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Inside Shinnok's Fortress...
Jade, after Drake had took off into the fortress to look for Kurai, she ran in a different direction to search for him as well. But all she's seen so far are the bodies and corpses of demons strewn across the floor or massive blood splatters all over the walls with chunks and pieces of flesh.
She had hope that Kurai was still alive, but that hope was dwindling slowly before she hears a loud screech ahead of her. She knew it wasn't Kurai, but she continued to run in that direction anyway, hoping that it was exactly who she thought it was. Because if she was right, then Kitana and her mother would be right there alongside her.
She turns a corner just in time to see a demon sent flying over her head before crashing into the wall behind her with a sickening thud before it falls to the floor. She turns her head back to see Sindel take in a deep breath after using her Phoenix Screech. She notices Jade and runs over to her. "Jade! Thank goodness, you're here." She says with relief as she and Jade embrace each other in a hug.
"Thank the Elder Gods. Are you alright, Sindel? Where's Kurai?" Jade asks with concern as Sindel briefly looks worried for her son, but sighs with a light smile.
"Last I saw of him he was in the palace courtyard fighting off the demons, after that, I'm not sure. But I know he's ok. I'm certain of it." She informs Jade confidently, making her nod before she continues. "Jade, listen, there's something you need to know. And I need you to bear with me, ok? It's important." She goes on, which causes Jade to nod again, but Sindel's tone causes her to feel worried.
"Is it my mother and Kitana? Are they alright?" She asks worriedly as Sindel nods, reassuring her. Jade sighs before Sindel continues.
"Ophelia and Kitana are fine, but that's not it. It's something else." She says cryptically before calmly leading Jade to another corner that had a small space on the side of the wall.
Sindel waits off to the side as Jade walks up to the small space to see Kitana and Ophelia patching up a woman with dark skin, long black hair, and yellow clothes with black accents. The woman looks up at her. Jade freezes.
Tanya.
Tanya hesitantly smiles. "Hello, Jade..." She says timidly, but Jade doesn't hear her. All she sees is red. She quickly grasps her razor-rang tightly in her hand and moves to cut Tanya down.
"Jade, no, WAIT!!!" Sindel, Ophelia, and Kitana all shout.
Outside, Fortress Garden...
Raiden takes down another group of demons before electrocuting the ones that refuse to stay down. He turns his head in the direction of his warriors. Sonya Blade and Jax continue fighting off their group of demons, while Johnny Cage has the misfortune of fighting Sareena again. Though he is holding himself better against her compared to the last time they fought.
He looks over at the two Shaolin monks, Liu Kang and Kung Lao, who were both fighting Quan Chi and Hornbuckle. Hornbuckle, to Raiden, now that he had gotten a much better look at the young man, he looked vaguely familiar to the thunder god.
He remembers a young man that had trained with Liu Kang in the beginning at a young age, but as the young man got older, his methods and techniques did not fall in line with the teachings and beliefs of the Shaolin, so he was expelled and exiled from the Wu Shi Academy for underhanded tactics during his training. Whatever happened to him after that, Raiden did not know, but now he feels he is about to find out. As will Liu Kang.
Liu Kang & Kung Lao vs. Quan Chi & Hornbuckle...
Quan Chi knocks Kung Lao away and follows him to the ground level of the garden while Hornbuckle deals with Liu Kang. The exiled Shaolin flies through the air with a flying kick to hit Liu Kang, but he misses as Liu Kang rolls out of the way.
Landing on his feet, Hornbuckle turns and faces Liu Kang with a seething glare. "Before I take care of Kurai, I'll deal with you first, Chosen One. You, who stole everything from me after I was expelled from the academy." He says angrily, which causes Liu Kang to look at him with confusion.
"What are you talking about? I haven't stolen anything from you, I don't even know who you are. Only your name." The Shaolin monk says to Hornbuckle, which causes the exiled monk to glare furiously.
"Don't play dumb with me, Liu Kang! You know who I am! You and I had become rivals when we started our training at the academy!" He exclaims angrily as Liu Kang, still confused, looks more closely at Hornbuckle until a memory flashes across his mind, causing his eyes to widen.
"Feng...? Feng Jin...?" He asks in shock as Hornbuckle grins and nods.
"That's right, Liu Kang. It's been a long time, but I don't go by the name of a weakling anymore. I go by Hornbuckle now. And now, I am going to kill the very person that stole everything from me. And I am going to prove to everyone that I should have been the Chosen One! Not you!" He shouts before rushing towards Liu Kang with another flying kick, which the Shaolin monk blocks as the fight resumes.
With Kung Lao and Quan Chi, Kung Lao grabs his bladed hat and launches it at the pale sorcerer, who dodges the hat and rolls towards the Shaolin. Kung Lao jumps back just as Quan Chi rolls in front of him to deliver an uppercut, but misses.
Quan Chi smirks as Kung Lao's hat returns to him. "You know you cannot defeat me, Kung Lao. You may be a great fighter, but face it, you're not Liu Kang." The pale sorcerer mockingly says to him with a chuckle.
Kung Lao frowns but remains unfazed by Quan Chi's taunting. "I may not be Liu Kang, but I don't need to be to defeat you. Liu Kang and I both are descendants of the Great Kung Lao. A proud and honorable warrior. One that you can only dream of being, but you never will be. Because face it, Quan Chi. You are not me. You are not Liu Kang. And you are certainly NOT Prince Kurai." He taunts back with a satisfied grin when Quan Chi grits his teeth and clenches his fists angrily.
"You just sealed your fate, foolish monk." He says furiously to Kung Lao before summoning skeleton warriors from the Nether Realm and sends them forward to attack Kung Lao.
Kung Lao blocks each of the attacks from the skeleton warriors and swiftly kicks their heads off while also punching or cutting them down with his bladed hat. With Kung Lao preoccupied with the his minions, Quan Chi sneakily makes his way towards the monk, hoping to get a shot at him while he's unaware. Quan Chi summons a curved sword into his hand and prepares to strike down Kung Lao.
But the Shaolin monk whips around and grabs the pale sorcerer's arm before the sword could get too close. Both their arms tremble from trying to overpower the other, but Kung Lao holds the sword in place before Quan Chi quickly begins to chant a spell.
Kung Lao strikes the sorcerer's throat, stopping him from continuing his chant. Quan Chi drops the sword and holds his throat while coughing roughly. He gasps and backs away from Kung Lao, but the Shaolin was not finished. He takes a step forward and punches Quan Chi in the abdomen before backhanding him in the face.
Quan Chi clumsily stumbles back and spits out blood before glaring at Kung Lao, who continues to charge towards him. Quan Chi then launches a roaring, flaming skull at the monk, but he dodges the attack and launches his bladed hat again at the pale sorcerer.
The hat flies towards Quan Chi's leg and cuts it off. Quan Chi drops to the ground screaming in pain as he holds what's left of his leg. The leg gushes blood as Kung Lao walks towards him while his bladed hat flies back towards him. He catches it and puts it back on his head while he stares down at the pale sorcerer.
Still gasping for breath, both from the screaming and Kung Lao's chopping of his throat, Quan Chi looks up to him with pleading eyes. "Kung Lao, please... have mercy... Spare me... please..." He says fearfully, which makes the Shaolin monk stop in his tracks and looks down at Quan Chi incredulously.
"You have got to be kidding me, Quan Chi. You seriously want me to spare you? How many people have you killed that begged and pleaded for their lives? How many? Why should I show you the mercy that you've NEVER shown anyone in your wretched life?" He asks angrily before taking his hat off and prepares to throw it at Quan Chi's chest to finally kill him, but stops when he hears him begin to laugh.
Kung Lao pauses and looks at the pale sorcerer carefully. "And just what are you laughing at?" He asks curiously before Quan Chi looks up at him while laughing through the pain.
"If you really want to kill me, Kung Lao, what will happen to Liu Kang? He doesn't seem to be holding up too well against Hornbuckle." He says to him while pointing up at the fight between Liu Kang and the former Shaolin monk, Hornbuckle.
Kung Lao looks over at their fight and sees indeed that Liu Kang is struggling against Hornbuckle. He struggles with his decision to kill Quan Chi or leave him to help Liu Kang. However, he took too long to decide and is swiftly blown back by Quan Chi with a spell that sends the monk flying through the air before landing roughly on the ground, knocking him unconscious.
QUAN CHI WINS!
Quan Chi smirks smugly before grabbing his legs and quickly heals himself before getting up to run away from the conflict.
Liu Kang, meanwhile, is punched once again in the face by Hornbuckle that causes him to stumble back. Liu Kang looks at his former friend and rival through one eye as the other was swollen shut while the rest of his face and body is now bruised and bloodied from the beating he has endured.
Hornbuckle, formerly Feng Jin, walks towards Liu Kang with a sadistic grin. "See? What did I tell you, Liu Kang? I, not you, should have been the chosen one. But I was expelled and exiled from the Wu Shi Academy because our teachers didn't like my methods or the underhanded techniques I learned." He says mockingly to him before punching him again then kicking him in the chest, which sends Liu Kang down to the ground.
Liu Kang coughs and spits out blood before looking up at Hornbuckle with an exhausted expression. "This... doesn't prove anything, Feng... You were... my friend once... I will not... fight you..." He says in a quiet tone, but Hornbuckle hears him.
He crouches down and lifts Liu Kang's head by his head band and glares at him. "Look around you, Liu Kang! This is NOT the time to play peacekeeper!" He shouts angrily while forcing Liu Kang to look at the carnage happening around them before he looks back at him. "You were right about one thing. We WERE friends once, but no longer, Liu Kang. You and I... we're enemies now. There is no point in trying to save me. But you won't live long enough to see what happens after this." He continues and prepares to strike Liu Kang's wind pipe, but he is knocked away by Akuma who had decided to interfere with the fight while Han handles the demons with Drake.
"No, young man, it will be you who will not live long enough to see the end." Akuma says threateningly to Hornbuckle, who gets back up with a growl while Liu Kang crawls away from them to keep out of Akuma's way.
Hornbuckle glares fiercely at Akuma and charges towards him with a roar then leaps into the air. He comes down towards Akuma, but he is effortlessly knocked back down to the ground with a kick. Akuma stomps his foot down, but Hornbuckle rolls to get away, but the experienced Temple Master quickly follows after him and grabs him by the throat.
Akuma lifts Hornbuckle into the air one handed while the exiled monk kicks and struggles to get out of the man's grasp. "You know, Liu Kang's grandfather was right to expel you from the academy. You have talent, but you lack experience. You've been hiding behind your masters for too long. Too bad you won't live to see the light of tomorrow." He says to Hornbuckle coldly and prepares to drive his fist straight through his chest.
"No, wait!" Liu Kang shouts, causing Akuma to pause and look over at him with Hornbuckle still in his grasp. The monk looks up at Akuma pleadingly. "Temple Master Akuma, please. Do not kill him." He says softly as Akuma looks at him with confusion.
Akuma looks up at Hornbuckle, who glares down at him, before throwing him into the air then punches him square in the chest. Hornbuckle shouts painfully as he flies through the air and crashes into the stone wall of the fortress before collapsing to the ground.
AKUMA WINS!
Hornbuckle lets out a pained groan as he begins to crawl away from the ongoing conflict in the garden.
Akuma looks over at Liu Kang, walks over to him and helps him to his feet. "Why have me spare him, Liu Kang? He is our enemy. He wanted to kill you." He asks the Shaolin curiously as Liu Kang nods.
"Yes, I know. But I still... consider him my friend. We may not have parted on the best of terms, but... I have to believe that he can be redeemed, Master Akuma. I have to believe that there is still good in him. Somewhere." He explains with hope for his former friend as Akuma nods with understanding, but remains uncertain that allowing Hornbuckle to live is a good idea.
The two then look on at the fight occurring between Kurai and Shinnok with neither side willing to quit or give up.
Meanwhile, back inside Shinnok's Fortress...
Jade pauses and blinks her eyes when she sees that her razor-rang is not cutting into Tanya, but rather her own mother's shoulder. She lets go of her weapon in a panic and backs away when she realizes what she's done. Tanya, Sindel, and Kitana all look on in shock at what just happened.
"Mother! I... I'm so... I'm so sorry...! I... I don't know what came over me...! I just...!" She exclaims in shock as Ophelia carefully and gently pulls the razor-rang out of her shoulder and groans from the pain. She then hands the razor-rang back to Jade before standing up.
Ophelia turns to face her daughter with blood dripping down her shoulder, but she did not appear to be angry, just disappointed. She sighs. "Jade, listen to me, I understand your anger towards Tanya, but-"
"Then why is she here?!" Jade shouts while pointing at Tanya accusingly with tears threatening to fall, not believing or understanding why Ophelia, her own mother, would come to Tanya's defense. Ophelia shakes her head sadly before sighing again.
"Let me finish, Jade. Please." She pleads calmly as Jade looks back and forth between Ophelia and Tanya, her body trembling with frustration and anger.
Ophelia puts a hand on her wounded shoulder and winces a bit as she slowly leans against the wall, which causes Sindel and Kitana to run over to her and begin to try to patch her up. She then looks up at Jade, who was still waiting for an explanation from her mother with a firm look. "Jade... Tanya did not betray Edenia, not willingly. Her mind had been controlled by Shang Tsung after he killed her parents. He and Shao Kahn used her to open the portal gates to allow them and the Outworld army to invade Edenia." She explains as Jade listens in disbelief.
Ophelia pauses for a moment to allow Jade to digest this information before she continues. "When she was no longer useful to them, they let her go just as Shao Kahn had killed King Jerrod and burned Edenia to the ground. After that is when she came to her senses and witnessed what had happened. Many years after that, she sought me out." She continues while Jade continues to listen, as does Sindel and Kitana, though they had already heard from Ophelia while they were back in the dungeon.
"When she found me... I initially wanted to kill her when she told me that it was her that allowed Shao Kahn into Edenia. But after telling me that she didn't do it willingly, I decided to listen to her and see what she had to say. After she told me everything, I remained hesitant to bring her into my rebel forces. So I decided to test her. Become my spy and feed me and my forces intel on what the forces of darkness were planning. She agreed and she's been loyal and trustworthy for thousands of years." She continues explaining as she looks over at Tanya with a grateful smile while Tanya smiles back and nods.
Though Jade remains uncertain, but focuses again on Ophelia when she continues speaking. "Then two years ago, I sent Tanya on a mission to assassinate Shang Tsung during the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament that would decide the fate of Earth Realm. Of course, she wasn't participating in the tournament, but she had infiltrated the island. Not even twenty four hours after she left, she came back with a blissful smile on her face." She explains as Jade looks at her with confusion.
"Bliss?" She wonders as Ophelia goes on.
"I had asked her if she had been successful with the assassination, she said no. I asked why and she explained that had discovered the best information and news possible." She went on as Jade looks at Tanya then her mother curiously.
"And that was?" She asks with curiosity, causing Ophelia to smile.
"That Kurai was still alive." She says simply.
Jade froze. "Tanya met Kurai before I did in the tournament...?! She knew he was alive and...?! Wait... No... If Tanya met him first then that means... he knew...? Kurai knew Tanya was around and didn't say anything to me...?" She wonders with a hurtful expression.
Noticing this, Ophelia calls out to her. "Jade?" She calls to her, Jade looks up. "I know what you're thinking. Kurai wanted to tell you. He wanted to tell all of you." She explains as she and Tanya look at Jade, Sindel, and Kitana with saddened expressions.
Ophelia then looks back at Jade. "But try as he might, he couldn't find the right time. He so desperately wanted to tell all of you that Tanya was innocent when she told him, but because he knew that Tanya was such a sensitive subject, he never brought it up. But then all this happened, Jade, and he wanted to tell you before leaving with Raiden, but..." She continues but stops when she notices a look of realization on her daughter's face.
"That was what he wanted to tell me before he left." She says quietly as she thinks back and remembers his words and her promise to him before he left with Raiden to Earth Realm.
"Please, just... if, IF, you somehow find out on your own, just know that... that I did not keep it a secret to hurt you. I did it because... because I was protecting a friend." She remembers his words to her before leaving with Raiden.
She then remembers what she said to him before he did. "Kurai, I know full well the type of person you are. Whatever the secret is, whether you tell me or I find out on my own, I promise to hear you out. You have my word." Those were her exact words to him.
He gave her a promise, and she gave her word that she would hear him out whether he told her or if she found out on her own. Well, she just found out, and he didn't tell her. Jade was a woman of her word, and she would allow Kurai to explain why he didn't tell her sooner. She trusts Kurai, and she loves him.
But now she feels that their relationship will take a new turn. For better or worse, she didn't know. And that worries her. Does he love and trust her the same way she trusts him? She inhales deeply before releasing a shuddering sigh as tears build up in her eyes again.
"Jade?" Tanya calls out to her, making her freeze again before looking down at her with a cold expression.
"What?" She snarls, making Tanya flinch at her tone, but she continues nonetheless.
"Please, don't doubt Kurai or think less of him. He loves you. More than you can possibly imagine. We all lost him once, and look what happened. Over ten thousand years we lost so much precious time with him and he is a full grown man now. A warrior. Not that little boy we all had high hopes for." She says to them as they all, except Jade, look down with sadness.
The image of a young Kurai, the Edenian Prince with a bright smile on his face still fresh on all their minds. Tears begin to build in all their eyes as Tanya goes on. "We lost him once already, and I know that we can't bear the thought of losing him again. So, Jade... please... don't let my weakness... my mistake be the reason that breaks you two apart. As I said, he loves you... as much as I... we love him. Don't push him away because of my weakness and the mistakes I made." She finishes as Jade looks at her with a side glance, noticing her slip.
Tanya loves Kurai? Technically speaking, he is a prince, and by Edenian laws he is allowed to marry more than one woman if he so chooses. But the thought of Tanya AND Jade married to Kurai made Jade herself a little sick to her stomach. Jade had a lot to think about and both she and Kurai had a lot to talk about when this mess with Shinnok was over.
For now? Jade calmly walks over to Jade and kneels down in front of her. "When this is all over, you and I will talk. But only after I talk with Kurai." She says to Tanya with a chilling tone, which causes Tanya to nod with understanding before Jade stands back up.
She looks at the four women. "Let's start looking outside. I'm sure Drake or the others will have found Kurai by now. And no doubt they're fighting Shinnok as we speak." She says calmly as the other women nod. Sindel helps Ophelia to her feet while Kitana helps Tanya.
Jade remains in front to take care of any threats that come their way. The thought of her and Kurai together slowly begins to fade in Jade's mind, but she shook her head of those thoughts and focuses on the task at hand. Finding Kurai and stopping Shinnok.