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Okinawa, Japan, Dark Wu Shi Academy...
A few hours after Kurai and Drake left with Raiden, Han remains seated in the main temple, meditating. He suddenly hears a bird cry, causing his eyes to snap open just as a phoenix flies into the temple.
The phoenix flies towards him before landing in front of him. He looks down at the phoenix curiously as it looks up at him. Then he hears a voice in his head that gives him pause.
"I have a message from the mother of the one called Kurai. She asked me to find you, Grandmaster Han, to warn you of a trap that has been set in place by a woman named Delilah for her son and his friend Drake. If they wish to find her and the other prisoners, she advises extreme caution." The phoenix says to Han telepathically, delivering the message before taking flight once again and leaving the temple.
Processing what he was just told, Han grips his fists tightly in anger at what he's done. He unwittingly just sent Kurai and the others straight into a trap. "Han... you damned fool." He whispers, quietly berating himself.
London, England, King Arthur's Forgotten Castle...
Raiden and his Champions of Earth Realm stare down the former Elder God that is Shinnok, who is now standing near King Arthur's throne.
Shinnok walks in front of the throne and sits down while keeping his eyes on his adversaries. Kurai keeps his eyes on the fallen Elder God himself while paying close attention to his surroundings. "If he is actually here right now, it's a damn good illusion. Nothing like the illusion I saw on the ship when he was talking to Delilah. And I doubt he's here by himself. I know there are more people here, I just can't see them. Not yet." He thinks to himself as Raiden takes a step forward.
Shinnok shoots his hand up as Raiden stops. The fallen Elder God then waves his finger back and forth. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. Now, now, Raiden, we wouldn't want anything bad to happen, now would we? It's in your best interest to stay where you are, or things will get very ugly soon." He threatens the thunder god, who glares angrily at him while gritting his teeth.
Shinnok, after crossing his legs while sitting on the throne, smirks arrogantly as he stares down at Raiden and the champions until his eyes land on Kurai. "Ah, so the Prince of Edenia is here too. The savior of both Earth Realm and Edenia." He says in a mocking tone before laughing.
"Welcome, Prince Kurai. I'm actually very happy to see that you're here with all these... sewer rats that you call humans. Because since you're here, we can now... how is it that humans say? Get down to business." He continues tauntingly as the Liu Kang and the others glare at Shinnok for calling them rats.
Kurai takes a step forward near Raiden. "And what business would that be?" He asks as Shinnok grins.
Kurai suddenly feels the presence of more people in the room as they begin to reveal themselves. One by one they step out from every shadowy corner of the throne room. Quan Chi, Malek, Scorpion, Reiko, and Sareena. Raiden and the others all look around them as their adversaries slowly walk towards them.
Shinnok raises his hand, signaling for them to stop, and they did. As they wait for Shinnok to allow them to attack, Shinnok stands up from the throne and walks down the steps towards Raiden and Kurai before stopping in front of them. "Would you like to know why I've survived for as long as I have, Raiden? Because I was never incompetent enough to take foolish chances." He says to Raiden before looking over at Kurai.
He grins sadistically. "And you. Would YOU like to know why I've come as far as I have? Because unlike you, I do not care about others like you do, Prince Kurai. Caring about others is a weakness. One that will get you killed one day." He tells him as Kurai narrows his eyes.
"You may think it's a weakness, Shinnok, but I highly disagree. I believe that caring for someone or not caring for someone shows a persons true character. If they care, then that person has a good grasp on right and wrong. It means they're strong. If they don't care, then that person has something inside of them that they are sorely lacking. It makes them weak... but if they think it makes them strong, then they'd be wrong. Like you." Kurai retorts, causing Shinnok to lose his grin and glare at the prince before turning around to walk back up the steps leading up to the throne.
The fallen Elder God sits back down on the throne and crosses his fingers while staring at the group of heroes for a long while. "Hmm... well then, now that I've seen what I'm up against... I'm not all that impressed with what I see. So, I'm not at all worried." He says arrogantly before standing up and Kurai notices that Shinnok either shifted or glitched slightly, causing the prince to narrow his eyes.
"So the real Shinnok isn't here after all. It's another illusion. Just another coward like all the rest despite his power." He thinks to himself as the illusion of Shinnok walks down the steps again before stopping at the foot of them.
He looks back and forth between all his minions before looking back at the group with a smirk. Knowing what was about to happen, Raiden and Kurai both step back carefully to reform the groups numbers.
Kurai then whispers to them. "I suggest you guys take your picks. Things are about to get ugly. I'll take care of Scorpion since Sub-Zero and Eclipse aren't here. But Sonya, I recommend you take Kano." He says to them, but they all glance at him with confusion.
"Kurai... Kano isn't here." Sonya says to him with a confused expression. Kurai leans close to her and whispers to her.
"Look in the dark corner behind Malek. What do you see?" He says to her, causing her to squint her eyes to look at the spot he told her to look at behind Malek. Sure enough, she sees the silhouette of a man with the outline of a vest on his torso. The single, glowing red eye was also a dead giveaway.
She smirks happily. "Gotcha, Kano." She thinks to herself before nodding. "Alright, Kurai. I'll take care of Kano." She says to him assuredly as the others picked and chose who they would fight and hold off.
One everyone had chosen who they were going to fight, the group prepared themselves for the coming fight. Shinnok raises his arms in a dramatic and elegant manner.
"Our business is now concluded, weak mortals. I feel that this will be the only time we meet. I now leave my fighters to deal with all of you." The former Elder God says to them before looking over to the side.
"Quan Chi." He calls as the pale sorcerer looks over at his master and bows his head.
"Yes, my Lord?" He says obediently.
Shinnok's brow furrows sternly. "Make this quick." He says simply before the illusion suddenly disappears. Quan Chi smiles sadistically before looking back over at the group.
He chuckles as the group readies themselves. Suddenly, a large fiery skeleton hand appears from underneath the group and grabs Kurai before dragging him underground to the dungeons of the castle ruins. "Feel the fire of the Nether Realm!" Scorpion shouts before teleporting down beneath the castle to deal with Kurai.
Chaos erupts in the room soon after with both groups rushing towards each other while Kano decided that he was not going to take any part of this fight. Noticing that Kano tried to make a break for it, Sonya run after him and chases him outside to the castle courtyard ruins.
Sareena, while the others fought inside the room, walks over to Cage with a wiggle in her hips. She looks at him with a seductive grin before stopping just a few feet in front of him. Cage puts his hands up in a calming motion before speaking to her.
"Alright, now look, I know we're enemies here, but I honestly would like to NOT fight a woman. I've done that once already and it didn't feel right to me. So, I'd appreciate it if you don't make me fight a woman." He explains to her pleadingly, which causes her to smile sincerely.
"Aw, that's very sweet of you, human. But unfortunately for you..." She begins to say then pauses before her dark hair and pale skin fades away as long horns grow out of her head while a pointed tail appears. Her hands and feet are now engulfed in flames while her skin is now a bright red color. Sareena looks upon Cage with a feral grin.
"I am not just another woman. I am a demon!" She growls at him as she crouches on all fours to pounce on the Earth Realmer.
Cage gulps and adjusts his sunglasses before shifting to his fighting stance. "Oh, shit." He mumbles.
Outside, Sonya quickly runs up behind Kano and drop kicks him, sending him tumbling down the steps of the ruined castle courtyard where he rolls painfully on the ground. He groans painfully as he looks over at Sonya, who walks towards him with a determined expression.
Kano laughs and sits up on his knees. "Ah, I just knew that ya had a thing for me, Sonya. I always knew that ya wanted little ol' me." He says to her arrogantly while looking up at her with a smirk.
He continues to laugh as she stops right in front of him. "The only thing I want from you, Kano, is for you to suffer the same way my father did after what you did to him." She says to him angrily while clenching her fists.
Kano continues to smirk before lowering his head. Then he begins to chuckle before bursting out into laughter. "Hahahaha! Yeah, I remember that day fondly. The way yer old man was screaming was like music to my ears. The way he kept pleading for my men and I to stop. Heh. Priceless." He tells her mockingly while continuing to laugh.
Sonya grits her teeth and clenches her fists tighter as Kano reaches behind him and slowly pulls out his large combat knife.
"Ooh, now would'ya look at this. This little baby brings back memories, now doesn't it?" He mockingly asks her while she glares down at him but doesn't give a word of response.
Kano chuckles and waves the knife tauntingly in front of her as he stands up slowly. "Aw, don't make that face now, baby. It wasn't all bad for ya ol' man. He got a nice big smile on his face that night. Ear... to ear." He continues to taunt her with an amused chuckle before making a slow cutting motion across his face.
Sonya Blade vs. Kano...
Sonya says nothing as Kano continues to chuckle before he sudden tries to slash her throat with his knife, but she dodges it and backs away.
Kano tries to slash Sonya again but she catches his knife hand then attempts to punch him. Kano also catches her fist and smirks. "Give it up, baby. I've studied all yer moves." He says to her arrogantly, making her glare furiously.
"Yeah? Study this, bitch!" She shouts before kicking him in the chest, making him groan and try to back away, but she gives him a sharp uppercut that causes him to stumble and drop his knife.
He stands back up and faces Sonya with a glare as his red cybernetic eye glows brightly. He shoots a laser beam at her but she ducks and quickly rolls towards him. He stops the laser and manages to punch her just as she stands back up, making her groan but retaliates with a kidney punch.
He groans painfully and begins to get frustrated as Sonya backhands him. She kicks him in the abdomen, making him lose his balance but manages to keep it. He stands up straight with a glare as Sonya approaches him to continue the beating but he quickly backhands her in the face, causing her to crumble to her knees before she stands back up quickly.
Kano approaches her slowly, smirking arrogantly before Sonya spins around and kicks him in the face with her heel. He briefly stumbles and trips over his feet before Sonya kicks him again, trying to knock him down to the ground.
As he does Sonya eagerly tries to grab his head and knee him in the face, but Kano stops her and pushes her down to the ground. He gets up quickly then rushes over to her and attempts to stomp on her chest, but she dodges and rolls away.
Sonya tries to stand back up quickly, but Kano rushes over to her again and brutally kicks her in the stomach while she was on her knees, knocking the wind out of her and making her groan in pain loudly. "Aw, does it hurt, baby?" He says to her tauntingly as he circles around her, wondering how he was going to finish her off.
He looks over and notices his knife a mere few feet away. He smirks and looks down at her with a chuckle before walking over to his knife. He picks it up and walks back over to her while she was having trouble getting her breath back.
He raises the knife up and smirks sinisterly. "The game's over, Sonya. It's been fun. Say hi to yer ol' man for me." He says mockingly before attempting to stab her in the back.
But Sonya reacts quickly and roughly kicks the knife out of Kano's hands before doing a handstand and tightly wraps her legs around his neck. Kano's eye widens in a panic and tries to unwrap her legs off his neck, but Sonya manages to shift her body weight enough to bring him down to the ground with her legs still wrapped tightly around his neck.
Kano continues to attempt to unwrap Sonya's legs off his neck, but is losing air as he struggles to breathe. "Game's over, Kano. It's been fun." She repeats back to him mockingly, making him panic as he continues his attempts to unwrap Sonya's legs, but fails.
"No! No, Sonya! Don't! Give me a break, would ya?" He whimpers pleadingly as Sonya smiles with a shrug.
"Have it your way." She says with a smile before tightening her legs grip more and makes a snapping motion.
CRACK!
SONYA BLADE WINS! FATALITY!
Sonya unwraps her legs off Kano's corpse as his head plops to the ground. She stands up before dusting herself off and quickly runs back into the castle to help the others in the throne room. But when she returns, she sees that the fighting has already stopped. Her friends were all still alive, Cage looks as though he was knocked out and is regaining consciousness. Scorpion appears to have been captured, but there was one person missing from the rest of the group.
She rushes over to Raiden with a concerned expression. "Raiden, where's Kurai? Did he make it?" She asks him worriedly, but Raiden sighs dejectedly before looking at her.
The thunder god shakes his head sadly. "We don't know, Sonya. After Johnny Cage was knocked unconscious by the demon, Sareena, it appears that she left to aid Scorpion. But we don't know what happened after. After Shinnok's minions suddenly left, Liu Kang and Drake Lee headed down to the dungeons to aid Kurai, but they found Scorpion instead." He explains to her as he points over to the unconscious form of Scorpion.
He looks back at Sonya and continues. "It also appears that Kurai has cleansed Scorpion of Quan Chi's corruption and released the sorcerer's hold over him, but now we are back to where we started." He explains before Jax walks over to them with a frustrated look on his face.
"NOW Kurai may have been captured and we're right back where we started. Kurai is gone and we STILL don't know where Shinnok's bitch ass is. We're stuck on square one." He says to Sonya and Raiden in a frustrated tone as he, Sonya and Raiden look over at the rest of the remaining group. Cage was nursing his wounds while Liu Kang and Drake were keeping a close eye on Scorpion to make sure he doesn't try anything when he wakes up.
Sonya then inhales deeply before sighing. "Actually, Jax... we're not." She says to him, causing him and Raiden to look over at her with confused expressions.
"What do you mean by that, Sonya?" Jax asks her curiously as she fumbles in her utility belt and pulls out a tracking device. Jax's eyes widen in shock before looking up at Sonya.
"Sonya, you planted a transmitter on Kurai and used him as bait?!" He incredulously asks her with disbelief, but Sonya shakes her head before she explains.
"No, Jax. When we first got here, Kurai pulled me aside and told me that something felt off. At this point, he was obviously right. But before we caught up with you guys, he asked me to hand him one of the new transmitters that we developed that can be tracked across the realms. He planned to be captured. As a matter of fact, I think he was counting on it." She explains to them both, which causes Jax and Raiden to look at each other before looking back at Sonya.
"But how was Kurai certain that he would be the one to be captured? That's quite a risky gamble you both took, Sonya." Raiden questions, wondering why Kurai would think that he would be the one that gets caught.
Sonya nods. "I agree. But now that I think about it, judging from what he told us about this Delilah woman before we came here, one thing was clear to me about her." She begins to say as Jax and Raiden listen closely.
"And what would that be, Sonya?" Raiden asks her curiously.
Sonya looks over at the thunder god before she answers. "Delilah has a particular, and unsettling, interest in both Kurai..." She begins then pauses before pointing in the direction of the group. "...and Drake." She says simply as Jax and Raiden look over the young, blonde haired man, who still kept a close eye on Scorpion's unconscious form, not knowing what lies ahead.
Shinnok's Fortress, Earth Realm...
A loud bang is heard down in the dungeon that catches the attention of the currently captured women of Edenia. Sindel, Kitana, Ophelia, and Tanya all look in the direction of the bang as they begin to hear footsteps approaching their cells.
Two members of the Black Dragon, lead by Reiko, carry a man with his head covered by a black cloth and his hands bound behind him before he is roughly thrown into the cell with Tanya. The door of the cell close loudly as Reiko and the two Black Dragon members look at the women smugly and chuckle before leaving.
The man groans as he sits up and struggles with the binds that held his hands together. "Ugh, the least they could've done was untie my hands. I guess I'll just have to burn them off." The man says with an annoyed tone while continuing to struggle with the binds.
All four women recognize the voice instantly. "Tanya, take that cloth off his head. Help him." Sindel pleads with Tanya, who nods and slides over to help the man and take the cloth off his head.
But the man tenses up and freezes. "Hey! Who is that?" He asks tensely, but Tanya smiles sweetly as she takes off the black cloth slowly to reveal Kurai's face.
Kurai sees Tanya in the cell with him then looks over at his mother, sister, and Ophelia in the cell next to theirs. He looks back at Tanya, who had tears building in her eyes before she tightly wraps her arms around him. Kurai sighs with relief. "Tanya, thank god you're still alive." He says to her happily as she herself nods but says nothing.
"Hold on, Tanya. Back away for a moment." He softly tells her, causing her to back away as he begins to burn the binds off his hands. As he does so, she carefully hides the stitched scar on her belly before Kurai successfully burns the binds.
He tosses the binds aside and looks at Tanya again with a smile. Her lips tremble into a smile before the two embrace each other again in a tight hug while Tanya silently weeps at the truth that her Prince will eventually learn.
Kurai kisses her cheek softly and continues to hold her against him. "Ahem." He then hears, which makes him looks over at the other three women in the next cell, who looked slightly agitated that they were being left out of the reunion.
He laughs softly before slowly leaving Tanya's embrace and hugs Sindel, Kitana, and Ophelia through the restricting bars of their cells. "Oh, my darling son. I'm so happy you're alright." Sindel says to him tearfully with a smile, causing him to nod.
"But what are you doing here, my Prince? You're one of the best fighters in the realms. How did these people manage to capture you?" Ophelia asks him curiously, but also with a hint of concern.
Sindel, Kitana, and Tanya all nod in agreement at the question. How did he get captured and brought here? It didn't make sense to them. "I know it's confusing, Lady Ophelia, but hear me out, ok?" He says to Ophelia, who nods and waits for his explanation as Sindel, Kitana, and Tanya do the same and begins to listen.
"Alright. Now listen closely. This is what I had planned..." He says to them as he tells them of the events that lead to his capture.