelia with Tanya. She also helps Kitana take care of any demons that got in their way with her Phoenix Screech while Kitana fought and killed any demons with her bare hands.
Once they were in the palace and out of sight, Kurai decided to let loose and go all out. He launches white flames at both demons and centaurs alike, taking out as many as he possibly can before going after Shinnok and Delilah. Malek dodges a fire ball and hides behind a corner before deciding to retreat for the time being.
Demons and centaurs all rush towards Kurai to try and overwhelm him, but all fail before they become disheartened and retreat into fiery portals to get as far away from Kurai as possible. Seeing the demons and centaurs retreating, Kurai stops his assault and turns to run into the palace to chase after Shinnok.
Moments After, Inside the Palace...
Han and Akuma had followed after Drake in case he manages to find Kurai before Jade. The sight they see in the palace hall was that of a scene from a horror movie, but instead of dead, mutilated corpses of humans, it was the bodies of demons. Arms and heads ripped off, jaws torn off the skulls, wings torn off the back, broken necks, the list goes on.
Drake shudders at the sight before looking at Han and Akuma. "Kurai sure knows how to be a monster when he needs to be, doesn't he?" He says with nervousness as Han and Akuma laugh with a nod.
The three continue following the trail of bodies in the palace halls until they eventually here the sounds of fighting in the palace garden. They follow the sounds and come back outside to find a forgotten, ruined garden set ablaze with Kurai and Shinnok engaged in a heated battle.
Kurai launches fireball after fireball at the former Elder God, but Shinnok blocks them easily, but not without wincing in pain from the burns. Shinnok himself launches his own attacks with large, skeletal, magic hands that appear from out of the ground and attempt to grab Kurai, but he easily dodges them while counterattacking with his fireballs.
Demons suddenly appear out of no where and rush towards Kurai, but Drake, Han, and Akuma all jump in and stop the demons from interfering with the fight. Drake looks over at Kurai and smiles. "Kick that bastards ass Kurai!" He says to him encouragingly, which causes Kurai to nod before returning his focus back to Shinnok.
The former Elder God seethes from the interference of Raiden's forces, who also begin appearing in the garden one by one to fight off the demons.
Sonya Blade, Jax, Johnny Cage were all here fighting off the demons that came to Shinnok's aid while Liu Kang and Kung Lao fought Quan Chi and Hornbuckle. Even Raiden had joined the fight once he found everyone, but where was Jade? Kurai was positive that she would be here in order to help save him and her mother.
He only hoped that if she found Ophelia with Tanya, she would listen to reason. That's all he could hope for. But at the moment, he would have to stop Shinnok here and now before he harms anyone else.
Shinnok glares at Kurai as a dark balls of magic appear on his hands. "I should never have allowed Delilah to bring you here. Listening to that wretched woman was a mistake. One that I will have to rectify after I've killed you." He says angrily to the Edenian Prince, who smirks at the former Elder God before shifting into the Divine Dragon stance.
"If you really think that you can kill me, Shinnok, there's only one way for you to find out. Fight me and we'll see who comes out on top." He says calmly as he tenses every muscle in his body and glares at Shinnok, preparing himself for a challenging fight.