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Edenia, Late Night...
Long after she settles down the crowd uproar of Edenia's citizens and its royals, Sindel had retreated to her private room in the palace for some peace and quiet.
She sighs heavily as she gently rubs her face to relieve some of the pain from her headache while she sits in her chair facing the balcony. A cool breeze sweeps through the room as one of the palace maids walks into the room with a metal tray.
On the tray was a small cup with a teapot near it as the maid gently sets the tray down on a small table near Sindel's chair. Without even looking at the maid, Sindel smiles softly. "Thank you. I can handle the rest." She politely says to the maid, but the woman gently shakes her head.
"No, no, my Queen. After the day you've had, you deserve to have some rest. Let me take care of this." The maid says tenderly to Sindel as she closes her eyes and sighs contentedly.
"Thank you, again. You're too kind." She says softly as the maid pours the tea into the cup while also carefully slipping something else into the tea before handing the cup to Sindel.
She takes the cup gratefully and smiles up at the maid before taking a small sip. "Hmm... thank you. I needed this." She says sweetly before looking at the young maid curiously. She notices that the young maid had short black hair with a white stripe on the side, but what Sindel found most intriguing were the strange black markings covering the young woman's eyes.
"I apologize, but I'm afraid I don't recognize you." She says with confusion as she slowly begins to feel lightheaded.
The maid smiles lightly and nods. "My name is Sareena. I'm new here, Lady Sindel." Sareena explains as Sindel nods and takes another, but longer, sip of her tea. But the lightheaded feeling increases as she sets her cup down and stands up to walk out to the balcony, hoping that the cool night breeze might help.
Sareena follows closely behind her as Sindel begins to feel legs wobble before turning around to see that Sareena was standing right behind her. "What... What kind of tea... did you give me...?" She asks with rising anger as she weakly glares at Sareena.
Sareena just grins before taking out a small vile. "Oh, not to worry. It's regular tea, but with a little something special. It's a little concoction that will help you sleep. Because from what I've seen, you definitely need it." She tells Sindel sinisterly while chuckling.
Sindel then hears the sound of high heels clacking against the palace floor as a cloaked woman walks towards them. "Well done, Sareena. Quan Chi knows how to pick his servants well." The woman says as she walks up beside Sareena.
Sareena smiles and bows her head low before taking a step back behind the woman. "Thank you, Lady Delilah. I live to serve." She says politely to the woman, Delilah, who begins to walk closer to Sindel and slowly lowers her hood.
Slowly losing consciousness, Sindel blinks a few times to regain some of her vision because Delilah looks oddly familiar to the Queen. "Wait... Skarlet...? Is that you?" She wonders incredulously with a shocked expression.
Delilah just smiles as she flips her long red hair behind her. "No, no, Lady Sindel. I'm not Skarlet. But you could say that she and I share a close bond with each other. Somewhat at least." She explains as Sindel begins to collapse to her knees, now just barely conscious.
"Who... Who... are you... Delilah...?" Sindel asks fearfully while glancing up at the red haired woman.
Delilah continues smiling and kneels down close to Sindel before slowly lifting the Queen's head up to get an even closer look at her. "Let's just say that I'm... an old friend of the family. Specifically your family, Sindel. Because I know who your ancestor is. The Phoenix Goddess, Yumina." She explains as Sindel looks at Delilah with utter shock.
How does she know about Sindel's bloodline and ancestry? There aren't many who are privy to that information. Not even Sindel's own children.
Sindel, her vision fading more now, tries to speak, but no words or sound manages to come out. Delilah chuckles and shakes her head with amusement. "Oh, Sindel, don't look so shocked about this. My sister, Delia, and I have been around for millennia. So she and I both know more about the history of the realms than you could possibly imagine." She tells the Edenian Queen before she loses consciousness.
Sindel collapses against the cold floor of the palace, fully unconscious, as a pair of demons suddenly emerge from a fiery portal and pick up the Edenian Queen by her arms.
"Take her to Lord Shinnok's hidden fortress in Earth Realm. We'll be along shortly. We still have to capture a few more targets." Delilah orders the demons, causing them to obediently bow their heads before leaving with Sindel through another fiery portal.
Delilah turns around to face Sareen, who patiently waits for the blood sorceresses next orders. "Who are we going after next, my Lady?" She asks curiously.
Delilah grins. "The Princess and the Captain of the Royal Guard. Kitana and Ophelia." She says wickedly.
Hours Later...
Kurai, Drake and Kai all appear with Raiden in Edenia as a bolt of strikes and lands them just outside the city. But they are welcomed with a horrific sight.
The city is burning, and the people that are still alive inside are all screaming in terror as they run for their lives away from the demons that had returned and from the Centaur army of Outworld.
"By the Elder Gods...! Not again...!" Raiden exclaims while in shock at the sight of the burning Edenian city.
Kurai turns his head towards Raiden. "Raiden, head back to Earth Realm and bring back help! We'll do what we can here!" He tells the Thunder God urgently, who nods with understanding before teleporting out of Edenia to Earth Realm.
Kurai, Drake, and Kai all run into the burning city to fight off the demons and help as many of Edenia's people as they can.
A demon flies towards Kurai and tries to ram him into the ground, but the Prince jumps on its back and begins punching its head repeatedly, causing it to screech in pain as it flies up to the sky. Kurai then breaks the demon's wings, which causes it to howl painfully before he rips the wings off.
Kurai and the demon both begin free falling towards the ground. But Kurai maneuvers the demon's body towards one of the buildings and jumps off at the last second before the demon's body crashes into it.
Landing on the ground, Kurai looks around him to see that he is now surrounded by a small group of Centaurs, and they were all glaring daggers at the Prince. He smiles and glances at them all. "Ok, fellas. Who wants to go first?" He says confidently before they all roar and rush towards him.
Meanwhile with Drake and Kai, they both run through the streets of the city after being separated from Kurai, but Drake isn't fully worried since he's confident that Kurai can handle some demons and the Centaurs.
Kai, however, didn't share the same confidence as Drake. "Drake, are you certain it's a good idea to leave Kurai behind? Aren't you worried?" He asks with concern for the Edenian Prince.
Drake just smiles as they continue running through the streets. "Of course I am. But a few demons and some Centaurs aren't going to take Kurai down so easily. He's fought worse in the past." He reassures the young Shaolin.
They suddenly stop when they witness a Centaur, Motaro's younger brother, Malek, killing an Edenian by ripping him in half. When Malek lays eyes on Drake and Kai, he tosses the two body parts away into a fire before slowly walking towards them.
Malek raises one of his hands and points at Drake. "You. You're one of the people that fought against Outworld in Earth Realm." He says accusingly as Drake stares at Malek cautiously.
"So what if I am?" He asks rhetorically as Malek continues to walk towards them.
The young Centaur then grins. "I wonder if your Earth Realm friends will mourn your death... after I've killed you!" He declares with a roar before charging towards the two young men, but they both jump out of the way as he rushes past them.
Malek, in his overeagerness, wasn't able to slow himself down in time before he crashes into a burning building. Drake and Kai watch and listen as they hear Malek cry out painfully from the heat of the flames before he manages to walk out of the burning building with a furious glare.
"Well, looks like I'm going to fight a Centaur tonight. You go on ahead, Kai. Help the Edenian's with the fire and try to help as many as you can." He tells him, which causes Kai to look over at Drake incredulously.
"Drake, are you insane?! He's a Centaur for goodness sake! What can you possibly do against him?!" Kai fearfully asks with concern for Drake as they both back away while Malek approaches slowly.
Drake just smiles confidently. "Just because he's a Centaur, doesn't mean that he's unstoppable, Kai. Shao Kahn is a perfect example. No matter how big or strong the opponent, as long as you're still breathing, you have a chance." He explains to the young Shaolin, who still didn't look to confident while Malek continues his approach.
"What are you waiting for, Kai?! Get moving! There are people that need help!" Drake shouts, which causes Kai to nod with understanding before running to help the Edenians that are trying to put out the fires and help people out of the burning buildings. Though Kai still feels great concern for leaving Drake behind to fight Malek.
Drake's grows wider as Malek slowly approaches the young blonde with a menacing glare. "What chance do you honestly think you have against me, human? I am Malek! A Centaur! A superior being compared to you weak humans! You have no chance against me!" The Centaur declares arrogantly to the young man, but Drake remains unfazed.
"Say what you want, Malek. But no matter what you say or do, you're not going to stop me. We will push your forces and these demons back to where you came from. You may have been successful with attacking Edenia, but you won't conquer it today." He says with a confident smile as Malek growls.
"Then you shall share the same fate as all the other Edenians! The same as your friend Kurai!" Malek roars before charging towards Drake again, but Drake continues to smile as the Centaur comes towards him.
Drake Lee vs. Malek...
Malek charges towards Drake, but Drake surprises the Centaur when he launches a golden ball of flame at him. Malek tries to stop in his tracks but slides against the ground before the fireball hits him square in the chest, which sends the Centaur flying backwards before landing on the ground roughly.
Malek quickly pats down his chest to put out the flame, but Drake doesn't give him a moment's reprieve. He rushes toward the Centaur and leaps into the air with the intent to kick him, but Malek flicks him away with his mechanized tail.
Drake crashes into one of the burning buildings and quickly escapes as Malek recovers and regains his bearings. The Centaur charges towards Drake again and lands a devastating blow on the young man.
Drake stumbles back, stunned, before Malek quickly turns around and back kicks him, which sends him flying through the air. Then he lands roughly on his back while coughing up blood.
Malek walks towards Drake slowly with a smug grin on his face. "Give it up, human. You have no chance against me. You were doomed before the fight even started." He tells Drake arrogantly while looking down on him.
Drake coughs up blood again and wipes it off his lips before standing up. He glares at the Centaur defiantly. "Say what you want, Malek, but I'm not giving up. So, are you going to keep talking, or are you going to shut up and fight?" He says to the young Centaur harshly while shifting into his fighting stance again. Malek just snorts and continues to grin smugly before rushing towards Drake.
Drake confidently stands his ground as his fists are engulfed in golden flames. Just as Malek reaches Drake, he devastatingly uppercuts the Centaur lower jaw. Malek, dazed, stumbles back from the sudden attack and repeatedly trips over his hooves while trying to get his sight back.
But Drake rushes towards him and gut punches the Centaur, which causes Malek to roar in pain. Drake then dodges a wild strike from Malek before uppercutting him again. This only causes Malek to stumble again as he tries to get some distance away from Drake while trying to shake off the wobbly feeling in his legs.
Malek, regaining some of his vision, looks over at Drake with an infuriated expression. "What the blazes is going on?! He is a mere human, I am a Centaur! I should not be having trouble with such a weak species!" He shouts at himself in his head while Drake patiently waits for Malek to make his next move.
"Alright, no more holding back then! I cannot afford to waste anymore time with this pathetic human!" Malek continues to think while grinding his teeth before standing back up then launches a large ball of flame at Drake with a roar.
Drake just scoffs while standing his ground. Then, to Malek's shock, Drake catches the fireball before hurdling it back towards the Centaur as it morphs into a giant dragon head, which roars fiercely.
The golden flaming dragon head hits Malek and causes a massive explosion that renders the Centaur barely conscious while sending him flying out of the city. Malek then lands just outside the city walls, wheezing and gasping for breath as he struggles to stay conscious, but soon fails when he passes out from all the pain.
DRAKE LEE WINS!
Drake sighs heavily before dropping down on one knee to catch his breath. "You've gotten much stronger, Drake. I'm happy for you." Damashi, the ever enigmatic voice that Drake continues to hear, says to him proudly. Drake laughs lightly and nods.
"Thanks, Damashi. I appreciate you saying that, but I can't stop to rest now. I've got to help the people." He says before standing up and running off to help put out the fires and fight off the demons and Centaurs.
"Go then. Help them. Just remember not to push yourself too hard. Kurai wouldn't be happy if he heard something happened to you." Damashi tells Drake with concern, which makes the young man nod.
"I know he wouldn't." He says in agreement as he fends off multiple Centaurs and demons while trying to help the Edenians put out the fires.
Meanwhile, with Kurai...
After taking care of the Centaurs that had surrounded him, Kurai makes his way to the palace while helping as many of the Edenians as he could by putting out the fire or dragging them out of the burning buildings on his way there.
As he reaches the courtyard, he sees that the palace is relatively untouched. No fires, no burns anywhere on the palace, and no smoke. The palace itself seems to not have been attacked.
"Why just the city? Why not attack the palace too? Shao Kahn did." He wonders before heading inside to find Sindel and Kitana.
He heads towards his mother's room first to find her, but she isn't there. He then quickly makes his way to Kitana's room, but finds that she isn't there either.
"Damn! Mother, Kitana, where are you?" He wonders with concern as he checks the remaining rooms of the palace, but they've been completely deserted. Either the palace staff had been killed, or they left the palace in a hurry to help the Edenians that were trapped in the city.
He heads towards the throne room next. He doesn't believe that Sindel or Kitana would hide in the throne room, of all places, but he had to make sure he checked every room in the palace.
He opens the large double doors leading into the throne room and walks towards the center of it. He examines his surroundings closely to find any sign of Sindel or Kitana, but doesn't see any.
He sighs in frustration and turns around to leave the room, but feels a sharp sudden pain in his right shoulder. He shouts in pain then looks down to see a kunai sticking out through his shoulder.
"GET OVER HERE!!!" A voice shouts, which Kurai recognizes, before he is pulled and dragged back to the center of the throne room. The kunai is yanked out of Kurai's shoulder as the Nether Realm specter, Scorpion, approaches him.
Kurai chuckles as he gets back up to his feet. "Scorpion, it's been a while. You still like being Quan Chi's lapdog?" He asks mockingly as Scorpion glares at him.
"Hold your tongue, Prince of Edenia. I am in no mood for your nonsense tonight." The specter tells him harshly as the two stare each other down intensely.
"Funny, because I wasn't in the mood for my home being attacked, again, yet here we are." Kurai says calmly as Scorpion narrows his eyes. "You don't really think that Quan Chi is your ally, do you?" He then asks the specter curiously.
"Quan Chi has promised me that with Lord Shinnok's help, they will both revive my clan and destroy the Lin Kuei. I do this only for the sake of my clan." Scorpion admits, but Kurai narrows his eyes sharply.
From all the books that Kurai has read in the palace library, Quan Chi has revived multiple people in the past for him to control. Some were even entire clans before he wiped them out when they were no longer useful to him. Why would he need Shinnok's help to revive the Shirai Ryu clan? Scorpion was obviously being used, more so now than before.
"Quan Chi does not need the help of a fallen Elder God to revive an entire clan, Scorpion. You're being used because you're useful, but once that usefulness runs out, they'll discard you like a bad habit. And deep down, I know you can sense that." Kurai points out to the specter, who only glares heatedly as his eyes burn with flames.
"ENOUGH!!!" Scorpion shouts before launching his kunai at Kurai again, but before it can reach the Prince, it is instead frozen before it breaks and crumbles to the throne room floor.
A ninja covered in black with dark blue trimmings jumps down from the rafters of the throne room and lands in between Kurai and Scorpion.
Knowing that Kuai Liang still goes by the name of Sub-Zero, Kurai could only think of one person that also uses ice abilities.
"Bi-Han?" He asks curiously as Bi-Han turns his head and smiles at Kurai under his mask before nodding as Scorpion's eyes widen in shock.
"Call me Eclipse. And it's good to see you again, Kurai. But we don't have time to talk now, my friend. Let me handle Scorpion." Eclipse tells him before turning back around to face the man that killed him unjustly.
"Bi-Han... I mean, Eclipse. I know that you and Scorpion hate each other, but you can't-" Kurai begins to explain, but Eclipse holds his hand up in Kurai's direction.
"Don't worry. Sub-Zero and Smoke informed me long ago of Scorpion's reasons for killing me. My hatred aside, I know you want to help him, but let me handle it for now." He says reassuringly.
Kurai hesitates for a moment, but nods then leaves the room to allow Bi-Han, now going by Eclipse, to handle his personal business with Scorpion.
The Nether Realm specter glares heatedly at the reformed Lin Kuei ninja as he pulls another kunai from out of thin air. "This is impossible...! I killed you in the Mortal Kombat tournament...! I HELD YOUR SKULL IN MY HANDS BEFORE CRUSHING IT!!!" He shouts furiously as the kunai and its chain are both engulfed in flames.
Eclipse grins under his mask. "A good man brought me back, and my brother helped me see the error of my ways." He says to the specter calmly as Scorpion's eyes glow with hot flames.
"So you finally admit that you killed my family and clan, Bi-Han?!" He asks angrily, but Eclipse shakes his head.
"No, Hanzo. I told you before. I did not kill your family, or your clan. I do not know who killed them. And clearly, neither do you." He admits to Scorpion, but this only causes the specter's anger to rise.
"LIAR!!! You killed my family and clan, and you know it! NOW FIGHT ME, COWARD!!!" He shouts furiously before rushing towards Eclipse. With his enflamed kunai in hand while Eclipse forms an ice shield on his arm, the two ninja rivals begin to clash once again.
With Kurai, Palace Main Hall...
Kurai nears the entrance of the palace and is about to leave to go help with the people in the city with his friends and allies, who all should be here by now with Raiden if Eclipse showed up. But he stops when he sees an individual he has absolutely no respect for standing near the entrance.
A member and self proclaimed leader of the Black Dragon. Kano.
Kano's red cybernetic eye glows brightly when he sees Kurai coming towards the entrance to leave the palace. "Well, well, well. If it ain't the so called Prince of Edenia. Ya like what the demons and Centaurs are doing with the city? It's a pretty sight for me to be honest." He mockingly taunts Kurai with a sinister grin.
Kurai just remains as calm as he can before finally speaking. "And you, of all people, aren't taking part in it? Too scared that you might get killed in the fight? Because we all know that while you may be a survivor, you're not much of a fighter. You're too weak." He says coldly as Kano loses his grin and glares at him.
"Ya sure you want to be talking that much trash, Prince? Because if ya wanna fight, we can fight, but you might not last long. Considering yer injuries." Kano says with a seething tone as he points at Kurai's injured shoulder thanks to Scorpion.
Kurai smirks and stretches out his shoulder, while painful, he ignored it. "Injury or no injury, Kano, I can still kick your sorry ass. And since Shang Tsung isn't here to save you this time, I'm going to enjoy ripping off that face plate of yours." He says darkly before shifting into his fighting stance.
Kano just scoffs as his cybernetic eyes glows brightly before the two rush towards each other for a fight.