After his defeat at the tournament, Cyrax headed back to the inn that housed the tournament guests. To do so, the Lin Kuei assassin had to cross an eerie bridge with an even more intimidating bottom. The bridge stretched precariously over a yawning pit, its narrow expanse barely wide enough for a single person to cross. Constructed from carved out stone,the bridge was reinforced with rusty metal supports that creaked ominously with each step, spikes protruding from the supports.
Beneath the bridge, the pit was a vast chasm lined with an array of steel spikes. The spikes, varying in length and sharpness, jutted out from the supports and floor of the pit like a forest of gleaming, deadly teeth. They were designed to ensure that any fall would result in a gruesome impalement. The steel spikes glinted menacingly, the cold steel reflecting the faint light that filtered through the sparse, flickering torches mounted along the pit's edges.
Whilst Cyrax was crossing the bridge, a sharp pain pierced his back. Turning around quickly, he saw Kitana, the Outworld assassin who had been sent to kill him, despite her protests.
"What was that for?!" Cyrax asked, irritated but not realising the severity of the attack yet.
"Shang Tsung has ordered your assassination," she replied, striking at Cyrax during her explanation. "You're of no use to him now… I'm sorry."
Cyrax responded by kicking Kitana in the knee as she approached, allowing himself to get up. He had no more questions to ask Kitana; any he did have would be directed to Shang Tsung himself… he just had to focus on surviving this altercation.
The two fought on the narrow bridge, Cyrax utilising his high-tech weaponry to hold his own against Kitana's mixture of steel fan blades and her swirling blue wind powers. Firing an energy constructed net, Kitana sliced past it with her fans before launching herself at Cyrax with a sequence of flying kicks to the face. Cyrax fell over and rolled back to get to his feet, spitting at the ground. Drawing from his sambo training, he lunged forward, grabbing Kitana's arm and twisting it before delivering a powerful overhead arm toss, slamming her back against the bridge. Cyrax attempted to jump on Kitana whilst she was grounded, but she countered with fluid precision, using her Outworld martial arts to sweep him by his legs. She spun around gracefully, her feet barely touching the ground as she pushed off the ground with her hands. Kitana unleashed another series of rapid strikes, this time to Cyrax's torso, her hands moving with the speed and grace of a seasoned assassin. Cyrax staggered back from the endless blows, but he managed a reversal eventually by hooking his leg behind Kitana's which then swept her off her feet. Kitana twisted in midair, landing on her feet with feline agility, her eyes narrowing as she readied herself for the next exchange.
The battle became even more intense when one of the gear pieces strapped to Cyrax's wrist suddenly extended a massive saw blade. The two clashed in melee combat with spinning fan blades clashing with Cyrax's whirring saw. The clash lasted until Kitana gracefully flipped back, her feet connecting with the smooth side of the saw blade. She had calculated the move perfectly, and Cyrax's saw blade was now vulnerably raised in the air. Kitana capitalised on the opening, slicing at Cyrax's arm and severing his wrist. Cyrax cried out in pain, Kitana grimacing at her own doing as she felt sorry for the Lin Kuei assassin.
With his remaining arm, Cyrax grabbed a ball shaped bomb that he kept strapped to his side. As Kitana swung her blade to behead him, Cyrax placed the bomb in the path of her strike, causing it to detonate and sending both fighters flying off the bridge. Kitana summoned a tornado at her feet to blow her back onto the bridge, but Cyrax had to freefall toward one of the bridge's support beams. Upon contact with one of the spiked beams, he hugged it with his left arm as he slid down, slowing his descent enough for a somewhat safe landing. His arm was now topped with several splinters, causing him more agony. He fell to his knees, exhausted.
Hearing a distant hissing sound, Cyrax sprung to his feet, but looking around he saw nobody. He then began scanning the pit for an exit and saw an entrance into the cave that surrounded the death trap. He decided to head towards the cave, swerving past the jagged spikes that surrounded the horrific pit, many stained with the blood of previous combatants. Cyrax wandered into the cave, clutching his wounded arm in an attempt to prevent further blood loss. He eventually spotted what appeared to be an old lift, merely a wooden platform with rope tied to it leading upwards. Beside it was a lever to presumably activate it. Cyrax had to use the weight of his body to push down on the lever, as his intact arm was unable to muster the strength for the small task. Surprisingly, the elevator was still functioning. It travelled up for a short while within the caverns before stopping again. The problem was that the elevator hadn't stopped in its designated location, or so Cyrax thought.
Cyrax believed he was trapped for a moment before noticing that one of the walls looked severely weakened. The bricks weren't completely intact, and Cyrax could see through them. He booted one of the bricks, which fell over, and then dropped one of his signature bombs through the wall, bracing for impact as the bricks exploded toward him. The explosion alerted many people inside the room beyond the now-collapsed wall. Cyrax stumbled into what appeared to be a dining room. Dimly lit by neatly placed candles, Cyraz gazed upon a great hall hosting a feast dedicated only to Outworld's allies whilst they discussed their strategy. The combatants began to surround Cyrax as he collapsed into the room, including his friend and fellow Lin Kuei member… Sektor.
"Cyrax!" Sektor ran over, horrified by Cyrax's physical state. He began carefully utilising one of his wrist flamethrowers to heat the wound and stop the bleeding. Sektor's arsenal was rather similar to Cyrax's as they both utilised impressive advanced weapons, although their chosen technology was vastly different.
"Don't worry, Cyrax, the cyber initiative will sort that arm for you," Sektor unsuccessfully tried to reassure him. "But what the Hell happened?!"
"Shang Tsung betrayed me," Cyrax muttered, a revelation that made Sektor gasp.
Sektor immediately reacted. "Why?!"
"I do not trust clients who converse with the Thunder God," Shang Tsung explained, standing up from the head of the banquet table and walking through the crowd of fighters. "Harsh, yes, but I have plentiful clients to spare."
Shang Tsung's straightforwardness wasn't the smartest decision, as his allies immediately began raising eyebrows at the thought of their expendability. Those who were already familiar with the sorcerer weren't too shocked by this revelation, however.
Baraka stepped forward next. "We work for Shao Kahn, not you," he stated, which received a nod of agreement from a few others.
"You follow MY command, MY authority!" Shang Tsung had become rather frustrated lately, which was easily noticed by his colleagues.
"We only follow your command because Shao Kahn tells us to," Skarlet chimed in, who genuinely saw the Emperor as a father figure, although she had never been treated in such a way to feel like that. It was easy to understand, though, as Shao Kahn had created her.
"Enough!" Shang attempted to drop the argument.
"No!" Baraka howled.
"Are we just pawns to you then?" Sektor began realising the truth.
"Pawns to Shao Kahn," Shang Tsung corrected.
"We're expendable," Sektor acknowledged. "Of course my father would be fine with this…"
"You Lin Kuei aren't the only ones treated as such," Jade revealed as she joined in with the complaints. "Is this what you had Kitana do, sorcerer?"
"You're assassins," Tsung rolled his eyes. "It's your blasted job!"
"I dunno what all the fuss is about…" Kano argued, smacking his gob between his words as he remained sat at the table, feet up as he ate a turkey leg. "Ain't you Outworld fuckers all killers anyway?"
"This serves no purpose!" Jade raised her voice.
"He serves no purpose!" Tsung pointed at Cyrax who slapped his hand away, attempting to get up to fight but Sektor restraining him.
"You're too hurt," Sektor spoke with genuine concern in his voice.
"Who even is this?!" Baraka asked, drawing an arm blade that pointed at Kano.
"Newest hire, dog," Kano spoke with his mouth full, making an armoured knight who was sat beside him watch on with a grim look behind his helmet.
Even more noticeable was the disgust on the face of Prince Goro as he sat on the other end of the table, watching on at the scene in immense frustration. He pushed his large plate of Earthrealm meats back, his appetite lost.
"More for me," Kano grinned as he reached over the table to drag Goro's plate away.
"Keep your distance, vulture!" Goro yelled as he suddenly stood up from his throne and shoved Kano down.
"The fuck did I do?!" Kano asked angrily, the laser beam on his cybernetic eye charging up.
"How dare you force me to be associated with this beast, Tsung!" Goro complained.
"Play nice, boys," Tsung talked down to the Prince of the Shokan.
Letting out an emotional roar, Goro grabbed his throne chair and threw it across the room before flipping the massive banquet table over. He stormed out of the dining room, marching back to the part of the caverns that served as his lair.
"Wanker," Kano insulted the Shokan under his breath.
"Where were we?" Jade asked as he turned back to the sorcerer.
"Just return to your supper," Tsung sighed.
"I can't consume any of this!" Skarlet whined.
"Most of the food is all over the floor now anyway," Baraka added.
"Five second rule…" Kano muttered as he picked up a leg of lamb from the old cavern floor.
"You can blame the Prince of Tantrums for that," Shang Tsung replied to the Tarkatan.
"His anger is justified," Baraka argued.
"You're all missing the bigger issue here," Shang Tsung turned to Cyrax whilst Sektor led him to a chair to be sat down. "He was conspiring with Raiden!"
"I wasn't!" Cyrax denied the allegation. "Just talking to him is a crime now? He came up to me!"
"Just don't fuck around with the Thunder God. It's simple," the western cowboy Erron Black began to defend Shang Tsung as he stood beside the sorcerer. "This man can do wonders for you, so long as you know to follow orders."
"We're all tired of following orders, especially when it's this clown!" Baraka yelled defiantly.
"Shang Tsung saved me and granted me a longer life span," Black pointed out. "He could do good for y'all too."
Erron Black's loyalty went entirely towards Shang Tsung as well as money. Greedy yet loyal, he had several occupations under Shang Tsung, which was evidence of Shang's trust in him. In reality, the majority of Shao Kahn's allies only worked for him out of fear after their realms had been conquered and merged into Outworld. When not supervised by Outworld's ruler though, they were far more vocal about their disgruntlement, most having little to fear when it came to Shang Tsung.
"We're done here," Shang Tsung stated, and as he walked away, he placed a hand on the shoulder of a ninja dressed in green clothes who had just arrived to the crowd and the sorcerer whispered to him, "next time, make sure nobody leaves that pit alive…"