Passing through the portal, Francine took a deep breath. The crisp air filled her lungs as she looked out at the mountains. A couple of temples painted the land, while at the center of all the temples is a pentagon with five giant statues in a fighting pose. These statues held up a fighting area with a dragon symbol on it.

"This is a kind of nice. Maybe I can stay here instead of in the palace," Francine said.

She skated through the grass and reached a temple. She concealed herself behind a wall, eavesdropping on a group of monks walking by.

Crap! How am I supposed to do this?

Francine gazed at a temple's top. She looked down at her hands and formed shards of ice in her palms. Francine stepped back and ran, jumping at the other temple's ledge. She lifted herself and sat on the roof.

Much better. Now, where would this Liu Kang be?

Francine pulled out her binoculars from her bra. She panned over to a group of monks praying. She shook her head and moved on to other areas of the academy.

Nothing… What if Liu Kang isn't here? Only one thing left to do.

She placed the binoculars back into her bra and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she looked at the temples and saw the outline of more bodies.

Is that him?

A pair of bodies stood inside a temple, one wearing a headband and the other a hat with razors around the edges. They were laughing as they walked over to the arena.

"Found you." Francine jumped down and sneaked to the arena.

She glanced at them and made a mental note of their activities. She inches closer, seeing the headband man doing shadowboxing.

"Come on, Liu Kang, let me fight you!"

"And you get defeated by me again. You'll embarrass yourself!"

Good! I got the right guy.

Francine inches closer, pressing up against the pillar. One of them noticed the rustling in the corner.

"Did you hear that?"

"It was probably a squirrel."

The men got back to their training.

That was close!

Francine hung from the top of the pillar. She flipped herself over and climbed up to the temple's roof, pulling out her binoculars again.

So, they train out here. Then again, would they train here every day? Hopefully, they do.

"They look like they're having fun," Francine said.

"I agree. However, you almost got caught by Kung Lao."

"Is that the guy with the hat?"

The other voice hums in agreement, smooth skin pressing against Francine's arm.

"Huh–"

Francine turned and saw a figure with binoculars staring at her. Lowering her binoculars, Francine jumped up and grabbed her hockey stick.

"Who the hell are you?" Francine pointed the hockey stick at the woman. "Are you a monk?"

The woman chuckled, getting into her fighting stance.

"You don't know who I am?! Ha, I am Tanya."

"Tanya? Um…" Francine stared into Tanya's eyes. "Don't know you."

"What a shame, but no matter." Tanya pounded into Francine, choking her.

Francine gripped Tanya's arms, covering them in ice.

"What the–" Tanya tried breaking the ice, but it was useless. She rolled over to her side.

Francine turned back to the duo below. Tanya used all her might to break the ice. She grabbed Francine to the ground and straddled her.

"Only one of us will take Liu Kang down!" Tanya raised her fists in the air, ready to strike Francine.

"There's something out, Liu Kang!"

"Why do you worry about everything?"

Francine grabbed Tanya and covered her mouth. Francine forced Tanya onto her back. She kicked at Francine.

"Shh… if you keep yelling, they hear us." Francine smothered her body against Tanya's. Tanya bit Francine's hand.

"Look, I'll let you go if you don't keep yelling. That guy–Kung Lao–got some great hearing, and you almost got us caught."

Tanya turned her head to the side and looked back at Francine. She nodded.

"Thank you…" Francine got herself and Tanya up.

"Who are you, and why are you here? I had not expected someone else to be here," Tanya said.

"I'm Francine." Francine returned to spying on the duo. Tanya sat next to her. "It's not your business. Go away."

"Hm, I will go away," Tanya said.

"Really?"

"No!"

Francine shushed Tanya and looked through her binoculars.

"You mentioned Liu Kang. What are you trying to do something?"

"Answer my question first, then I will answer yours."

"Ok… I'm here to spy on Liu Kang."

"Why?"

Francine fell silent, contemplating whether to tell her the truth or not. She looked up from her binoculars.

"I work for this guy."

"Hm, I see. I had worked under someone before; however, I do not anymore."

"That's cool. Do you still work under that person?"

"He died." Tanya looked into Francine's eyes, her mask concealing the rest of her face. "What is that mask you are wearing?"

"Shh!"

Francine continued to watch Liu Kang. Tanya grabbed her by the collar of her dress.

"You will answer my questions at once."

"Or else what?"

"I will throw you down there with Liu Kang and Kung Lao."

Francine gritted her teeth and clutched Tanya's hands. She nodded her head, and Tanya let go.

"Ok, I work for this guy… If I mess this up, then something, God knows what will happen to me."

"Who is it?"

"Shang Tsung… and I guess this other guy, Quan Chi."

Tanya's eyes lit up at the mention of Quan Chi.

"Quan Chi, I have not seen him in quite some time. I have heard of Shang Tsung."

"Everybody knows each other, except for this foreigner…" Francine sighed.

"How long have you been here?"

"A couple of hours. Why?"

"Did you find anything about Liu Kang?"

"Hm, it seems he and Kung Lao train twice daily but not much after."

"I wish I lived like that. Shang Tsung makes me clean all the time!"

"Shh." Tanya giggled as she pressed a finger to Francine's lips. "No need to be caught, right?"

"Right. You got me there." Francine swatted Tanya's hand away.

"However, I am confused. Why are Shang Tsung and Quan Chi doing things together? Quan Chi had told me previously that he detests that man."

"Not sure, but I guess they teamed up." Francine got up and picked up the other pair of binoculars. "And before you ask any more possible questions, I know what they're planning." She hands Tanya the binoculars.

"I think I got the gist of what Liu Kang does around here, and I have to head back." Francine slid down the roof and walked through the grasslands. "Why are you following me?"

"I do not wish to infringe on your plans. However, it seems we have more in common."

"We only care about Liu Kang. What else is there?"

"Ah… well…" Tanya rubbed the back of her neck. "You see…"

"Ok, I get it. Come on." Francine grabbed Tanya's hand and took the blade Shang Tsung gave her. "Let's see if this works."

Francine slashed the air with the blade, a large portal back to the palace.

"Incredible!" Tanya said.

"Shang Tsung gave this to me, and it's incredible."

Tanya and Francine walked through the other side of the portal. They went to the entrance, where the large metal doors opened for entry. Tanya looked around like a kid in a candy store.

"Here, you sit and don't touch anything," Francine said.

Another portal opened, where Shang Tsung and Quan Chi exited.

"Shang Tsung, why are you two covered in blood?" Francine grabbed a rag and wiped some of the blood off Shang Tsung's face.

"We had to take care of some business."

"Great, now I'm gonna have to clean again!"

"My apologies. I should have been more careful." Shang Tsung chuckled to himself.

"And who might that be?" Quan Chi said.

"She said her name's Tanya," Francine said.

Quan Chi walked over to Tanya, and they started to chit-chat.

Shang Tsung took Francine's hand and led her to the bathroom, saying, "Come."

Shang Tsung removed his armor and robe, exposing his muscles. He handed his robe to Francine and then removed his pants.

"Why are we in here?" Francine said.

"They won't come in when someone is in the bathroom."

"Oh, ya." Francine turned on the water.

As Shang Tsung sat in the bathtub, Francine rubbed his back with a sponge. He enjoyed a glass of wine during this.

"So, you gonna tell me why you and Quan Chi had blood on yourself," Francine said.

"Business."

"What business?"

"Oh…" Shang Tsung finished the rest of his wine. "Shao Khan is dead."

"Uh huh…" Francine stopped her washing. "Hold up, Shao Khan! Why–how–huh?!"

"Just a part of my plan. You will see."

"What plan?!"

"You will see now. Keep washing my back."

"Only if I can join you…"

Shang Tsung turned and glared at Francine. He pushed his glass against her.

"Fill my cup first, then you may join me."

Once Francine hopped into the bath, she settled before Shang Tsung.

"You do not wish to bathe me anymore."

"No! Especially after whatever you're doing."

Shang Tsung chuckled and rubbed Francine's shoulders. He got close to her ears.

"Think of it: If you help me with my plan, I will reward you with your one genuine wish." Francine's ears perked up.

"That blade I gave you. I will enchant it to allow you back home."

"..." Francine grabbed the sponge and faced Shang Tsung.

"Hm, that's more like it."