Mortal Kombat: Reborn

by Froster 23

This hard reboot retells the Mortal Kombat story, focusing on the events of the Original Timeline starting from the tournament and concluding at Armageddon. Featuring a vast cast, including characters from the games, other official media, and original characters, this is the most expansive MK story yet. Constructive feedback is always welcome, and I thank you for reading!

89. For Outworld's Fate

Liu Kang's lifeless body fell flat onto the platform, his neck having been snapped by Shang Tsung himself. One more bit of blood trickled down his corpse from how badly his neck had been broken, whilst Tsung stole his soul by an upwards gesture with both of his hands to drag the powerful soul inside of him. Quan Chi slowly applauded the display, pleased by the work he and his new ally had already conducted. It wasn't over yet though. Shang Tsung summoned a detonator using his magic, as Quan Chi created a portal ready for their departure. The Deadly Alliance gave each other a nod before departing, Tsung activating the detonator before he leapt through his friend's portal to Outworld.

The Deadly Alliance's plans were about to spread to Outworld, but Raiden had emerged beside the Wu Shi Academy. Through his crazed state teleporting throughout the realms wildly, he had finally sensed the Deadly Alliance's threat in Earthrealm. The immediate sight he saw made the Thunder God even more horrified. He watched as countless explosives were let off in the temple. Shang Tsung's previous visit had led to him planting these explosives before beginning his manipulation of Inka Otoko. Raiden flew over the walls of the Wu Shi Academy, desperately looking around to see if anybody was alright. He saw Kung Lao emerging from one of the temple lodges with a group of students. None of them were aware of what had happened, neither was Raiden yet.

"Kung Lao!" Raiden called out as he landed beside him. "What is going on?!"

"We just woke up," Lao explained. "Sounded like explosions!"

"Who would do such a thing?!" Raiden wondered.

"I have no idea," Lao replied. "I've got to get the kids out of here though!"

"Please do," Raiden agreed with his plan. "I will look around for others!"

Kung Lao nodded as Raiden took off again, gaining a bird's eye view of the Wu Shi Academy. Every part of the temple had been set ablaze from explosions causing a fire that spread wildly, even beginning to reach the woods beside the structure. Their home was beyond saving… but maybe the people inside still could be! Raiden spotted the open garden space, seeing Lori and Kai. The two were amongst the few who had been awake previously with Kai offering to assist Lori with her garden which she had spent countless hours working on. They looked around in horror to see their work and the rest of the Wu Shi Academy being burnt down.

"Lord Raiden!" Kai cried out as the Thunder God landed before them and quickly grabbed onto both Kai and Lori and teleported them out of the Wu Shi Academy.

"My garden!" Lori cried.

"I'm sorry," Raiden apologised.

"Is everyone else okay?" She asked.

"That's what I must find out…" Raiden said quietly before taking flight for a third time.

"Jin!" Kai yelled as he saw his boyfriend emerging from the Wu Shi Academy beside his much older cousin and fellow students.

"Kai!" Jin responded as he ran over into a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Where's Master Liu?" Kai asked.

"I thought he'd be out here…" Kung Lao remarked as he looked around and realised he was nowhere to be found as more Shaolin Monks began to escape from the burning buildings.

Raiden continued to help guide members of the White Lotus away from their home as it continued to burn down. He was fortunate that it seemed everyone had been evacuated from the burning area safely… or so it seemed until he saw a sight that finally broke the Thunder God though was what he saw on the platform in the centre of the courtyard…

"Liu Kang…"

Raiden pointed the direction to go for the remaining group who he was escorting to safety, leaving just him to gaze upon the corpse of the Mortal Kombat Champion. For the first time in forever, tears began to stream down Raiden's face as he ran onto the lei tei platform and knelt before Liu's lifeless body.

"Liu Kang!" Raiden sobbed as he saw stab wounds all over his torso and then his snapped neck… he didn't have to check his pulse to make the conclusion that he was gone. "NO!"

A sudden barrage of dark grey clouds came over what was clear skies moments earlier. Following this began a pour of rain and thunder with lightning violently thrashing the valley nearby. The storm was so fierce that the massive fire slowly began being put out but unfortunately the Wu Shi Academy was beyond saving in its current state from all the damages. Raiden scooped Liu Kang up in z8888his arms and slowly walked out of the rubble to the survivors…

"Master Liu!" Kai yelled as the rest of the group gasped in shock, some being too horrified to even have a reaction like Kung Lao who turned pale as his jaw dropped.

"Is he…?" Jin asked as Kai rushed over to check on his fallen mentor.

"He's passed…" Raiden confirmed.

"I'm so sorry," Master Wen apologised as he and his husband Master Shen came from the group.

"We have a tomb built in the woods," Shen revealed. "I just hope the fire hasn't spread to that too."

"B-but you… you can sa-save him…" Kai tried to find his words but was so shocked and upset that it became difficult to speak. "Right? Lord Raiden?! Can you… please?"

"If I could I would," Raiden assured him as he wiped tears from his own eyes. "My healing powers are unrelated to resurrection."

"So he really is… d-dea…" Kai couldn't say the last word as he collapsed to his knees and began crying with Jin hugging him for support.

"Jin…" His mother found him through the crowd of Shaolin.

"We're so sorry…" His father apologised as they stood before their son and his boyfriend. "Everything will be alright, boys."

"Not right not," Jin dismissed them.

"We understand," Jin's mother replied.

"Were there any more casualties?!" Lori asked the Thunder God.

"I do not think so," Raiden said, which made Lori let out a relieved sigh.

"Master Wen and Master Shen," Lori called for. "I'll help carry him to the tomb when we're ready."

"Perhaps… we should save the ceremony," Raiden considered.

"Why?" Lori asked.

"I'm fairly certain that none of this would've happened if that foolish party never occurred!" Raiden yelled in a sudden burst of anger from his previous saddened state. "I cannot just waste my time when this happens!"

"Calm down, Raiden," Lori attempted to put him at ease. "Clearly we all need at least some time to grieve."

"I do not know anymore…" Raiden admitted. "I feel as though I'm losing control of myself…"

"Sorry to hear," Lori apologised. "Maybe that's a sign that you do need a break from protecting this realm."

"Not until this is dealt with," Raiden replied as he turned to Kung Lao who had just been staring at the wet ground with his face completely hidden by his hat. "What do you think, Kung Lao?"

Kung Lao slowly took off his razor hat and placed it against his chest, revealing his tear covered face. He slowly stood up from his knelt position, struggling to stand straight as he felt faint.

"I'm thinking about Liu…" Kung Lao responded as he wiped his waterfall of tears, "and what I'll do to whoever is responsible for his death…"

"Well?" Tsung asked his fellow sorcerer as they stood within the Lost Tomb in the Golden Desert of Outworld. "What do you make of all this?"

"This is a most exciting find," Quan Chi commented as he rubbed his gloved hands together in anticipation.

Quan Chi had remained in his old attire during his stay in the dungeons of the Netherrealm Spire. His chest was left completely bare, however, due to the perception that the spiked shoulder guard could be used as a weapon. Quan Chi stepped in front of his fellow sorcerer to gain a closer look at the writing on the walls of the Lost Tomb. This revealed to Shang Tsung many of Quan Chi's wounds. His back had countless scars from deep cuts on it, and the wounds extended down his arms too. Some wounds were a lot fresher than the others.

"I am sorry," Shang Tsung apologised.

"Hm?" Quan Chi looked over his shoulder. "For what?"

"I hadn't realised your wounds," Tsung commented.

"Ah," Quan quickly realised what he was referring to. "My body and my spells certainly do need restoration."

"Do you have any spells for that then?"

"I have something far better," Quan Chi answered as the two smirked at each other. "I'll show you after our tasks here in Outworld are done."

"I look forward to it," Shang Tsung replied as the two returned to gaze at the inscriptions on the walls. "Do you know what it says?"

"I've been around long enough to recognise that this is the language of the Dragons," Quan Chi revealed.

"The old Outworld native species?"

"Indeed," Quan confirmed. "Allow me to translate it…"

Quan Chi placed a hand on the wall, and slowly dragged it across the words carved into the walls alongside one of the pyramidal interior walls of the Lost Tomb. As Quan Chi's hand brushed past the inscriptions, they began to glow a bright orange. After pulling his hand away from the wall, the glowing letters each sent out a small beam of magic which then formed the letters which had now been translated into a language that they could understand. Quan Chi then cleared his throat in preparation to read aloud.

"All hail the Dragon King! These inscriptions have been written on the tragic day of the burial of the one true ruler of Outworld. We promise to celebrate the life of the Dragon King in the Sarna Ruins on this day, for all the great he has done for our realm. We are eternally grateful for the leadership of the Dragon King, the intelligence of the Dragon King, the strength of the Dragon King, and the entirety of the rule of the Dragon King… Thank you for giving us a purposeful life of glory, Dragon King, and thanks to your Heart for its holy ability to reanimate us so that we may continue to die a warrior's death and still return to serve again. Your plethora of attributes was demonstrated by us, your unstoppable army. We hope our undefeated status has made you proud, Dragon King. We would pride ourselves on being the foundation for your unstoppable empire… but with you gone we have failed. Therefore tonight we will conduct a ritual to bring us back to the dead for the foreseeable future. Opposing this wall are the details for your great plan, however, and we look forward to your second coming. But until then… Rest in Peace Emperor Onaga. Sincerely, your Undead General."

"And I thought your cult was bizarre," Shang Tsung sarcastically remarked as they turned to face the opposite wall. "What was this plan they were talking about?"

"That 'cult' had an achievable dream," Quan Chi replied. "This plan of Onaga? Just some nonsensical babble from a mad loyalist."

"Perhaps," Tsung commented as they began walking to the other side of the Lost Tomb. "Do you still possess those loyal to you?"

"The Brotherhood of Shadow belonged to Shinnok more so than myself," Quan clarified as he placed his hand on his pale chin in thought. "There might be some members willing to aid us though."

"Excellent," Tsung replied as he stopped walking whilst Quan Chi continued.

Something had caught the attention of Shang Tsung. In the middle of the Lost Tomb rested a large sarcophagus. As Quan Chi headed over to inspect the symbols across the walls, Shang Tsung began to push the heavy lid off of the stone coffin. Shang Tsung gasped at the sight within. It was the skeleton of the Dragon King, having long since decayed. Their skeletal frame was truly enormous and impressed even Tsung who was an expert in biology from his countless experiments in his old Flesh Pits. He found it peculiar that the skeleton was missing its skull entirely though. Tsung then gazed down on the sides of the sarcophagus and noticed more inscriptions. These were in a recognisable language to the sorcerer though, being an old Edenian language that he had partial knowledge of.

"What have you found there?" Quan Chi asked as he peered over to see his friend knelt beside the sarcophagus of the Dragon King.

"Onaga's skeleton it seems," Tsung replied. "The writing on the sarcophagus seems to be referring to some sort of resurrection ritual."

"Well clearly it must be some nonsensical attempt," Quan Chi concluded judging by the state of the Dragon King. "But maybe you can revive him?"

"There's not much body to salvage," Tsung admitted. "But I am fond of creating living Skeletons."

"Really?" Quan asked with Tsung nodding. "Me too!"

"We'll need a new skull," Tsung concluded. "But considering the size of the bones," he analysed, "they could be useful for a brand new construct."

"My old home in the Netherrealm has a library with numerous important books," Quan Chi pointed out.

"I recall you lending me the book of resurrection," Shang Tsung said as they both dwelled on their first meetings together as arranged by their respective masters at the beginning attempts to strike an alliance between the tyrants of the Netherrealm and Outworld. "I'm surprised you wouldn't know how to properly revive this body."

"The book is Shinnok's writing," Quan Chi clarified. "I am merely a novice in necromancy, dear friend."

"We'll have plenty of time to practise together on making new life," Shang Tsung promised his deadly ally.

"That sounds marvellous!" Quan Chi said cheerfully. "I take it you actually learnt its contents then?"

"I did," Tsung confirmed. "My Shadow Priests should have returned it to you?"

"They did," Quan assured him. "That is why I brought up my fortress… if it's still there."

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Iris knew the location of my home," Quan Chi explained. "I have no clue if she had her cronies do something to the place," he considered the possibilities. "Alternatively, some vile Oni is probably squatting there."

"We'll find out later," Shang Tsung promised.

"That we shall," he replied. "Oh! Shang, I found the significance of all this!" Quan said excitedly as he waved his hands at the wall.

"What are they?" Tsung asked as he glared at the symbols on it.

"Well, partially solved," Quan Chi corrected himself. He stretched a finger out which went in a circle motion as he pointed to the symbols of peculiar looking relics drawn around more ancient text inscribed on the wall. "I am unfamiliar with these artifacts."

"They aren't relevant," Tsung dismissed them as Quan had dismissed the resurrection inscriptions. "Does this have any relations to Shinnok's Amulet?"

"When looked from afar, the statue of the Amulet becomes the centrepiece of the drawings of the other artifacts," Quan Chi analysed as he took Tsung by the hand and dragged him to a position which visually proved his point. "Clearly the Amulet is of significance for whatever plan they originally had."

"What does the text say?" Tsung wondered as he pointed to the inscriptions in the centre of the symbols.

"The damaged walls have made it unreadable," Quan Chi remarked as the Deadly Alliance gazed at the cracks and corrosion in the walls. "I cannot translate it."

"Unfortunate," Tsung replied. "What do we do now?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Quan Chi asked. "Shinnok's Amulet must link to this army… if we want to raise the dead, then these soldiers should be a primary objective of ours!"

"We don't have their souls," Tsung pointed out. "We can't use them."

"We don't need their souls!" Quan Chi countered. "Their bodies are intact and they stand like stone…"

"What are you getting at?"

"We… you bring the souls to them," Quan Chi suggested.

"Which would reanimate them," Tsung agreed. "But why would they be loyal to us?"

"Their gaze is fixated on the statue of this Amulet!" Quan Chi analysed. "If we possess it then perhaps they'll be enticed to assist us."

"This seems like a lot of risk."

"For a great reward!" Quan Chi believed. "You wanted my aid in figuring this out, no?"

"But we haven't figured anything out for certain!"

"I presume the Elemental Gods returned Shinnok's Amulet to the Temple of Elements," Quan Chi continued to make educated assumptions, ignoring Shang Tsung's clear concerns. "We can send some allies there to retrieve it."

"I do not want us risking the waste of resources until we're certain of the reward…"

"Well look what I've found here," Quan Chi said as he gestured for Tsung to come over as he bent down to see another inscription, this one at the base holding up the statue of Shinnok's Amulet. "Even more inscriptions!"

"What now?" Tsung asked whilst Quan Chi conducted his translation magic once again.

"Shinnok's Amulet; the final piece of the plan," Quan Chi read out. "Its dark magic is said to be so powerful that it could possess our undead minds entirely."

"What plan?" Tsung continued to ask questions, not wanting any of his schemes to be interrupted by this bizarre finding. "Look… if this is of no use then we can just get ready to-"

"Didn't you hear me?"

"I did," Tsung confirmed.

"Its dark magic is said to be so powerful that it could possess our undead minds entirely," Quan Chi repeated.

"Oh…" Tsung's look of concern quickly returned back to his sly and smug smirk. "I see what's happening here."

"Whoever holds the Amulet," Quan Chi concluded, "they hold the Undead Army."

"It all makes sense now," Shang Tsung realised.

"I never considered the Amulet functioning like this," Quan Chi was fascinated by his discovery. "It contains a great deal of power, including Shinnok's own dark magic," he noted. "That magic has made him a master in necromancy and controlling the dead."

"Thus the Amulet can do the same," Shang Tsung concluded.

"It appears so," Quan Chi replied. "This should now be our prioritised goal…"

"Once we have Outworld," Shang Tsung reminded him. "Come now, Quan Chi, we have much more work to do…"

As the Deadly Alliance departed from the Sarna Ruins, Outworld was in trouble elsewhere. The last of the Kahn Guard had stormed Sabar City, quickly overpowering any protectors as they marched closer and closer towards Mileena's Fortress which if they seized control of, they could quickly spread their claim to rulership across the realm. Reiko led the Kahn Guard of course as they marched through the streets of Sabar City in the straightest path to the mountain that the Fortress stood atop of… and where the throne of Outworld itself resided.

"This is even easier than I thought!" Raza cheered as he and Skull stood either side of Reiko as rows of their soldiers marched behind them.

"Not a threat in sight!" Skull agreed.

"Do not be overconfident," Reiko advised. "We need to ensure everything goes right."

"Reiko!" Talon yelled as she poofed in front of the army through a blast of purple smoke. "Tarkatans are up ahead!"

"Do you think they're coming back from Edenia so soon?" Reiko asked her.

"Most are likely staying in Edenia for a while longer," Talon assumed. "We should still be at an advantage."

"Perfect."

"What are we even going to do when they all return?" Talon asked.

"We breach control of the Fortress and we defend it," Reiko told her. "Unless they've completely disabled them, there should be a plethora of traps we can use."

"I hope they work," Talon replied. "I don't want this to just be a day-long reign."

"We'll be fine!" Raza assured her.

"Yeah!" Skull agreed. "Now where are those Tarkatans?!"

"Right here!" Baraka yelled as he approached from around a corner with his own army behind him. "I had a feeling you'd try something in the Union's absence, Reiko!"

"You saved those damn Seidan Guardsmen from their inevitable fate," Reiko recalled the encounter they had at Lei Chen. "Yet they aren't here to save you."

"My army is all we need!" Baraka yelled.

"So sure are you?"

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble and a shadow was cast over the two armies. Baraka glared up to see a moving stone statue of Shao Kahn. Colossus had arrived, being guided by Hideyoshi who had flanked the Tarkatan defences. Taking advantage of the distraction and noticing his limp, Reiko summoned the Wrath Hammer and swung it into Baraka's injured leg. The Chief of Tarkata cried out in pain as his soldiers immediately rushed to protect him. Skull and Raza had been gifted two identical longswords that had once been wielded by Shao Kahn himself before the former Emperor had decided to use just his Wrath Hammer solely. They were swords made of Outworld Cobalt, and Talon had enchanted them with dark magic to inflict further wounding on those who met the strong sharp blades. Skull and Raza showed no mercy to the horde of Tarkatans, slicing relentlessly through their armour and fatally wounding them from single swings. Baraka meanwhile was carried back by Karbrac as the two realised the threat of Reiko was much greater than they initially anticipated.

"How long has this attack been going for?" Baraka asked his soldiers who had been at Sabar City overnight in an attempt for further protection in the absence of many members of Mileena's Union.

"Not too long!" One soldier replied. "You're here just in time!"

"I should've brought more people back with me," Baraka realised.

"What do we do?" Korhau asked as he rushed over with his arm blades extended.

"What we always do, love," Karbrac replied, "we must fight!"

"Be careful!" Baraka requested as the soldiers continued to push at the Kahn Guard. "We'll have to stand our ground until backup arrives!"

"You won't last long enough!" Reiko yelled as his red energy surrounded him before he dashed forth with a shoulder bash knocking down several Tarkatans. "I will crush every bone in your body, Baraka!" He threatened as he wielded the Wrath Hammer and swung

"And I will sink my teeth in yours!" Baraka retorted as Reiko leapt through the air and crashed his Wrath Hammer down with Karbrac pulling Baraka away from the incoming attack.

"You aren't the only one who can harness red energy!" Karbrac shouted as his arm blades charged with enchantments received from Shadow Priests long ago.

"Tarkatans shouldn't be playing with magic."

"Boys shouldn't try to imitate their papa," Karbrac retorted as he pointed an arm blade at Reiko's Shao Kahn helmet covered face.

Reiko yelled a battle cry as he swung the Wrath Hammer forth with Karbrac ducking the hammer and crossing his blades between the metal hammer and turning his arms over in order to turn the Wrath Hammer around and begin pushing it to the ground. Reiko freed one hand and began punching Karbrac in the face, knowing that a good blow could easily shatter the pointy exposed teeth of the Tarkatan. Karbrac then unhinged his jaw and caught Reiko's hand in his mouth before chomping down on his fist. Reiko yelled in pain as he stepped back and Talon stepped in.

"Never should've given you that magic," Talon said as she rolled her eyes as she cast a small beam of healing energy and launched it from her finger to Reiko's hand.

"You're a Shadow Priest?"

Karbrac was surprised considering Talon's new attire. Since the corrupt inner circle council of the Shadow Priests had been… dealt with… she had the freedom to put aside the purple cloak she once wore to conceal her true identity. Now she wore a fur coat with a purple and bluish grey chequered pattern which she put on over a suit of a matching colour palette. The new attire was a gift from her beloved Epos to celebrate her being more open about her appearance, and to celebrate their soon to be victory over Outworld.

"Their new leader as a matter of fact," Talon revealed as she began to form purple coloured smoke clouds in her hands. "A shame that you'd forget me, Karbrac, considering I was the one who gave you that magic."

"I had earned that magic," Karbrac recalled to a time where he had completed a personal mission for Shao Kahn when he ruled the realm. "You won't get any thanks from me."

"Maybe tell your warriors to leave," Talon advised. "You can't survive this."

"I'm not in charge."

"You'll have to be soon."

"Why's that?"

"Your old Chief isn't looking too strong on that leg," Talon noted as they continued to converse between the two sides of soldiers duelling it out in melee combat. Karbrac even had to duck an incoming lance before shocking the enemy soldier with said magic. "He's not escaping today's conflict alive."

"Neither are you!" Karbrac threatened as he lunged forth at Talon who blasted her smoke forth which stopped Karbrac in his tracks as he began coughing on the peculiar magic.

Korhau then rushed in to aid his lover, only for Epos to tackle him from the sidelines and send the two into a crowd of soldiers where they began throwing punches on the ground. As Epos got atop of Korhau, the Tarkatan warrior thrusted his arm blades out which nearly impaled Epos but she had been mindful of the signature weapons of the Tarkatans. She drew a pair of small sized maces as she rolled back to avoid the incoming blades. She then immediately dived back on top of Korhau before using both maces to knock aside his arms, pinning then to the ground, before going to his face for the finishing blow until Karbrac grabbed a Tarkatan war flag from the back of one warrior and hurled it like a javelin at Epos. Talon then cast a spell that surrounded Karbrac with a rune that then exploded into an upward burst of sparkling purple magic. Karbrac was propelled into the air and Talon flew upwards, beginning to punch and kick away at the airborne Tarkatan. Korhau attempted to help, sending upwards sparks by scraping his arm blades together. Talon attempted to dodge the barrage of sparks, but one caught her and made her land back first onto a balcony of the second floor to one of the buildings beside the street. Karbrac meanwhile began falling down, about to splat against the road until…

Suddenly, Karbrac was frozen in time. He was stuck in the same position in the air. Beneath him formed a figure from a small sandstorm that gained the attention of everyone in the streets. The shape formed into Kronika, the Fallen Elder God. She used her magic to safely bring Karbrac to the ground with Korhau immediately embracing him, relieved that he was safe.

"You!" Raza recognised her. "The clock lady!"

"You can't keep saving these pathetic warriors, Kronika!" Reiko yelled angrily. "Are you retired or not?"

"You pick on a smaller foe," Kronika replied. "I will not stand idly by if there is nobody else to stop you."

"You can't keep getting away with this!" Raza yelled as he readied his sword. "We must stop her before she keeps interfering with our plans!"

"Attack!" Skull ordered as he and Raza charged forth, only to be blasted back by Kronika's magic.

"I am not a fighter," Kronika stated. "But I am powerful."

"Even you can't stop us," Reiko declared. "Our numbers advantage is too great!"

"That is why I need you to get help," Kronika said as she looked at Karbrac. "Go to Edenia and tell the rest of the Union of this threat."

"I shall!" Karbrac promised as Kronika summoned a portal with Karbrac eagerly running through it and heading to Edenia.

Elsewhere in Outworld, the Kytinn had just returned from Edenia. They returned to Z'unkahrah, the old capital of Hinpar which was home to the Osh-Tekk and Hinparians. Their first thing to do was head over to the Ketz Palace to give the royal family a gift from the party, some compensation for their absence the previous night. Another argument had begun in the Ketz Palace itself at this time.

"Sabar City is under attack!" Ko'atal declared, which brought immediate panic to his father.

"By the Kahn Guard?" Kotal Ketz presumed with his son nodding to confirm the news. "How do you know?! Cualli is in Edenia!"

"Who cares about that irrelevant messenger?!"

"I care."

"More than your own son I guess," Ko'atal quipped.

"We're doing this again?" Kotal asked as he rolled his eyes. "Quit being petty," he demanded. "If Sabar City is in trouble then we must make haste."

"You don't believe me?!"

"I just said we'll go!"

"Because I might be telling the truth," Ko'atal pointed out his reasoning. "As if I'd lie about such a thing."

"I do not know what your limits are," his father remarked. "Is this some test?"

"Yes actually," Ko'atal confirmed. "And you've failed at it."

"I'm not entertaining your games," Kotal remarked as he pushed him aside and went to leave the throne room. "When will you grow up?"

"Right now," Ko'atal replied. "By doing something I should've done for a while now."

"What are you talking about?!" Kotal Ketz asked as he spun around to face his son as he began putting a pair of gloves on. "You need some fashion knowledge too."

"This isn't for fashion," Ko'atal replied as he walked over to his bedroom. "Stay there!"

"What is it now?!" His father asked, growing progressively more frustrated.

"Your demise, father," he replied as he walked out with a blade in his gloved hand.

"Demise?" Kotal Ketz repeated. "What are you-"

Suddenly, Ko'atal plunged the blade into Ketz's heart. His father was shocked, brushing a hand on his son's face, before collapsing to the floor as the blade remained within him. The original Kotal… had died.

"Finally," Kotal muttered as he used sun magic to burn his gloves to destroy all evidence pointing to him. "Time to save Outworld…"

Suddenly, Kotal heard a knock on the door to the throne room. Before he could react, the door was opened as the Kytinn crew entered the room.

"Surprise!" A'Vital yelled as they flew into the room without permission in an attempt to surprise the Ketz family… only to see the ruler's fresh corpse on the ground.

"Kotal!" D'Vorah cried out as she scurried over to check on his body.

"What happened?!" K'Fersebe asked as the six Kytinn glared in horror.

"What did you do?!" Re'Enena asked as she glared at Kotal.

"Me?!" Kotal was offended by the immediate accusation. "This was the work of a member of Mileena's Union!"

"What?!" D'Vorah couldn't believe this.

"How do you know?" Re'Enena interrogated.

"I saw an assassin!" Kotal made up a story on the spot. "They just escaped!"

"That does not answer This One's question."

"I've spoken out numerous times about the corruption of Mileena's Union!" Kotal yelled. "They must've tried silencing me and mistook my father for myself!"

"That doesn't make sense," D'Vorah claimed. "Mileena's Union isn't corrupt!"

"Have our Earthrealm allies use their technology to find the fingerprints of this weapon!" Kotal suggested.

"That's oddly specific," Y'Evna chimed in.

"Quite…" K'Berah agreed.

"I'll need all of your help in removing these tyrants from power!" Kotal claimed, ignorant of all six of them being hesitant to believe him. "We must go this instant!"

"How can you be sure it's the Union?!" A'Vital asked. "What about the Kahn Guard?"

"What about you?!" Re'Enena pointed a finger at Kotal.

"How dare you!" Kotal yelled as in a sudden burst of rage he grabbed Re'Enena's arm and used his sun magic to incinerate her arm as the fire spread across the flammable living hives entire body. "You will respect your soon to be Emperor!"

"Re'Enena!" K'Fersebe cried out as she rushed over with a large Kytinn beetle at hand to spit slime in an attempt to put out the flames.

"This One said you had turned insane from the Union," A'Vital stated as she approached Kotal with her stingers at the ready. "This One was correct."

"You foolish abomination!" Kotal shouted angrily. "Were it not for me, your entire race would be like Re'Enena there!"

"This One will kill you!" K'Fersebe yelled as she flew directly at Kotal who grabbed her upper stingers and snapped them like twigs before kneeing her aside.

"Do not touch me, pests!" Kotal demanded.

"Why do this, Kotal?!" D'Vorah asked, unwilling to fight a warrior she once saw as a hero to the remnants of her own people.

"My vision will truly unify the realms!" Kotal claimed as he summoned a spiked discus and hurled it at D'Vorah, knocking her across the throne room.

"What's going on here?!" Asked an Osh-Tekk General as he arrived with several other soldiers.

"Commander Vyro!" Kotal called for. "These Kytinn have aided in the assassination of my father!"

"King Ketz has fallen?!" Vyro was astounded by the news. "My deepest condolences, sir."

"You can help me by dealing with these monsters!" Kotal ordered.

"Kotal is a liar!" D'Vorah yelled. "This One did no such thing!"

"Execute them!" Vyro ordered as the Osh-Tekk warriors surrounded the Kytinn.

"I must go and save our realm, Commander Vyro," Kotal told him. "Deal with them then meet me in Sabar City."

"Yes, sir," Vyro replied as he saluted the Osh-Tekk General. "Good luck!"

"I shall reveal all later!" Kotal promised as he retrieved his macuahuitl from his room. "Actually… someone carry my totems!"

"Totems?" Vyro was surprised to hear such a thing. "What do they do?"

"I shall reveal all later!" Kotal repeated. "Soldiers! Grab one each and follow me!"

"You heard him!" Vyro yelled. "The rest of you help me defeat these pests!"

"Friends…" K'Berah spoke in a frightened tone. "Re'Enena isn't moving!"

"Get them out of here!" A'Vital instructed. "Y'Evna, take K'Fersebe to safety too!"

"This One shall," Y'Evna promised as she

scooped up the injured K'Fersebe as K'Berah did the same to Re'Enena before flying out through a window in the throne room as they began their search for help.

"Foolish to have sent your enforcers away," Vyro commented.

"This One has had just about enough!" A'Vital snapped as she opened up her stomach and unleashed a swarm of flies which got in the way of Vyro's vision which allowed D'Vorah to scurry behind the Osh-Tekk Commander and she sank her stingers into his back.

Kotal had complete disregard for even those who trusted him as he began to leave with the soldiers carrying his mysterious but most certainly heavy totems from his room.

"Get back here!" D'Vorah shouted for him as she released Vyro and ran to Kotal only for more Osh-Tekk to hold her back.

Two of the warriors both grabbed her by the throat and performed a double chokeslam. D'Vorah used her back stingers to keep her from being slammed against the floor as they bounced her back to her feet before she extended her hands forth, both shooting a slimy substance into the eyes of the two warriors. Another soldier came rushing in with a large wooden club, which D'Vorah got onto all fours and crawled beneath before emerging from the other side to impale a stinger through the back of their head. Meanwhile one last soldier began using their sword to try to hack away at D'Vorah, but she used her upper left stinger to duel with the warrior, the strong tip of the stinger being capable of resisting sharp steel. A'Vital then leapt onto the ceiling and dropped down like a spider on the remaining soldier, giving the soldier a swift death with her own stingers. The two Kytinn lovers began to passionately kiss, much to the disgust of Commander Vyro.

"I think I'm going to be sick!" He interrupted them.

A'Vital and D'Vorah gave each other a nod, having an understanding as to what to do to Vyro. The Osh-Tekk Commander went to draw their Tecpatl knife, but was quickly on the receiving end of a double dropkick from the two Kytinn. A'Vital then crawled atop Vyro and pressed her stingers against his neck.

"I surrender!" Vyro cried out.

"Let's leave, A'Vital," D'Vorah suggested. "That pest is not worth it."

"This One agrees," A'Vital said as she got off of Commander Vyro and the two took flight to Sabar City with a desire of stopping whatever the next step of Kotal's insane plan was.

Karbrac rushed over to the Grand Palace of Edenia, crying for help as he did so. He knew that he was responsible for this one opportunity of gathering proper reinforcements against Reiko's unexpected attack on Sabar City.

"Karbrac?" Sindel recognised the Tarkatan running towards them as she stood with Asgaarth and Daahraan at the gates of the Grand Palace, both having served the Sindel back when she was ruling Edenia alongside King Jerrod.

"The Kahn Guard attacks Outworld, Sindel!" Karbrac announced. "You must send others back there to help stop them!"

"My goodness!" Sindel gasped. "Are you alright, Karbrac?"

"Do not worry about me," Karbrac replied. "Others need urgent help in Sabar City."

"I'll get to making a portal right away," Sindel promised as she stepped forth to begin working her magic. "Daahraan, gather everyone from inside. Asgaarth, take flight and try to gather as much additional support as possible."

"Understood," Daahraan and Asgaarth replied in unison before going off to perform their respective tasks.

Just a few minutes later, Daahraan came back outside the Grand Palace with several allies beside him. Alongside him was Ermac, Kitana, Skarlet, Nitara, Azaco, Krimson, Topaz, Jade, Li Mei, Meat, Nyah, Ruby, Cualli and many soldiers of Mileena's Union who had been at the party but were now all ready for duty including members of the Hail ninja clan… without their leader Rain.

"Is that everyone?" Karbrac asked. "What about the Earthrealmers?"

"They were all sent to their homes about an hour ago now," Sindel explained. "Mileena and Tanya are still in Edenia but they went out together to look at the nearby waterfalls."

"Will this be enough?" Daahraan asked.

"I… I'm not sure," Karbrac admitted.

"I'll stay here in hopes that Asgaarth returns with more reinforcements," Sindel decided as she created a purple swirling portal to Sabar City.

"Use me to send around points of Outworld," Cualli recommended. "I can spread the news!"

"Excellent idea!" Sindel praised.

"Will you be alright?" Ruby asked her new girlfriend.

"Will you?" Cualli asked the same question. "You're the one heading into battle."

"And I'll return a hero like your friends," Ruby promised.

"I hope so," Cualli said before pecking Ruby on the lips.

"Goodbye," Ruby said before being the first to head through the portal.

"We'll be okay!" Li Mei remained cheerful. "As long as we stick together!"

"Queen Kitana," Daahraan spoke. "You will be in charge of our forces."

"I'll do my best, everyone," Kitana promised. "I'll form a strategy once we're there!" She decided. "But we must join Ruby to help quickly."

"Are you coming, Daahraan?" Nyah asked.

"I'm too old, Nyah," he replied. "My fighting days are over."

"Then I'll see you soon," Nyah stated as the others began heading through the portal which she joined.

"Don't forget us!" Sareena shouted as she came rushing over alongside her fellow Demon friends.

"Sareena! Ashrah! Kia! Jataaka! Mika! Sora! Siann! Cilene!" Meat listed off all their names excitedly with Mika hugging him, finding the young mesh of flesh to be quite adorable.

"We'll help!" Ashrah announced.

"Then come along, friends," Kitana instructed. "We have a realm to save."

The group of members of the Union arrived in Sabar City through Sindel's portal. Sindel had made sure the other side of the portal was in a safe space, atop the roof of Outworld's Parliament Hall. Inspired by the handlings of politics in certain parts of Earthrealm, Outworld had since attempted to embrace a similar method by having such a structure be the location for political discussions which ended up a lot more civilly than their Earth counterparts. It consisted of various figures or allies amongst the Union, and the heroes knew that the rights to freedom created within the building they stood atop of would be stripped away if they failed to stop Reiko. Kitana peered over the edge, seeing Kahn Guard soldiers casually walking down the street. Reiko had split off several of his soldiers to go in extermination squads to deal with any threats to their victory throughout the city. Meat used a hand to shield the rising sun from Kitana's eyes to help her view, whilst she thought of a plan of action to make their first move against the invading soldiers.

"Well?" Meat asked. "What's the plan, sis?"

"Sindel put the portal here because she knew how spacious the Parliament Building is," Kitana noted. "In the invasion of New York, the Earthrealmers used a church as their main base."

"You really have studied that realm," Skarlet realised. "You're suggesting we do the same here?"

"There's a ladder down the back here!" Karbrac announced.

"Take the soldiers and guide them to your fellow Tarkatans, Karbrac," Kitana instructed.

"On it!" Karbrac complied as they began flooding down the ladder and sneaking through the street.

"Hey!" Kitana yelled to gain the attention of the squad of Kahn Guard members below them.

This distraction worked so that Karbrac and the soldiers could eliminate this particular extermination squad in an impressive mass assassination. Kitana gave the soldiers a nod of approval. Of course nobody had any desire to kill, but it had become necessary at this point in the civil war of Outworld. Empress Mileena and the rest of her allies had given the Shao Kahn loyalists plenty of times to surrender… but such would never happen. Ermac hovered towards Kitana, prepared to ask a query.

"Shall we fly to the other end of the city?" Ermac offered with their levitating abilities making such possible for brief periods.

"We as in your collective or…" Kitana looked over Ermac to see Nitara and Azaco behind them.

"Us," Azaco replied with a bold smirk.

"Me too!" Krimson insisted.

"No," Nitara refused her daughter's request.

"You promised you'd teach me to fly!"

"I did," Nitara confirmed. "I haven't taught you yet though."

"She's got a point, sugar," Skarlet said to Krimson. "Stay with the ground forces," she instructed. "I'll be beside you."

"Alright," Krimson agreed. "Be safe, momma and uncle."

"Don't worry about us, kid," Azaco tried to reassure her. "We'll be fine!"

"We shall reunite once We have scouted the city," Ermac promised. "Come along now, Vampires."

"Lead the way!" Azaco told Ermac who did so with the two Vampire siblings following close behind.

"Alyssa," Kitana called for.

"Yes?" She replied, stepping forth amongst Rain's clan.

"Are your ninjas capable of moving across the rooftops?"

"We can try our best, Queen Kitana," Alyssa promised as she looked around and spotted all the varied buildings that were all built quite close to each other as they filled the large space of the capital city.

"That's all I can ask," Kitana said. "You need to act as their leader and watchover Karbrac and his soldiers on their way to the others," she instructed. "Call out directions if you spot them from the high ground."

"Will do," Alyssa replied. "C'mon, people, with me!"

With the Hail heading off alongside a few of their other allies already who had set off to accomplish their specific roles, this left the following: Kitana, Meat, Skarlet, Krimson, Topaz, Li Mei, Jade, Ruby, Nyah and the Demon ladies. Kitana gestured for them to follow her, confident in the groups she had split her allies into. She believed that everybody had enough aid nearby to almost ensure safety in this conflict, but to still be effective in handling this threat. Kitana knew that Reiko's main target would be her half Tarkatan sister's Fortress, formerly belonging to Shao Kahn. She decided to lead the way over there. Heading through an alleyway whilst Karbrac led the Union soldiers down the main streets to confront more of the Kahn Guard squadrons with the help of the Hail, Kitana and company emerged from the alley into a packed marketplace full of panicked faces. Everybody in Sabar City by this point was aware of the invading Kahn Guard, and had no idea what to do.

"Everybody!" Kitana called out with many Outworld civilians at the marketplace cheering at the arrival of the famous heroes to their realm. "We're here to help!"

"Has anybody seen the Kahn Guard?" Jade asked around.

"Oh!" Topaz spotted a man hunched over whilst draped in a brown ragged cloak who raised their hand. "Look!"

"I have…" The man answered quietly.

"Pardon?" Topaz couldn't hear him from a distance but came closer as the man gestured for them to come forth. "Where are the Kahn Guard, sir?"

"Right here!" He yelled as he grabbed Topaz and pulled his hood down, revealing himself to be a soldier for Reiko, wearing a skull mask.

"Topaz!" Jade cried out as the soldier pulled a knife on Topaz.

"Let our daughter go!" Li Mei demanded.

"Leave our city!" The man had his own demands as he brought the knife closer to Topaz's neck. "Or else the kid gets it!"

"I'm not putting up with the schemes of you lowlife thugs," Li Mei commented through gritted teeth. "Honey, throw me your triblade."

"Um… here you go…" Jade said hesitantly as she quickly threw the three sided bladed weapon towards Li Mei, she had modified the blades to come together to form one blade shaped like a knife to grant it new uses and make it easier to carry.

Speaking of new uses, Li Mei performed a cartwheel kick to the triblade, directing it to the Kahn Guard soldier and immediately stabbing him through the skull mask as the triblade approached with such speed and force that it broke his own skull and he fell to the ground lifelessly.

"Are you alright, Topaz?" Li Mei asked as she rushed over to her daughter as Jade retrieved her triblade.

"I'm fine," Topaz assured them. "Thank you."

"Look out for any other spies!" Jade instructed. "We must be cautious…"

The heroes' discussion was interrupted by a sudden crashing sound coming from the other side of the marketplace, where they soon saw the figure of Colossus, the Shao Kahn statue brought to life, towering over the people of Outworld as one of its feet crushed a market stool with the owner rolling out of harm's way just in the nick of time. Colossus then attempted to step forth again, this time about to crush the store owner. The heroes began running over, pushing through the already panicked and disordered crowd. Chaosrealmers suddenly began to appear as they sat on not so neat rows across the walls that existed in a clearly failed effort at protecting Sabar City. One Chaosrealmer loudly cheered, dangling their feet childishly as they spectated the chaotic spectacle. Just before Colossus could crush the poor civilian, however, Kronika pushed them out the way whilst sending an upward beam of her magic to freeze Colossus' heavy stone foot in place right above her head.

Hideyoshi then charged forth, hurling a bola that was one of many weapons in his impressive. The bola wrapped around Kronika and Hideyoshi believed he had her trapped, only for her to cast a self rewind spell which brought her to the state she was in seconds before, freeing her from the bola. Hideyoshi had been in charge of ensuring Colossus was performing his duties as anticipated, and Reiko had instructed them to deal with Kronika so the rest of his forces could focus on the Tarkatan horde. Their battle had spilled away from the main conflict and because Colossus answered to whoever wields the Wrath Hammer, Reiko ordered the enchanted statue to also follow Hideyoshi's orders as he was one of the most powerful and trusted Kahn Guard warriors for looking after all their hidden resources on the hidden Isle of Dread. Hideyoshi unsheathed his katana and attempted to plunge it through Kronika, who summoned a burst of sand that solidified into a sword of her own. She used it to block Hideyoshi's katana strikes but Hideyoshi quickly resorted to his whip, using it to trip Kronika up.

"Reliant on undeserved powers," Hideyoshi scoffed as he raised his katana over his head. "It is over."

"So sure, are we?" Kronika asked as she suddenly began to levitate, performing a kick flip in the air which knocked Hideyoshi's katana aside.

Hideyoshi growled, angered by Kronika's disrespect. He would make sure this was the last time her sudden attempts of disruption would occur! Hideyoshi grabbed his halberd that was strapped to his back, and struck down with a heavy upwards swing with both of his pale muscular arms, smashing the poled weapon through Kronika's magic constructed sword, and he began to cut into her shoulder with the blade. He then proceeded to start sawing into her shoulder, with Kronika summoning a burst of spherical energy particles which she directed at Hideyoshi with a push of her hand which knocked the warrior back. Just then, the frozen in time effect placed upon Colossus had worn off and the statue crushed Kronika beneath its foot, pushing Kronika through the ground where she lay writhing in pain.

"Get off her!" Li Mei yelled as she and her allies rushed at Hideyoshi and Colossus.

"Hold them off, Colossus!" Hideyoshi ordered, realising he was blatantly outnumbered and needed to retreat to his own allies.

"What is that?!" Topaz asked as the heroes watched as Colossus towered over them.

"Look out!" Krimson cried out as she used her blood magic imbued staff to summon herself a pair of blood wings as she soared into Topaz and pulled her away from a sudden laser blast coming from the eyes of Colossus.

"Definitely some sorcery behind this," Kitana concluded. "Any ideas?"

"You're the leader!" Siann reminded her. "What have you got?"

"I'll handle this!" Ashrah declared as she drew her Kriss and used her angelic magic to propel herself into the air with an upwards torpedo spin.

Ashrah landed on top of Colossus' shoulder, who turned and headbutted Ashrah which threw her off the statue as she fell into Sareena's arms. Sareena instinctively threw one of her throwing knives at Colossus. The blade simply bounced off of the strong stone statue, clearly a limitation for the heroes.

"Alright!" Kitana yelled. "I have an idea!" She declared. "Just give me some time!"

"You heard the Queen!" Jade yelled as she surrounded herself with her emerald armour magic, creating a glow that protected her from all projectiles.

Jade leapt in the way of her allies, absorbing another laser blast and saving the group. Then Mika, Sora, Cilene, Siann, Kia and Jataaka ran past her and all began climbing the statue. Colossus began stomping the ground as the Demon ladies used their unique bladed weapons to hook through cracks in the statue from centuries of decay, but Colossus' state was still strong enough that the deterioration did not matter, especially since Hideyoshi had made numerous efforts to look after the statue. The ground began trembling even more.

"Someone get the civilians out of here!" Kitana request.

"I'm on it!" Nyah stated before rushing off to lead the civilians away from conflict, as well as protect them in case they encountered more Kahn Guard members.

As many of the heroes were occupied with Colossus, Hideyoshi had successfully returned to Reiko, prepared to share the news.

"Reinforcements are here," Hideyoshi declared.

"How many?" Reiko asked as they casually talked between their soldiers and the Tarkatan warriors slaughtering each other over Reiko's own plans.

"I am unsure," Hideyoshi admitted. "They stopped me from slaying the Elder God."

"Where is Colossus?"

"Occupied with said reinforcements," Hideyoshi clarified. "I assure you, Colossus will crush them all."

"Do not be so certain," Reiko remarked.

"Yeah!" Karbrac yelled as he and a group of soldiers emerged from an alleyway behind them. "Never be certain when you're up against us!"

Karbrac lunged at Reiko, the two rolling throughout the street between the soldiers battling. Hideyoshi blocked the alleyway for the reinforcement soldiers, drawing his varied arsenal of weapons and beginning to hack through them in the enclosed space one by one. The Hail was still atop the rooftops, and Alyssa boldly leapt down onto Hideyoshi's back. Hideyoshi responded by thrusting himself backwards, slamming Alyssa into a brick wall. The Hail members followed Alyssa, and they all began to jump down on top of Hideyoshi. Despite Hideyoshi's strength and weaponry allowing him to combat countless foes at once, these numbers quickly became too overwhelming.

"Talon!" Reiko called for as he noticed Hideyoshi in trouble from afar as he grabbed his ferocious Tarkatan foe with one hand and summoned the Wrath Hammer in another. "Time to die, Tarkatan!"

"For you perhaps!" Karbrac yelled as his arm blades created a repulse of red energy which knocked Reiko and his surrounding allies down momentarily.

Meanwhile, Talon was charging up her magic whilst Epos protected her so she could successfully cast her spell. Epos would wail down on any attacking Tarkatans with her two small maces, the perfect weapons for shattering the bone blades of the Tarkatans. Once her spell was ready, Talon cast a stream of purplish smoke that wrapped around a building on the streets, one of two that created the alley space between them where Hideyoshi was being overwhelmed by enemies. The magic then began to form a large beam of dark magic that was so powerful it easily cut through the multilayered building and the beam blasted through to the other side, suddenly launching bricks and other large pieces of debris at the unsuspecting soldiers and ninjas. Alyssa cried out as she saw many of her fellow Hail members be crushed, leading to a sudden demise for many because of Talon's attack.

The blast was so strong it knocked the one building sideways as it broke through the neighbouring store, full of furniture with many having been destroyed already from the blast. Epos planned on destroying more, however, as she rushed into the alley and charged Alyssa inside the furniture store through the side that had been knocked down. She threw her through a table made from wood within the Forbidden Forest. She drew her maces once more but a sudden water blast at high pressure launched her up into the ceiling before landing face first off a shelf.

"Water?" Epos spoke as she bent over to retrieve her fallen red beret and maces. "Seriously?!"

"I've got plenty more than that," Alyssa commented as she blasted water behind herself to charge at Epos who used a mace to bat her aside.

"I'm not thirsty," Epos quipped.

More Hail members stepped inside, but Talon quickly blasted them all aside before they could touch her lover. This distraction allowed Alyssa to sneak behind Epos and attempt another water blast, but Talon made a small portal behind Epos to collect the water before spilling it on top of Alyssa, drenching her. Alyssa angrily slammed a foot on the floor, sending a small riptide towards Epos and Talon. The Shadow Priest used her dark magic to take the form of a large hand which scooped up the water and splashed it back at Alyssa.

"Ugh…" Alyssa grunted as she was thrashed into a bookcase by her own wave. "Where are you, Rain?"

As situations continued to worsen in Outworld, the Red Dragon continued their operations in Earthrealm as they have done so for thousands of years. Subleader Mavado had been tasked with gearing up the clan's latest member: Rain.

"We're almost at the armoury," Mavado told him as Rain followed a distance behind. "Hurry up, raindrop."

"Is that where you put my weapons?" Rain asked.

"Wow you're a smart one," Mavado quipped. "That is what an armoury is used for."

"Don't get sarcastic with me," Rain demanded.

"You aren't in any position to tell me what I can or cannot do," Mavado replied. "I'm your higher up, and what I say goes."

"Whatever."

"There should also be a new attire for you," Mavado added.

"What I have on is fine already."

Mavado stopped walking and did a quick one eighty to face Rain. He looked up and down, assessing his attire. Rain wore primarily purple ninja garbs intertwined with some light armour made of silver. Mavado wagged his finger as he shook his head.

"The state of you…"

"What about it?" Rain asked.

"Listen, raindrop, the Red Dragon is the most powerful crime syndicate in all the realms and our name, if you haven't noticed, has a certain colour in it."

"So?"

"So, we don't want our members running around dressed like they're Donatello," Mavado explained. "Got that?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Rain admitted.

"Then shut your mouth," Mavado replied. "That's an order."

For the rest of the walk throughout the interior of Charred Mountain, these two unlikely allies refused to talk to each other. Rain looked around, shocked by how busy the clan was. Many of their mercenaries who were armed to the teeth would march past, alongside several chemists and other scientists carrying mysterious but important ingredients that Rain could not identify. Within one cavern there were a couple of open lab areas with the next cavern having training zones for practising hand to hand combat and at the back of the cavern was a shooting range with an armoured door beside the row of well trained Red Dragon rangers who were firing at targets made to resemble infamous Black Dragon members such as the recently deceased Kano. Mavado dug out an ID badge from one of the pockets inside his long jacket that was black leather on the outside and red on the inside. He held his identification against a scanner, which recognised him as someone with authorised access and thus unlocked the door to the armoury.

"Enter," Mavado instructed as he let Rain walk inside first.

"Wow…"

Rain was astonished by the sight of the armoury. The room was a giant metallic cube built within the caverns of Charred Mountain. The walls were decorated by countless weapons, each unique and many exotic. It was like a library for the rarest weapons in all the realms. Beside the door was a chest labelled "contraband" which Mavado kicked open and dug through. He then pulled out Rain's katar that had been confiscated from him upon being knocked out and abducted to the Red Dragon headquarters. Rain went to grab it but Mavado quickly pulled his arm away and tsked.

"Every Red Dragon member must undergo my trained procedures before they can receive a melee weapon such as this little knife," Mavado revealed as he tossed the katar over his own shoulder as it landed back into the box.

"I've been trained!" Rain yelled. "By an Edenian General!"

"And I'm willing to bet that I could kick that General's ass," Mavado remarked.

"He was my father…" Rain muttered as he clenched his fists.

"Seems to me like you've a shitload of family issues to sort out," Mavado noted. "That doesn't make you any special though, what do you think most criminals have?"

"Just what is your training exactly?" Rain asked, wishing to move on from such a subject.

"There's a lot of standard procedures I conduct," Mavado detailed. "I'll make some alterations to your training plan though."

"Good," Rain replied. "Because I already know what I'm doing."

"These alterations are not because of your experience," Mavado clarified, "they are because of my experiences being around you."

"What?"

"What I'm saying is…" Mavado spoke as his subordinate Hsu Hao stepped into the doorway. "You've really been passing me off, ese."

"The feeling is mutual."

"You've been a naughty boy, raindrop," Mavado said as he began walking away. "Discipline him, amigo."

"Gladly," Hsu Hao said as he cracked his knuckles as Mavado left the armoury.

"We're really doing this?" Rain asked as he got into his fighting stance, prepared for Hsu Hao to attack.

"Consider it your first lesson," Hsu Hao told him before suddenly springing into the air with a huge leap, landing behind Rain. "Welcome to the Red Dragon."

Before Rain could react, Hsu Hao immediately wrapped his muscular arms around the hydromancer and executed a German suplex to land Rain on the back of his neck. Hsu Hao then booted Rain onto his back before beginning to rain down a barrage of heavy right and left hooks onto Rain. Class was in session…

The battle in Sabar City raged on as the defenders flying throughout the city in order to scout any Kahn Guard threats, noticed something coming towards them in the air. Nitara and Azaco squinted as she tried to figure out what was approaching, whilst Ermac was already casting some sort of telekinetic spell.

"What's going on, Ermac?" Azaco questioned.

"Dragonflies," Ermac replied.

"That's not much of an answer…"

"The transportation, brother!" Nitara clarified.

The Dragonfly was a form of aerial transportation exclusive to Outworld. It was rarely used, but was the fastest alternative to the use of sorcery to get around the realm which was why Mileena's Union had never bothered to use them. The Vampires themselves were unused to them in particular, preferring to use their own wings for flight.

"I presume these are reinforcements?" Azaco said with uncertainty.

"They are reinforcements," Ermac confirmed.

"For the Kahn Guard that is!" Nitara clarified. "What should we do?"

"Warn the others," Ermac instructed. "Our telekinesis can provide a temporary distraction."

"Be safe, Ermac," Nitara replied as Azaco already headed off to inform their allies.

"And you, Nitara," Ermac said as the two began to fly away in different directions.

Ermac headed straight towards the Dragonflies. They were large flat platforms surrounded by designs resembling that of an Outworld Dragonfly, hence the form of transport sharing such a name. The large wings would repeatedly flap through a technical automated process, generating propulsion whilst lifting the platform which kept it steady in the air at different heights depending on the chosen flapping rate. As they got closer, Ermac could definitely conclude that these were more Kahn Guard soldiers. Reiko hadn't sent all his forces from the Isle of Dread through the portal near Sabar City as Hachiman instead used the Dragonfly resources to appoint several squadrons so that their arrival would be a surprise to any foes along the way. Ermac certainly was surprised.

The soldiers soon spotted the soul construct approaching them. A commander stood on the Dragonfly in front of the others, Hachiman having instructed them to be in charge of these aerial reinforcements. They immediately ordered the archers to attack Ermac with flaming arrows. Ermac flew around them all, but they were concerned about the flaming arrows that missed falling down upon Sabar City below. Ermac knew they had to try to stop these Dragonflies as soon as possible. Ermac then sent a beam of zigzagging green energy known as Hado. This term was coined by the creator of Shao Kahn, a rare ability that only Shao Kahn could've passed down to anyone through sorcery. Ermac understood how powerful this Hado energy was and that it was the perfect ability against the Dragonfly fleet, however, Ermac was concerned that the odds against them were too great. The Hado projectile crashed into a wing of one of the Dragonflies to the right side of Ermac, causing it to begin to fall to the side which crashed the Dragonfly into several others before coming down to the ground. The other Dragonflies remained airborne but were now out of order, creating chaos amongst the aerial fleet. Ermac gazed down, telekinetically grabbing the falling Dragonfly before it could crash into the city, the loyal soldiers aboard the platform of the Dragonfly weren't so fortunate. Ermac hurled the Dragonfly back up into the air, shattering another in half as it flew through the fleet with such force that it faded into the distance.

"KILL IT!" The Commander demanded of his fleet who were unable to land any arrows on the soul construct.

Ermac glared their glowing green eyes at the Kahn Guard Commander whilst their hands glowed green from the Hado energy. Ermac activated their telekinesis and surrounded the Commander with it before hurling him overboard. Suddenly, an arrow finally managed to hit Ermac as it shot into their shoulder. Ermac glided down, pretending as if they had fallen. Ermac then summoned their signature axe with their Hado energy as they flew back up. Ermac protected their body with their magic as he hurled his axe into the bottom of the wooden platform of one of the many Dragonflies. This left a crack in the platform which Ermac widened as they smashed themselves through the platform. Ermac grabbed their axe and began disarming the archers whilst sending Hado blasts at anybody approaching with a melee weapon. Archers from neighbouring Dragonflies began firing at Ermac as they sent a surrounded blast of Hado which wiped everyone on the Dragonfly that Ermac was on overboard. Ermac then used telekinesis again, this time to control the movement of a Dragonfly in the backlines and force it to crash into many other aircrafts.

The remaining air reinforcements became panicked, especially without their strict Commander, and began to break open a bunch of crates which each Dragonfly had been loaded with. Ermac squinted as they gazed at the Kahn Guard members who began rolling barrels out of the crate. Ermac saw several soldiers grab torches from the Dragonfly platforms and they lit each burn barrel rolled to them before rolling them overboard. The flaming barrels would then combust near the ground or upon impact, spreading fires and just generally causing deadly explosions down below on Sabar City. Ermac hoped that their allies had evacuated the citizens of the capital…

Nyah had been unable to save her own family from the Kahn Guard many years ago, but she was now focused on ensuring that as few families would be torn apart on this day as Edenia had been during Shao Kahn's conquest of her native realm. She led the way with a raised fist aflame from Pyromancy as she did so to make her presence and guidance clear to all the civilians she had rounded up. Her main fear now was the flaming barrels raining down upon the streets of Sabar City. When asked by one civilian, Nyah expressed her belief that the safest option was simply to run out of the city walls. Even if they took shelter, they could be crushed by it from all the explosions and flames. Unfortunately, the route she had taken had led them to a spot where the Dragonflies had flown directly over. Nyah sent her own blasts of fire, up above, exploding the barrels midair before they could land on the poor civilians, but there were too many dropping for one person to handle. Nyah led the group to a right, running past the parliament building as an explosive shattered the glass dome at the centre of the room, shards flying atop of the civilians. Nyah glanced up at the building and saw another portal beginning to form.

"More support!" She cheered.

Emerging from this one of Sindel's portals was Asgaarth alongside a flock of his fellow Aviens which he commanded. They immediately took as Mileena and Tanya emerged from the portal themselves soon after.

"Need help evacuating?" Asgaarth asked Nyah who nodded. "Fly them out of these walls and set up a temporary camp!"

Half of the large flock of Aviens complied as they began to carefully carry the civilians whilst flying them to safety. The other half took flight and soared towards the Dragonflies, prepared to help stop these aerial forces. Mileena and Tanya then used the back ladder to climb down the building with Tanya embracing her mother.

"We were watching the Edenian streams," Mileena explained.

"I know," Nyah replied. "They are quite beautiful."

"As was this city…" Mileena soon sulked as she could immediately tell the severity of everything. "I shouldn't have left my realm!"

"It's alright, Mileena!" Tanya assured her as she squeezed her arm. "We'll stop them."

"Where's everybody else?" Mileena asked Nyah. "My mother said you'd all be together."

"Um… plans changed," Nyah admitted. "They changed quickly…"

"Where are they?!" Mileena asked, growing more and more panicked by each passing moment.

"Heading to their graves."

Mileena, Tanya and Nyah spun around as they saw none other than the Kollector down the street. He was accompanied by several personal bodyguards wearing golden armour which the everso generous Kollector spent his own money to afford, as well as the naginatas they all wielded. Kollector had bided his time, waiting to see how effective his allies were before exhausting any more of his resources. The Kavalry armour was already in Kuatan, so he in truth was only going to get involved when he saw physical evidence that Reiko's plan was succeeding… and he sure had that proof.

"The perfect opportunity," Kollector told himself. "I get the glory of slaying the Empress and the chance to study the Edenian flame."

"What would you know about fire?" Nyah asked.

"I'll show you!" Kollector clicked his fingers, all six of his hands becoming surrounded by fire so hot it was blue. "Perhaps I can harvest you two for a new flame talisman."

"Such a thing is impossible," Tanya said bluntly whilst Nyah drew her own naginata and pointed it at Kollector's guards.

"As well as vile…" Mileena added.

"Tsung could help me with some new spells…" Kollector considered. "If he shows up today," he remarked. "Oh, who am I kidding? I'm betting he deserted our cause anyway."

"He must be a smarter man than you, Kollector," Mileena concluded.

"Because this will fail," Tanya said with certainty.

"Your capital crumbles around you, Empress," Kollector pointed out. "You're lucky I didn't have my guards slaughter those peasants your Aviens carried away."

"Why didn't you?" Nyah asked.

"There's no profit in that!" Kollector quipped. "Now… I don't get paid by the hour," he stated. "Let's end this!"

Kollector's guards rushed at the Edenian trio. Nyah drew her naginata and collided the blade of it with one of the guard's own. She then used the staff part of the weapon to smack into the face of another guard whilst Tanya acrobatically leapt onto her mother's polearm before using her fire drill technique to dive bomb a couple more guards and send them flying onto the path beside them. One more guard attempted to sneak up on Tanya, tripping them up with their naginata. Mileena quickly got into a ball and used her enchanted weapons to conceal herself with magic as she rolled across the ground and clashed into the knees of the guard. They collapsed as Mileena landed on top of them, pressing her sai against the guard's neck whilst Nyah helped her daughter to her feet.

"About to slay a Naknadan are you, Empress?" Kollector asked as he remained at a distance he deemed to be safe enough. "I'm sure that'll help you gain their favour," he sarcastically remarked.

"No!" Mileena yelled as she lifted her sai and pointed them at Kollector. "Just you."

Suddenly, energy projectiles in the shape of Mileena's sai were shot at Kollector, blasting the Naknadan leader back. Kollector hurriedly got to his feet and began scurrying up the street. Mileena attempted to pursue Kollector as he blasted his blue flames at her. As Kollector went to turn a corner, he was shocked by what he bumped into.

Kollector was knocked to the floor after smacking face first into a Centaur. He looked up to see Nikala with his own brother sitting atop of her horseback. Beside them was the rest of the Kavalry army as they matched up the path which was connected to the entranceway into Sabar City. Rows of Centaurs were lined up and down the pathway as they galloped into the city. There weren't just Naknadans riding them, but Shokan too. The two dominant species had truly united against this threat.

"Gah!" Kollector screamed. "What is this?!" He asked. "You were supposed to slay the Shokan," he told his brother and the Centaurs. "Although they must be a powerful ally…"

"They didn't join the Kahn Guard," Kavalry clarified. "We joined them!"

"You dare betray your own family?!" Kollector yelled.

"Don't pretend like you're hurt," Kavalry replied. "You stopped caring about Naknada the moment Shao Kahn gave you a promotion!"

"You're right…" Kollector admitted. "Well, I'll be on my way now!"

"Not so fast!" Kavalry shouted as he leapt off of Nikala and chased after Kollector down a nearby alleyway. The rest of the reinforcements gathered around Mileena, a clear expression of the Centaurs and Naknadans newfound loyalty.

"The cavalry's here!" Tanya cheered.

"We trust you will support our people, Empress," Motaro spoke up as he approached and bowed his head as Goro sat atop him.

"Of course!" Mileena assured them. "Prince Goro! What happened?"

"There was still conflict before we could make peace," Goro clarified. "I will be fine," he reassured her. "Reiko and his loyalists will not be."

"Follow me!" Nyah insisted. "I'll show you where the enemy is!"

As the new reinforcements headed into battle with the Kahn Guard, Kavalry continued to chase his brother as he climbed a fence in the alley which led into a garden of a house in the nearby neighbourhood. Kavalry did the same, but was met by Kollector swinging his bola which smacked Kavalry in the face and threw him down. Kollector saw this as an opportunity and leapt up onto the fence as he began throwing down vials containing his mysterious supply of cursed flames that shone green. Kavalry rolled aside as Kollector leapt back into the garden as the poison-like green flames consumed the wooden fence as smoke filled the air.

"Face me, coward!" Kavalry yelled from the other side of the fire wall.

"So eager to kill your own flesh and blood?" Kollector asked as he began backing away as the fire began to spread across the grassy garden.

"I do not want this!" Kavalry yelled. "But it is time that your greed and poor influence over our people comes to an end!"

"Poor influence?!" Kollector repeated. "I have forever been honest about my love for Koins…" Kollector admitted again. "But that? Nonsense!"

"You've been a personal tyrant for Naknada for too long!" Kavalry exclaimed. "With Shao Kahn gone I thought… maybe you'd change. Maybe things for our people would at least change…"

"Things have!"

"Hardly!" Kavalry disagreed firmly. "We still haven't had freewill!" Kavalry pointed out. "You forced Naknada as a whole into being on the side of the Kahn Guard, putting Naknadan civilians under lockdown to try to prevent us from reaching out to a real leader who isn't just some self centred arrogant tyrant!"

"I was protecting Naknada and its citizens!" Kollector claimed. "Just like how I used my position to protect you back when Shao Kahn first saw me as valuable!"

Kavalry angrily shook his head before hurling his body, throwing the fence which had become weak due to the fire working away at disintegrating the wooden material. Kavalry rolled through the grass to prevent himself from receiving too severe burns as he pulled himself up and stared at his brother who had moved back to be under the shelter of the porch of the house their encounter had unintentionally brought the Naknadan brothers to.

"Enough of the lies, brother!" Kavalry yelled as he aimed his bow at the tribute collector.

"I'm not lying!" Kollector denied it. "As soon as I became successful in Outworld, I took you out of slavery!"

"Whatever benevolent intentions you've had… doesn't matter anymore," Kavalry explained. "You've let your power go to your head!"

"Take one more step," Kollector warned, "and I'll take yours."

Kavalry stepped forth as he stretched all of his arms out and gestured for Kollector to come forth and challenge him. Kollector quickly realised his attempt at a threat had been unwise, and he immediately turned to the backdoor of the home and began trying to pick the lock. Kavalry shot an arrow into Kollector's back as the warrior charged at his brother, tackling him through the wooden door as it splintered into several pieces.

"Ah!" Kollector cried out as he collapsed on the floor of what was the kitchen of the empty home they had broken into. "Property damage?! Yet you're trying to be a hero to the people…" Kollector sighed as he plucked the arrow out of his back and threw it to the tiled floor.

"Your own finances can compensate the homeowner nicely," Kavalry reassured him as the two brothers climbed to their feet.

"I'm done sharing," Kollector replied.

"When did you ever share?!" Kavalry asked as he ran at Kollector as the two began throwing all of their hands at each other.

In a rare sight, Kollector dropped his backpack and suddenly drew a pair of sickles from his back arms which he shoved into Kavalry's stomach. Kavalry groaned in pain as blood spewed onto his own brother's body as he scooped him up and slammed him through the glass table in the middle of the kitchen. Kollector scurried back, stumbling his way through the house as he made his way to the front door. A key was already resting within the inside of the door, and Kollector went to open it only for the door to be flung into his face as the homeowner had come inside.

"By Cho!" The homeowner yelled in shock. "What are you doing in my house?!"

Without even explaining things, Kollector got up and dragged the homeowner by his shirt before blasting a brief cursed flame in the man's face which temporarily blinded him as he stumbled into the living room as Kollector ran outside, continuing to race to a secure location. Kavalry had gotten back up and tried to chase after his brother despite his own injuries. Kavalry stopped, however, seeing the injured homeowner as he made the decision to assist him instead.

As Kollector began to abandon the Kahn Guard, the army continued to push towards the central mountain where Mileena's Fortress stood, Reiko still strongly believing that once they seized control of such a building they could begin to spread their will across the entire realm. They were unaware of the incoming reinforcements with the alliance of Shokan and Centaurs who were also accompanied by Kavalry Naknadans. The Tarkatan horde standing up to Reiko's squads were being forced further back each minute, whilst the Hail clan were occupied by Talon, Epos and other soldiers.

Alyssa was quite a resilient fighter, constantly climbing to her feet each time the power couple who opposed her knocked her to the floor of the destroyed furniture store that their conflict had broken into. She ran at Talon who laughed whilst she levitated. Epos charged in and slide tackled Alyssa, throwing the Hydromancer off her feet once more.

"Talon!" Reiko called for help.

"Reiko?!" Talon turned to face him as he raised his hand to make her see him through the crowd of soldiers.

"Where are the other Shadow Priests?!" Reiko questioned.

"I don't know!" Talon replied truthfully. "I gave them all the correct instructions… Something must've gone wrong."

"Agh!" Reiko grunted out of frustration.

"No matter!" Epos shouted. "We'll still succeed!"

"Are you sure about that?!" Asked Motaro as he galloped down the street.

The members of the Kahn Guard spun around to look down the other end of the street. Reiko was initially pleased to hear the voice of the Centaur warrior Motaro, but then he became alarmed at the sight of his Centaur and Naknadan warriors aligned with the Shokan.

"What is this, Motaro?" Reiko interrogated. "I asked for you to eliminate the Shokan, and I presume this alternative is not them joining us."

"It isn't," Motaro confirmed. "We are joining them."

"I see…" Reiko replied as he lifted the Wrath Hammer.

"Reiko!" Mileena screamed his name as Reiko looked up to see a pair of sai thrown into the air which Mileena teleported to as she directed her landing towards Reiko.

"You won't lay a finger on me!" Reiko yelled as he grabbed Mileena by the throat out of midair before hurling her aside. "Outworld is mine now!"

"Not yet!" Tanya stated as she got into her human fire drill and spun beneath the legs of the Centaur army between herself and Reiko.

Reiko leapt over Tanya as she spun into a group of Kahn Guard soldiers instead, creating a large fiery blast behind Reiko as he chuckled, similar to the previous Emperor of Outworld. He spun around with the Wrath Hammer in both hands, whilst approaching the Centaurs. The powerful weapon was so strong that it knocked each Centaur over after a single hit of the weapon. Even Motaro was knocked down, his heavy body landing on top of Prince Goro's injured body.

Nikala charged at Reiko before spinning around herself as she attempted to smack Reiko in the face with her hind legs. Reiko carelessly threw the Wrath Hammer into the air which freed up his hands to grab Nikala's back legs. Reiko then flipped Nikala onto her backs as the Wrath Hammer landed atop her torso.

"Nikala!" Motaro cried out as he got to all four of his feet.

Motaro neighed as he charged at full speed, ready to impale Reiko on his horns, but he was intercepted by Skull and Raza who both slashed at the side of Motaro's horse body with their matching swords, empowered by Talon's enchantments. Such magic ensured that any cuts suffered would cause great pain which made the slashes far more noticeable, even though Motaro was a thick skinned Centaur. Motaro craned his neck around so he could see Skull and Raza, allowing Reiko to grab his Wrath Hammer and bash Motaro in the face with it which sent him sliding across the stone road.

"Group up with me!" Reiko ordered all of his allies.

The Kahn Guard forces that were on the same street were already being pushed back now by the Tarkatan horde on the other side. The arrival of reinforcements greatly distracted and worried Reiko's forces. The forces bundled together, but were seemingly surrounded. Just as the Kahn Guard thought that, a Dragonfly ship from above with the aerial conflict had fallen, crashing down onto the Centaur forces. Many Centaurs, Naknadans and Shokan were already crushed by this horrible coincidence. Even worse though, was the fact that there were still fire barrels aboard the Dragonfly…

Nyah leapt onto the platform and concealed herself with her Pyromancy, attempting to absorb the flames of the barrels as they exploded, letting out a loud banging noise. Nyah's strategy had worked, but she hadn't anticipated a piece of the blown up barrels impaling her, causing her to collapse from the sharp pain in her body. Tanya cried out at the sight and let out a burst of fire wiping out any Kahn Guard soldiers nearby as she rushed over to protect her mother. Meanwhile, Reiko ran up to the Dragonfly, running up the sloped platform caused by the awkward landing of the flying machine. He ran and leapt off the highest point, which aligned with the rooftop of a small newspaper business. Talon flew up to him, carrying Epos in her arms as she did so.

"What are we doing now?" Epos questioned whilst Talon sent dark magic projectiles down the street.

"We can still salvage this," Reiko claimed as his mind panicked for a new strategy.

"How?!" Epos continued to question him.

"Let me think!" Reiko demanded.

"Your soldiers are fighting until their last breath down there, Reiko!" Talon told him as they looked down at the conflict below. "You need to do something fast!"

"We'll have to go around to reach the Fortress," Reiko decided. "Soldiers!" He shouted from the rooftop. "Follow me!"

"Not so fast!" Kintaro roared as he jumped so high that he landed on the rooftop. "You're going nowhere, Reiko!"

"Begone, feline!" Reiko shouted as he threw the Wrath Hammer at Kintaro who ducked the heavy hammer and began sprinting at Reiko.

Reiko reached his hand out as Epos clung to Talon out of fear of the mighty Tigrar Shokan. Reiko called back the Wrath Hammer, having bonded with the enchanted weapon long enough to be able to call for it back. The Wrath Hammer picked itself up and soared backwards, smashing Kintaro in the back of the skull as it returned to Reiko's grasp.

"Bad kitty," he taunted before hitting Kintaro again, knocking him off the roof.

The soldiers soon began panicking as they tried repeating the process Reiko had done to get onto the roof, as Reiko began to jump off the other side with the soldiers continuing to replicate their leader's moves. Half of the squadron was intercepted, however, by Katrina. Enraged seeing Kintaro get struck by the Wrath Hammer, she gained enough might to pick the Dragonfly up by herself. She tipped the soldiers off of the crashed contraption, before hurling it down the street. The soldiers who managed to run out of the way of the Dragonfly, were met by the Tarkatan horde on the other side of the road. They waited to see if they'd still attack, and when they did so due to blind loyalty, the Tarkatans did not hesitate in attacking back ferociously.

Suddenly, Hideyoshi came running along the walls with surprising agility considering his immense size. He sprung off the walls and bashed in the skull of one Tarkatan using his halberd. Despite the beating he had taken in the alleyway, Talon had saved his life and given him a chance for recovery. Hideyoshi then used his katana to skewer three Tarkatans onto the long and sharpened blade all at once. Baraka boldly attempted to help his people, but Hideyoshi immediately identified his injured leg and smashed his halberd precisely where the injury was located at his ankle. Baraka immediately lost his balance, collapsing to the floor.

"Quick word from a weapons expert," Hideyoshi addressed the Tarkatan horde. "Your arm blades are overrated."

"Try telling me that!" Karbrac yelled as he charged his blades full of energy before lunging at Hideyoshi.

Hideyoshi sighed as he cracked his whip, cutting open Karbrac's cheek whilst knocking him aside. Korhau was the next warrior to attempt to stop Hideyoshi, swinging his arm blades at him. Hideyoshi grabbed his left blade. The sharpened bone cut into his hand as Hideyoshi squeezed harder, blocking Korhau's other blade with his staff, the fourth and final of his weapons. Hideyoshi then began twisting his bleeding hand, using his might to shockingly snap Korhau's arm blade off with just his hand.

"Point proven," he told himself before thrusting the severed blade into Korhau's stomach.

"Korhau!" Karbrac cried out.

He ran at Hideyoshi, tackling him to the ground. Hideyoshi violently punched Karbrac off of him, attempting to shatter his pointy teeth in doing so. Karbrac suddenly unhinged his jaw on one incoming punch, before biting down on his hand. Karbrac growled as he tugged at Hideyoshi's hand. Hideyoshi tried to bash Karbrac's head in with a halberd, but other Tarkatan warriors made sure to disarm him as Karbrac sunk his teeth deep into his trapped hand. With one final tug, Karbrac tore Hideyoshi's hand off, causing blood to gush all over the road as Karbrac spat out his now severed hand.

"That is for Korhau," Karbrac said as he drew his arm blades once more and charged them with his signature red energy. "And this is for all of Tarkata!"

In one swift thrust, Karbrac pierced his arm blades through Hideyoshi's helmet. Each blade cut through Hideyoshi's eyes and reached his brain, killing him swiftly. The remaining members of the Kahn Guard stood in the road and hesitated to attack the Tarkatans after such a gruesome sight.

"Hideyoshi!" Raza yelled as he had witnessed the events as he and Skull remained in the road, helping in trying to fend off the Shokan and Centaur Kavalry.

"Kill them all!" Skull demanded angrily as he and Raza began running as fast as their heavy armour allowed them to with their enchanted swords pointed at the Tarkatan horde.

"We really must fall back!" Karbrac realised. "Can somebody please carry Korhau?!"

A Tarkatan complied whilst the others began retreating back as many of the Kahn Guard forces mercilessly began heading straight to them to avenge Hideyoshi.

"Mileena!" Baraka tried to call for her lover who was at the other end of the street. "Wait! I want to see her!"

"I'm sorry, Chief!" Karbrac apologised. "We'll ensure her Fortress remains protected… and so that it may protect us!"

"Then go on without me!" Baraka requested. "My injury is only slowing you down."

"We need you, Baraka," Karbrac told him as he put his arm over his shoulder. "I'm not letting another Tarkatan die today."

"I hope she's alright…" Baraka worried about his lover.

"She will be," Karbrac promised him as they continued to move to Mileena's Fortress. "But we need to ensure we'll be okay too!"

"You're right," Baraka admitted. "Thank you for staying strong, Karbrac."

"I'm just doing what you've taught me to do," Karbrac replied. He glanced over to the Tarkatans helping to carry the wounded Korhau and asked, "is Korhau alright!?"

"I am…" He replied for himself.

"Thank the Gods!" Karbrac rushed over to hold his lover. "I thought… I thought I lost you!"

Their affectionate display made Baraka glance back one last time to try to see Mileena before they headed down a corner the street branched off to. He managed to look past the soldiers to see her holding her own against many of them, which made him happy as he was carried away by his fellow Tarkatans…

The groups of both sides of the conflict had been divided even further, however, the Aviens remained close to Ermac in their aerial battle with the remaining Dragonflies. The flock of Avien warriors led by Asgaarth began trying to lead the Dragonflies out of the city, as Ermac feared the destruction that could be caused if any more defeated Dragonflies crashed down to the city below.

The soldiers aboard the Dragonflies had collectively gained a new idea, they began hurling the fire barrels at the Aviens and shooting flaming arrows to detonate them in midair. The Aviens were no longer trying to lure the Dragonflies away, they were outright trying to avoid them as the explosions began to injure and even kill some unfortunate warriors. Ermac followed their feathered friends, using telekinesis to try to repel the fire barrels which had already caused enough damage on this day.

Suddenly, a swarm of insects of unique shapes and sizes began to fly into the air and surround the Dragonflies. Some acted as a distraction for the soldiers, whilst others stung through their uniforms. Next came the couple of A'Vital and D'Vorah, who flew in to aid their fellow Mileena's Union members. They latched their stinger below the wooden planks of one Dragonfly. This allowed D'Vorah and A'Vital to produce a slimy substance on their hands which let them stick to the platform, which they then crawled onto the other side of. The soldiers rushed the two Kytinn, who quickly disposed of everybody aboard. A'Vital would use her stingers to impale the soldiers, before hurling them overboard. D'Vorah would use a small stinger growing out her wrist as a hidden blade to take out anybody who approached her or A'Vital.

"How does This One control such a thing?" D'Vorah questioned as they had overtaken the Dragonfly.

Before A'Vital could help her lover figure this out, their Dragonfly was spun to one side by a natural gust of wind which thrashed them against a nearby Dragonfly. The soldiers all turned to face the Kytinn couple and began to leap over to face them. Before they could attack the Kytinn, the Aviens swooped in and dove at the soldiers, knocking them all overboard as they collided with them to push them off.

"This One is thankful," D'Vorah told Asgaarth as the two shook hands. Asgaarth then had to shake the slime off of his claw. "Apologies…"

"It is quite alright," Asgaarth assured her. "Where are the rest of your Kytinn allies?"

"Oh…" A'Vital sulked.

"You're all usually in a group of six," Asgaarth pointed out.

"One needed medical aid," A'Vital clarified. "The crew is helping with that."

"I'm sorry to hear," Asgaarth apologised. "What happened?"

"Kotal is a traitor," D'Vorah revealed. "This One believes they're on the side of the Kahn Guard."

"Which Kotal are we discussing?" Asgaarth sought clarity. "The Osh-Tekk leader or his… not so pleasant son.

"Take a guess," A'Vital quipped.

"The son," Asgaarth predicted correctly, as confirmed by A'Vital and D'Vorah's nods.

"Ko'atal killed his father," D'Vorah added, which made Asgaarth gasp. "It is horrible…"

"We must warn the rest," Asgaarth decided.

As the Kytinn were spreading this important news to their Avien friends, Ermac was using their telekinesis to slowly pull all the remaining Dragonflies away, crashing into the baron desert which was to the west of Sabar City, where the fabled Outworld Coliseum resided which had since become unused after Shao Kahn's execution. This method had succeeded for approximately half of the remaining Dragonflies, but the other half had actually retreated from Ermac so they could land on the other side of the city and help their leader as ground forces instead.

One Dragonfly had landed too far away from the rest of their remaining forces, being just by a city exit as their transport smashed into the protective walls surrounding the city. Those aboard had managed to survive the landing, sliding down the platform and onto the cobbled pathway below. They gathered around and began to strategise what to do next after an unsuccessful landing. They were shortly interrupted by the sudden presence of a Hellbat from the Netherrealm flapping past their group, drawing their attention.

The Hellbat was Dodger, pet of the heroic Demon Cilene. She was still with her fellow Demons fighting Colossus on the ground, however, she summoned Dodger to try to aid whatever was happening above them due to growing concern over the Dragonflies. Dodger soared off, but became confused as he spotted the Dragonflies split off. He had followed the one that went astray, but now his attention wasn't even on the Dragonfly nor its Kahn Guard passengers… but something else entirely.

The Deadly Alliance.

Shang Tsung and Quan Chi fearlessly stepped through the city walls, the former latching his soul consuming grasp onto any civilian that tried to escape the warzone that Sabar City had been transformed into. The latter sorcerer kept his eyes ahead though, and he spotted Dodger soared directly at him.

"What have we here?" Quan Chi asked as his right gloved hand casually grabbed Dodger out of the air.

"One of those bats from the Netherrealm?" Shang Tsung noted.

"I recognise this one in particular," Quan Chi stated. "Belongs to one of my… former assassins."

"The wannabe heroes must be close then," Shang Tsung concluded.

"Indeed," Quan Chi agreed.

The Demon sorcerer tightened his grasp around Dodger, wanting to crush the small Hellbat with his own hand. However, Dodger quickly barfed up a fireball which was spat onto the sorcerer's hand, burning a hole through Quan Chi's glove and searing his pale skin. Dodger had created an opportunity to escape and the Hellbat began frantically flapping their wings in an attempt to get away as quickly as possible.

"Puggles!" Quan Chi yelled the name of his own personal Hellbat as he summoned their presence above his own head with a floating red rune.

Puggles was initially shocked, not having seen his master in quite a while due to his imprisonment. But with a simple spell, Quan Chi had forced the Hellbat back into his command.

"Kill it," Quan Chi demanded, stretching a finger over to point at Dodger.

Upon spotting the other Hellbat, Puggles immediately flew directly at Dodger. Puggles was much larger and more aggressive of the two, shooting a fireball at Dodger which left them in a vulnerable state for Puggles to sink his claws into Dodger. Puggles then began to fly back towards Quan Chi as he applauded his efforts. Puggles threw Dodger's body down to the hard path which broke his wings.

"Pathetic little thing," Quan Chi commented as he and Shang Tsung continued walking.

Dodger tried to crawl away, but Quan Chi made sure to intentionally step on the small Hellbat. He laughed after crushing the poor creature as Puggles landed on his bare shoulder.

"Since when did you have a Hellbat?" Shang Tsung asked.

"I required a watcher to observe the Brotherhood of Shadow whenever I could not," Quan Chi explained the need for Puggles' service. "I trust you have been continuing to perform such a task, Puggles."

Puggles responded by letting out a few squeaks, ones noticeably deep for a bat and even for a Hellbat.

"Hm," Quan reacted with intrigue. "Tell me more later."

"Odd name," Tsung remarked.

"Not my choice," Quan Chi clarified. "My assassin picked the name, he inspired her to find her own pet Hellbat."

"The one you just killed?"

"Correct," Quan Chi said with a wicked grin, pleased by his own devious actions.

The Deadly Alliance continued to casually walk through the warzone. They soon came across the squadron from the crashed Dragonfly as they huddled together at the bottom of the street. One soldier removed their helmet and placed a hand above their eyes to shield them from the rising sun.

"It's Shang Tsung!" The soldier declared.

"Hello," Tsung greeted grimly.

"Where in the Netherrealm have you been?!"

"Precisely," Tsung answered truthfully as he had gone to the Netherrealm to free his new ally.

"What?!"

"Hold on," Tsung spoke up, "what gives you the authority to question me?"

"Because we all know you're a traitor!" The soldier blurted out boldly, much to Tsung's amusement. "Reiko doesn't trust you, so why would any of us?"

"I'm pleased you'd say that," Tsung confessed. "Now we can cut straight to the point."

With a flash of magic, Shang Tsung summoned his straight sword which he used to cut clean through the neck of the questioning soldier, beheading them in mere seconds. The rest of the squadron charged at the Deadly Alliance in reaction to this. Tsung threw his straight sword which spun through the torso of one soldier whilst he shapeshifted into Shao Kahn, laughing to taunt the Kahn Guard loyalists. Quan Chi then ran in with his pair of broadswords, ramming them through one soldier and charging their corpse through the crowd of warriors. Two soldiers attempted to attack Shang Tsung, who used the might of Shao Kahn to grab both of their faces and slam them against the pavement. With them grounded, Quan Chi leapt onto one soldier's shoulders and landed one sword down on each of the grounded soldiers, killing them in an instant. Quan Chi then performed a backflip to avoid an arrow being fired from the archer he used as a stepping stool, expecting them to target them for such a move. The arrow then came straight for Tsung instead, who dragged one poor soldier in its way, the arrow piercing them in their left eyeball. Puggles then took flight, soaring over to the ranged archer and clawing their eyes out as Quan Chi chuckled at the sight whilst deflecting the incoming melee attacks of three other soldiers without even looking nor breaking a sweat. One soldier wielded a hammer, attempting rapid heavy strikes out of desperation which Quan Chi would keep parrying with one broadsword whilst repelling two swordsmen with his other. When the hammer wielding soldier attempted to attack once more, Quan Chi flicked his wrist around and brought his broadsword into reverse grip which allowed him to have a clean upwards slice which severed the arm that the soldier was using to hold their hammer.

"Duck!" Shang Tsung ordered Quan Chi who did so by dropping to one knee. Tsung then sends a flaming skull which explodes the former hammer wielding soldier upon collision.

"Oh, how I have missed such a conflict!" Quan Chi exclaimed cheerfully as Tsung pulled him by the arm to help him get to both feet quickly enough to block more incoming sword strikes.

The Deadly Alliance then found themselves back to back as Tsung returned to his original form, recalling his straight sword in order to fend off against his own attackers as Quan Chi did the same. The latter sorcerer, however, had an easier time with overcoming the other sword wielders, now that he could focus on the two swordsmen with both of his broadswords. Quan Chi began swinging back, his two heavy broadswords being enough to push one sword to the side from each strike, causing the one swordsman to be knocked into the other. This disoriented the two swordsmen, leaving them vulnerable each to a thrusting sword strike which impaled them both as they soon bled out from the fatal wounds. As soon as they had been dealt with, Quan Chi made a portal at his own feet which emerged above the remaining soldiers that were facing Shang Tsung. Quan Chi began to violently stomp on the soldier he landed on from the portal whilst duelling with the others. Shang Tsung ran around and sliced through each of the soldiers as Quan Chi had averted their focus, returning the favour for Tsung's aid with his own group of soldiers. The last of the squadron had been eliminated.

"That was a fantastic light exercise," Quan Chi quipped as Puggles returned to him after mangling the poor archers. "Your newfound ruthless aggression has not gone unnoticed, Puggles."

"Shall we continue?" Shang Tsung asked as he quickly consumed all the souls of the now dead soldiers surrounding them.

Quan Chi nodded and the Deadly Alliance continued to walk through Sabar City, leaving a path of death behind them…

Near this path, Colossus continued to stand against the large group of heroes defending Outworld from the Kahn Guard. Kitana continued to lead the charge, but was admittedly uncertain about her instructions. Facing an enchanted live statue of her 'father' certainly wasn't what she had anticipated doing this morning. She used her own enchanted weapons to send blasts of wind magic to try to cause Colossus to lose its footing, but none of her efforts created strong enough gusts of winds to blow him over. Her best friend Jade, however, insisted on destroying his strong stone structure as toppling Colossus over could cause unnecessary damage to Sabar City which in its current state could certainly do with less destruction from this battle.

"Lady Kronika!" Li Mei called for as she finally found a moment to get past Colossus to check on the retired Elder God.

"Li Mei…" Kronika smiled seeing her. "You and your friends have my gratitude for saving me."

"You did the same for me," Li Mei pointed out. "Why are you here?"

"My Hourglass foretold another concerning future…" Kronika began to explain.

"What is Reiko planning?" Li Mei asked.

"Although I'm more than happy to help deal with him," Kronika replied, "I am not concerned with Reiko…"

"Huh?"

"Look out!" Kronika yelled as Colossus went to step back, about to crush the pair.

Kronika quickly summoned a group of levitating magic spherical objects which she launched at Colossus, causing him to reverse his steps for a few seconds. She called this invention the Kronosphere, and it was a tool she would weaponise to allow anything caught in the small radius to rewind by a handful of seconds. Each Kronosphere she summoned contained a fraction of her power. Colossus was sent back, giving Kronika and Li Mei enough time to step away.

"Be careful, dear!" Li Mei requested with Jade giving her a thumbs up before using her staff to send another set of energy pulses by slamming it against the ground which was covered in cracks due to Colossus' size and power. "What were you going to say, Lady Kronika?"

"I'll tell you later," she promised. "I think we should help stop that thing first."

"Good idea," Li Mei agreed as the two rushed over to aid their fellow heroes, who were still not really certain on how to stop Colossus.

"Glad to see you back on your feet," Kitana told Kronika. "Please tell me you have a better strategy than us…"

"I must freeze them in place momentarily," Kronika strategised. "Then you all need to attack it."

"We can hardly do anything to it!" Jade clarified. "We've been trying to smash through its legs for what feels like ages now…"

"I know," Kronika agreed. "But when I release my freeze effect, it will react to the countless hits all at once and hopefully knock it back enough so that it will collapse."

"I don't know…" Topaz was very uncertain about all of this.

"We have no other options," Li Mei pointed out.

"Ladies!" Sareena called for as she and her fellow Demons were helping distract Colossus by running around and helping drag each other away from it anytime Colossus attempted a slow but powerful crushing blow. "Please make a decision quickly!"

"Don't forget me!" Meat shouted.

"We'd never!" Mika giggled before shrieking as Sora had to pull her away from Colossus as a beam of red lasers was suddenly shot from its eyes.

"I just need somebody to keep it in place so that I can cast my spell!" Kronika blurted out, so they could move onto progressing with this Plan C.

"Wait," Meat scratched his fleshy head in confusion. "We need to hold Rock in place so that you can keep it in place?!"

"Don't worry!" Skarlet tried to reassure the group. "I'll handle it!"

"You will?" Krimson was surprised by her mother's eagerness.

"Assist me," Skarlet requested.

"Um sure," Krimson agreed to do so. "What exactly are we doing?"

"You'll see," Skarlet promised. "Follow me!"

As Skarlet ran at Colossus to execute her own plan, her lover and her brother had found themselves in some trouble. As requested by Ermac, they had soared around the city to try to find their allies to warn them of the Dragonflies. They began to struggle in finding their allies through the chaos, and soon they found themselves being targeted by a stray Dragonfly. This had led to the bold decision of them boarding the Dragonfly where they had since been fighting the overwhelming amount of Kahn Guard aerial forces aboard the large platform.

"I'm starting to see why you and the rest of the coven got caught by these scum," Nitara realised as they struggled to keep up with the sheer amount of soldiers around them.

"They're a real pain, huh?" Azaco replied. "Let's hurry this up!"

Azaco dropped his signature dagger, the sharp blade landing through the foot of the nearest soldier. Azaco grabbed the soldier by his head and brought him into his teeth as Azaco sank his fangs into his neck to rejuvenate himself and drain the life of the Shao Kahn loyalist. He then kicked his dagger back up by the hilt, causing it to fly into the air with him catching it in time to slit the throat of another soldier. Nitara flapped her wings, causing her to back away from more soldiers whilst also grabbing Azaco to pull him away from a stray arrow that was shot. The soldiers were becoming too much. Nitara hurled her kama pair which impaled another soldier. She reached out to take back her kama, but the Dragonfly suddenly smashed into a wall. With all the conflict with bodies flying everywhere and nobody focused on controlling the movement of the Dragonfly, it was slowly heading downwards but everybody was too distracted to realise. It smashed through the wooden wall of a bell tower that was supported by Outworld Steel beams.

Everybody aboard the Dragonfly lost their balance, many falling off the transport and smashing through the wooden boards on the floor of one of the levels inside the large tower. The soldiers that did hang on, however, moved to the edge of the Dragonfly, putting enough weight on the platform to direct it upwards before it smashed through the floor. Nitara and Azaco attempted to fly away, but the biggest soldier on the platform grabbed one of each of their wings. They were soon being dragged back by the large warrior, and the soldiers hadn't considered the fact that they weren't balancing the Dragonfly but instead they had just made it start flying directly up which smashed them through the ceiling onto the top floor of the bell tower. The Dragonfly then collided with the largest bell of many in the room, causing a loud chime that echoed throughout Sabar City.

The capital bell tower once served as a torture tower for many of Shao Kahn's prisoners, but since Mileena took the throne it had been repurposed to hold a variety of bells. It was now an area for the city guards to watch over the city due to the sheer size of the tower and the upper floor that the Dragonfly had just crashed into was a balcony area covered with a roof with the main bell dangling down from the ceiling in the centre of the tower. The bells had been put in place to alert civilians of any danger, so this was not the first time the bell had been rung today. However, there were no city guards inside to aid Nitara and Azaco against the Kahn Guard squadron as they had all gone to face Reiko's forces on the streets of Sabar City.

Nitara and Azaco crawled to each other and used each other to help stand up, whilst the Kahn Guard squadron did the same. The soldiers spread out around the large balcony platform; the floorboards being made of the same old wood that their Dragonfly had been. The soldiers began circling, whispering to each other as they strategized. Nitara spotted her kama, the pair of bladed weapons having stabbed through one of the many wooden boards on the floor that creaked as the soldiers slowly circled the two Vampire siblings.

"You first, Konga!" One soldier ordered as they slapped the large man on the back who was the same person who had prevented Nitara and Azaco from flying away.

"Fine…" Konga replied reluctantly, sounding clearly tired and upset with current circumstances.

Since being forced into the Kahn Guard, Konga had tried his best to steer clear from fighting for the group but considering his size it was hard to do. When it came to this battle, he had no choice but to participate. Reiko refused to let anybody arm him as both a punishment and a security measure. Besides, Konga was a very strong grappler. However, seeing the bladed weapons of the two Vampires, he chose to stomp on a creaky floorboard and rip it out before splitting it into two long thin pieces. Wielding the two pieces of wood reminded himself of his old drumsticks that he carried at all times back when he lived in Makeba long ago.

Konga slowly approached the two Vampires whilst the other soldiers slowly began to enclose their circle. The bell in the centre still slowly beat against the metal, creating a quiet chime which paired with the circle they were surrounded in reminded Konga of the Drum Arena. He was experienced with facing two opponents at once, for he would face anybody who fought to a tie in the Drum Arena. Azaco had grown impatient with Konga's slow walking and after seeing him eyeing his sister, he snapped.

"Let's get this over with!" Azaco screamed as he dove at Konga.

Konga sighed before batting Azaco aside with the plank he carried. Nitara then ran over, swinging her kama around repeatedly with Konga using his halved planks to block each strike. Nitara then struck at one half of the plank so hard that her kama pierced the wood, allowing her to begin twisting the piece of the plank which forced Konga to release his grip. He still kept hold of the other half of the split plank, however, and he bashed it over Nitara's head which left a nasty gash that not even her velvet red headband could conceal. The clubbing blow was followed by another, causing Nitara to feel light headed as her grip weakened which made her drop her kama. Konga then went for a third blow, but Nitara was still aware enough to expect another attempt. She swerved her head past the incoming plank before sinking her fangs into Konga's wrist which made him immediately drop his plank and cry out in pain.

"Let me go!" Konga shouted angrily, growing frustrated from both the fight itself and what he was unwillingly fighting for.

Realising Nitara wouldn't budge, Konga used his free arm to scoop her up by the legs as he began to recklessly run forth. Nitara pulled his helmet off and began laying down hammer fists on his bald head as Konga hoisted her onto his shoulder in an awkward position as his arm was pushed back due to Nitara's teeth still being latched onto it. Konga finally reached where he was aiming towards in his sudden sprint. He rammed Nitara through the wooden railings surrounding the centre of the bell tower as the two fighters crashed through the wood with splinters coating them before they collided with the large bell in the middle of the area.

"Sis!" Azaco cried out as he saw the two fall to the floor beneath them.

"Now let's kill this one!" One soldier ordered, the cowardly warriors finally choosing to get involved only now.

Azaco let out a raging screech as he threw his dagger which stabbed the soldier who was barking orders between the eyes. He then ran over to Nitara's kame pair and began frantically swinging them around his area, pushing back any soldier who tried to get close. Nitara had taught Azaco some basic uses of the kama, but he was hardly an expert. Azaco managed to latch the pair of kama behind the shoulders of one soldier, dragging them forth only to unironically be stabbed himself by a dagger the soldier carried. Azaco immediately collapsed to his knees from the stab wound, still holding onto one kama and pulling it with enough force that it tore through the dagger wielders arm, severing it and leaving them to bleed out with their blood dripping through the crevices of the old and now damaged planks.

"No!" One soldier yelled as they ran over and began to violently kick Azaco whilst he was off his feet. "You'll be the next soldier to bleed out!"

"Do your worst…" Azaco encouraged him.

The soldier yelled as he booted Azaco in the face with the Vampire beginning to crawl away. He ended up backing up against the low wall that surrounded the top floor of the bell tower, which acted as a safety measure from the open edge. Two soldiers then approached from either side of Azaco, one kicking the remaining kama he held aside as the other picked him up and pressed his back against the stone railing.

"Throw him over the balustrade!" The soldier who had been kicking Azaco demanded of his allies.

They complied, both grabbing a leg and tipping him over the railing. The intention was of course for the demise of Azaco as the fall below was too great to survive landing. However, the soldiers completely forgot one crucial detail about the rare Vampire species…

"I have wings, you dolts."

The soldiers turned around to see Azaco flapping his wings as he grabbed both soldiers who threw him off and returned the favour. He then perched on the stone railing, grinning at the remaining soldiers. The one who had assumed a commanding position due to their lack of actual commanders ran at Azaco recklessly. He swung his knife which Azaco hopped over whilst still standing on the stone railing. He landed one foot down on the soldier's arm, snapping it down on the stone. Azaco then wrapped his legs around the soldier's head and yanked his broken arm forth which pulled the pair over the edge. The soldier fell to his death, whilst Azaco briefly took flight to swoop on through the hole made by the Dragonfly in the wall on the floor below in order to get back inside the bell tower and assist his sister.

There Azaco found Nitara and Konga were still struggling to their feet after their nasty collision and fall, neither at all eager to continue their fight. Azaco ran over to help Nitara up with the two siblings embracing. Their hug was soon interrupted by the loud sounds of Colossus. Nitara and Azaco peered through the large hole in the wall and saw the statue walking backwards towards the bell tower, seemingly trying to evade something. Nitara pulled her headband up and squinted as she saw two familiar looking women beside the feet of Colossus. She gasped once she realised.

"Krimson and Skarlet!" Nitara cried out. "We have to help them!"

"I'd rather just fight more of those soldiers," Azaco sighed at the sight of the live statue, not even phased by the chaos of this conflict anymore. "But if it's for the family then let's go, right?"

"We need our weapons," Nitara realised.

"Top floor," Azaco explained where they'd be as he pointed to the bell. "Latch onto this and follow me."

Nitara nodded as the two Vampires ran over to the centre and clung onto the bell. Konga could've stopped him, but he chose not to and pretended he was still too hurt to stand. The bell rang again from this, sending a colony of purple coloured Outworld native bats from outside the bell, fed up with the disruptions. Nitara and Azaco flew up alongside them and quickly soared past the remaining soldiers on the top floor as they retrieved their scattered weapons before leaping off the balcony to head directly to Colossus.

The Vampires were fortunate with their timing, having left just as Reiko himself alongside many of his followers had just entered the bell tower through the main entrance at the bottom floor with Reiko having used the Wrath Hammer to smash through the locked doors. He saw this as a fine alternative to his goal of taking over the Fortress in order to begin a defence against anybody who still challenged his rule. The plan was for his allies to regroup inside, and help reduce the threat that pursued them.

"Talon!" Reiko called for. "Create a spell lock where the door was!"

"Would've been much easier if you hadn't broken it down…" Talon muttered as she began casting her magic.

"Epos!" Reiko called for Talon's lover.

"General?" Epos saluted him as she awaited orders.

"Leave now and head to the Fortress on the mountain," Reiko instructed. "I need assurance that everything elsewhere in the city is under control."

"You can count on me," Epos stated as she prepared to leave.

"See you soon, my love," Talon said goodbye as Epos kissed her on the lips whilst she continued casting her magic.

"Go now!" Reiko ordered. "Before the spell is cast!"

"Understood!" Epos complied and quickly ran away to perform her duties.

Such a spell when cast created a forcefield of dark magic that couldn't be touched without suffering severe burns. Soon came the members of Mileena's Union who had been chasing after the Kann Guard. An infuriated Kintaro pushed through the crowd that stood by the magic forcefield, and laughed at it. He turned to the wall beside it and used all four fists to punch through as he and his allies flooded inside.

"It's time to surrender, Reiko!" Mileena told him as he began to scurry up the stairway that was in the open space with the stairs leading to one of the upper floors used as watchtowers. "If you do, then we can save us from violence and death!"

"What a pathetic offer!" Reiko scoffed. "Why would I-"

"You're the one running away!" Tanya interrupted him, showing no interest in hearing his nonsense. "You're a mad man, but we know you actually value your followers!"

"You suggest that us running was an act of cowardness?" Reiko asked.

"We know it is!" Tanya yelled. "Now put your pride aside and have you and your blind followers turn themselves in!"

"Running was a defensive strategy," Reiko clarified. "It worked. I successfully saved these fine soldiers from you murderers."

"Your hypocrisy is astounding," Katrina commented whilst Kintaro began cracking his fur covered knuckles.

"Such a strange day," Motaro spoke up. "I find myself agreeing with the Shokan once more."

"I don't care about you, traitor," Reiko pointed at Motaro who exhaled loudly at his comment. "I'm amused by how quick you all are to welcome the likes of the Centaur into your Union… whilst the likes of me are excluded from such a privilege."

"We don't have time to cover all the crimes you have committed!" Mileena yelled as she drew her sai. "Final chance to surrender."

Reiko turned left and right, looking at his Kahn Guard soldiers who joined him on the stairway. They began to laugh at the opportunity to give up, willing to see through this attack until it either succeeded or they died. Soon joined the other soldiers who were in the bell tower from the crashed Dragonfly, ready to help fight against their enemies.

"We'll do no such thing!" Reiko declared.

Mileena rolled her eyes as she threw her sai into the air. She teleported to them, grabbing them as she went to land on top of Reiko with them. Talon intercepted, however, using her dark magic to blast her into a wall which she clung onto by stabbing her sai into the wood. Tanya and Nyah teamed up and tried to begin the push upstairs where all Reiko's nearby allies stood. They tried but Katrina shortly pulled them back as archers at the top of the stairway going around the cuboid shape of the bell tower's empty bottom floor began firing shots at them. Motaro fired a spherical energy projectile from his armoured tail which blasted several of the archers off the stairway, falling either to their demise or being blown through the wall against the stairs that the blast knocked them through.

With the lack of space on the bottom floor, Alyssa instructed her fellow Hail to scale the bell tower but only if they were comfortable to do so as well as able. Many were injured and being sent over to the combat medics who had arrived alongside more city guards as they surrounded the bell tower. Alyssa peeked through the large hole serving as an entrance point, and spotted Talon above casting a spell of some sort. Alyssa used her powers to send a blast of water to propel her into the air as she flew at Talon who used her quick reflexes to cancel her cast and instead fly at Alyssa.

"You aren't getting away this time, girl!" Talon yelled as she slammed Alyssa through the wall as the two flew out into the city.

Alyssa began punching Talon's sides, trying to force her into releasing her, but she continued to soar through the air as she tried to find a suitable dropping point. Alyssa had one last idea and used her Hydromancy to form a whip made of water which she controlled in her hands before cracking the water whip over Talon's back which made her yelp from the sudden painful smack.

"You're not the first woman to do that to me," Talon remarked.

Alyssa ignored Talon's taunts and wrapped the whip around Talon's neck with her tightening the water as it began to strangle Talon. Alyssa worsened her state by making the water expand into a bubble that encased Talon's head as she began drowning whilst in the air. Talon finally began flying down, unsure exactly where they'd land due to the bubble obscuring her vision. She ended up crashing through an upstairs window of a home on one of the many streets in Sabar City.

Talon and Alyssa found themselves inside an unoccupied bedroom. Talon immediately used her magic to send a blast which blew a hole in the wall but also threw down a nearby bookshelf. Alyssa rolled back as the furniture crashed down on the carpeted floor. Alyssa used the fallen bookshelf as a step up as she dove at Talon, landing a diving axe handle strike attack which knocked Talon into the windowsill. The Shadow Priest placed a hand on the windowsill, grabbing a large glass shard from the broken window which she violently slashed Alyssa with in her face. Alyssa staggered back, clutching her wound as she felt her vision partially go away. Talon then shoved Alyssa over the bookshelf, causing her to throw her arms in the air which revealed the wound left on her face.

"I got you good with that," Talon said with a smirk.

"Sure felt like it," Alyssa commented.

Alyssa sat up and something dropped on the carpet immediately caught her eye. Lying there on a stain of her own blood was the glass shard used to cut her face. The glass shard had dug deep into her face, getting momentarily stuck in her eyeball as it was dragged along. Going alongside where the eye was cut was a large gash going sideways from her cheek to the side of her nose. Alyssa screamed in horror at the realisation that her eye had been caught with Talon's attack and she had thus lost vision in her left eye.

"Use some of this glass to make a new one," Talon mockingly suggested.

Alyssa yelled in anger, unleashing a pair of beams of water from her eyes which blasted Talon through the hole she had made. This led into a small bathroom. Talon used the sink to pull herself but Alyssa quickly caught up to her and began ruthlessly slamming her face against the Outworld Steel made sink. Talon elbowed Alyssa in the nose to try to force her off but she leapt onto her back. Their combined weight caused them to break the sink, crashing to the clean white tiled floor. Talon attempted to crawl out the bathroom, but Alyssa tugged on her hair and began to shower her in water. The cold and wet liquid was uncomfortable for Talon, but she obviously found it to be a peculiar strategy. She had no idea what was next to come.

When wet, hair becomes far weaker than dry hair, being more susceptible to breakage and damage from just about anything. Alyssa used this to her advantage as she began pulling on a large chunk of her purple dyed hair. She quickly managed to tug off the chunk of hair which brought immense pain. Alyssa had pulled so hard due to her enraged state that she fell back after ripping it off, smacking the back of her head off a cabinet that had been placed against the bathroom wall.

"Seriously?!" Talon complained once the rush of pain from the ripped hair had died down. "My wife's going to be very upset about this!"

Alyssa attempted to throw a punch whilst she was complaining, but she had become rather dazed in the process. Talon managed to duck the incoming strike and then grab a second fist, using dark magic to begin burning her hand as she pushed Alyssa up against the cabinet and used her other hand to start bashing her head off the wooden doors. Talon threw the door open, smacking in Alyssa's face and causing her to stumble back into the bathtub. Alyssa shot another beam of water but Talon was prepared this time, creating a magic shield to deflect the water which began to fill up the bath.

Talon grabbed Alyssa by the arms, seemingly about to drag her out the path only to pull her into a knee strike. Talon began to cast another spell, but Alyssa once again was ready to prevent this despite her stunned and heavily injured state. Alyssa sprung onto the rim off the bathtub before leaping off, wrapping an arm around Talon's head as she came down to deliver a headlock driver which spiked the top of Talon's head off the rim as she rolled into the bath.

"Damnit!" Talon yelled angrily. "What are you going to do now, girl, try to drown me again?"

"I do not intend to kill you," Alyssa clarified. "That was just to make you stop."

"Well I do intend to kill you," Talon said bluntly.

"I figured that out considering what you did to my fellow ninjas!" Alyssa remarked with her fists clenched. "I expected you to be somewhat remorseful after pretending to work alongside the Union for nearly two decades!"

"What I did saved an innocent warrior!" Talon defended herself as she pulled herself out of the water.

"Innocent?!" Alyssa repeated.

"Hideyoshi is just fighting for a cause he is rightfully passionate about," Talon elaborated. "Just like everybody else here."

"You can't be serious…"

"It's not his fault for just being stronger than most!" Talon shouted. "He kills for a cause, you kill for another!"

"I am not a killer!"

"How many in your precious Union can say the same?"

"Defending this realm can often call for… extreme measures," Alyssa replied. "They wouldn't have to get blood on their hands were it not for attackers like you!"

Talon rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Well?!" Alyssa asked, expecting a rebuttal.

"Well I think we should get back to killing each other," Talon decided.

"I don't kill," Alyssa reminded her. "I won't even kill you, though I probably should."

"You should've," Talon agreed. "You've lost your chance now though!"

Without warning, Talon dropped through a portal and emerged behind Alyssa. She wrapped her arms around Alyssa's waist before throwing her into the hallway, smashing her through the closed bathroom door. She headed through another portal to join her enemy in the narrow area. Alyssa immediately elbowed her in the jaw before pressing her against the wall. Talon ducked an incoming punch, causing Alyssa to painfully slam her knuckles against the brick wall. Talon then began punching Alyssa in the gut, now pushing her against a wall. Alyssa quickly shoved her back into the wall and the two kicked each other in the face in unison. Alyssa gestured with her hand for Talon to come forth, prompting her to attempt the kick again. This time Alyssa leapt into the air and caught Talon extended leg between her own. She landed, violently twisting Talon's leg as the two women fell to the floor with Alysss having the Shadow Priest in a leglock submission manoeuvre.

Talon managed to escape the hold by sending a blast of dark magic at the ceiling, causing a large amount of rubble to soon collapse from the explosion above caused by the magical blast. Alyssa reached up, grabbing a windowsill of the only window in the hallway as she tried to get up. Talon kicked her hand as it reached out before grabbing her. She took flight once more, smashing the pair of them through the window before them. However, Talon's leg was caught on the sharp glass as she flew through, causing her to lose her flight momentarily which led to both women crashing onto the ground in the back garden. Alyssa groaned in pain as Talon fought through it to crawl over to Alyssa. She put her hands around her neck and began strangling her, dark magic surrounding her hands to enhance the danger of Talon's efforts to kill Alyssa.

Suddenly, Talon heard a noise far out into the garden. She continued to strangle Alyssa but kept her eyes peeled. She saw a decently sized tree in the background and then saw it being moved. She then saw a scaly red figure emerge from some hedges with their arms wrapped around the tree. The creature tore the tree from its roots and hurled it at Talon. She teleported in the speed of a blink, emerging in front of the creature. The creature spotted Talon's cut leg from her failed attempt to take flight and immediately pounced on top of her. The creature sunk their teeth into the wound and dragged her by the leg, smashing through the fence at the back of the garden as they dragged the Shadow Priest to someone. Alyssa had no clue what had just happened, but she decided it was best to begin heading back to her allies as quickly as possible.

"Drop her," instructed a woman leant against the fence beside the panel that the creature had just knocked down with ease. "Good boy."

The creature complied before getting back to their feet, the woman petting them. The woman wore a black leather jacket over a red shirt with a hood obscuring her face Talon tried to stand up but her injured leg caused her to fall into the woman, being held up by one of her arms as her other was focused on holding a lit cigarette up to her own mouth.

"Who are you?" Talon asked.

"I think you know the answer to that…" The mysterious woman replied as she put out her cigarette using the scaled creature's bicep to do so which made him growl. She dropped the cigarette and pulled down her hood, revealing her identity to Talon. "I know I ain't aged as well as you, but surely you recognise me, right?"

"Dracona!" Talon yelled her name.

"Been a while, hm?" Dracona spoke calmly. "I can't even recall how many hundreds of years it has been since I left the Shadow Priests."

"Coming up to twenty hundred years now," Talon calculated.

"So you do still care about me," Dracona sounded surprised that she had partially kept track of such a statistic.

"Hardly," Talon clarified. "I moved on from you quickly, Drac," she stated. "Met another woman in the Kahn Guard. We're married now."

"Good for you," Dracona applauded her. "Glad we've taken that break up much better than others."

"I really don't care enough to reminisce with you," Talon told her bluntly, which she shrugged off.

"One of my current colleagues is still mad about this ex she has," Dracona continued on with her story. "Won't shut up about her, it's always 'bitch this' and 'bitch that'."

"What's a bitch?"

"Oh right, I've got an Earthrealmer tongue now," Dracona realised. "A bitch is… well… it's kinda like you."

"And I am?"

"Don't worry about it," Dracona dismissed Talon's question.

"Why are you here?"

"Confidential."

"Tell me!" Talon demanded as she clutched Dracona's jacket.

"Hybrid here will happily bite your face off if you threaten me, Tal," Dracona warned as she pointed to the creature who had dragged Talon away to her in the first place.

"Fine," Talon put her hands in the air as she leant against the fence panel with Dracona to keep her balance. "What is that thing anyway?"

"Hybrid is an Earthrealm test subject injected with a DNA sample that is a mixture of Saurian and Dragon," Dracona detailed which made Talon raise an eyebrow.

"Earthrealm technology really is that advanced?"

"It's more so the work of the group I'm with," she clarified.

"And that group is?"

"Confidential," Dracona repeated. "If you're interested in joining then maybe I could offer more intel."

"I'm fine sticking with the Kahn Guard," Talon replied. "Speaking of… I need to help them."

"So it is your group who have started this attack?" Dracona noted. "I must say, this is a poor use of brute force."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean your attack will fail," Dracona said bluntly. "There's too much ongoing chaos for these efforts to be worthwhile."

"What would you suggest?"

"I suggest you get your wife, pack your things, and leave this realm," Dracona told her. "Find me at this address in Earthrealm," she instructed as she handed Talon a card with such details written on it. "Then I'll introduce you to a true leader."

"I'm not interested," Talon stated.

"It's better than being a slave to the Shadow Priests!" Dracona yelled as Talon began limping away.

"I lead the Shadow Priests!" Talon corrected her.

"Then where are they!?"

"I…" Talon paused. "I don't know…"

"This crap is pathetic," Dracona concluded. "Make sure to keep hold of that address in case you change your mind."

"Fine," Talon agreed. "I won't though."

"You'll have to start looking for new work anyway by the end of this shitshow," Dracona warned. "Let's get going, Hybrid," she said as she summoned a portal. "Chow, Talon."

Talon didn't reply and continued to walk off whilst Dracona returned to her allies in Earthrealm… the Red Dragon clan.

The conflict within the bell tower at Sabar City was worsening, as the battle became more intense. With Talon out of the way, Mileena repeated her teleporting sai trick in order to reach Reiko, immediately attacking him with rapid sai swings which Reiko tried his best to block using the handle of the Wrath Hammer, but still suffered a few cuts. The rest of the Kahn Guard soldiers on the stairway had their attention drawn to the Outworld Empress, immediately preparing to defend their leader, but so were Mileena's Union.

Tanya and Nyah had failed to disrupt the organised line of Kahn Guard soldiers covering the entire stairway, being pushed back by a large warrior carrying a massive shield guarding their entire body, acting as a locked gate at the start of the stairs. Kintaro began growing impatient and irritated by the arrows being shot down the stairs, leaving those who entered the tower sitting ducks. Kintaro had enough, forming several fireballs and hurling them at the stairs, blasting many over the wooden railing, with the wood quickly being ignited.

"Not the wisest move, friend," Goro commented as he limped inside, Motaro rolling his clear eyes as he stood beside them.

"Where's Alyssa and Rain when you need them?!" Tanya cried out. "The fire is spreading fast!"

"It's gotten them in a panic!" Kintaro pointed out in defence of his decision.

Katrina pushed through the crowd and slammed a furry foot on the planks, unleashing a wave of creeping up the stairway, putting out some of the flames and creating a slippery slide for those still on the stairs, causing them to tumble downstairs and into the muscular grasp of an angry Tigrar Shokan. The fire had already spread beyond the stairs though, the bright roaring orange flames climbing the tower as Motaro shot an energy ball which exploded the middle portion of the stairs, halving the Kahn Guard soldiers.

The soldiers who had fallen below were quickly thrown outside and dealt with accordingly, many being forced to surrender as the gathering of forces on the side of the Union surrounded the burning bell tower. The other half of the Kahn Guard soldiers rushed upstairs, hoping Talon would return to portal them away before the fire caught up to them. Mileena herself anticipated on catching Reiko before the flames did though, using her sai to climb the side of the wall she had latched onto several minutes ago, finally finding a way to begin climbing up as if it were hiking in the Lei Chen Mountains. She then leapt over to the stairway railing, stabbing and dragging one soldier over as she vaulted the railing. She was right at the top of the stairway and she ran up to enter the spacious upper floor of the bell tower that was where the great bell in the centre stood. Surrounding this area were other bells ranging from gongs to various forms of hallowed cup shaped bells much like the massive central one. The group of Kahn Guard members gathered on this floor as Mileena reached it. Reiko and the Empress glared at each other, Reiko immediately readying the Wrath Hammer. Many of his allies stood behind Reiko, whilst all of Mileena's were occupied elsewhere. Or so she thought…

Kintaro and Katrina used all their strength to leap as high as they could, managing to smash their heads through the floorboards, causing a couple of soldiers to fall down the newly made gap whilst others staggered back and caused the soldiers formation to crumble apart. Held in the arms of the pair of Tigrar Shokan were Tanya and Nyah, leaving the Centaurs and other Shokan led by an injured but still determined Goro on the bottom floor fighting the other Kahn Guard soldiers. Tanya sprung off Kintaro whilst Katrina carefully placed Nyah down. Tanya spun into her human fire drill manoeuvre, aiming directly at Reiko.

An explosion of embers obscured the result of this drill blast. Emerging from the blast, however, was Reiko still standing as Tanya's body laid on the Wrath Hammer, having dove into the solid enchanted metal which made her immediately think she had broken a rib or two. Reiko quickly thrusted the Wrath Hammer upwards, launching Tanya into the air where she was caught out of the air by a swinging blow of the Wrath Hammer. Tanya was about to be sent flying, but Reiko latched onto the back of her black and yellow choker, a surprisingly fashionable birthday gift from Daahraan that was now being used against her. Reiko dragged Tanya back, feeling as though her neck almost snapped from the sudden whiplash. She fought off Reiko's grasp by smashing her elbow into his face, and then following up with the same motion but mirrored. Reiko took a couple paces back as Tanya grabbed her Kobu Jutsu which she kept clipped to the sash she had around her waist like a belt. She repeated the elbow smash motion, except now with a pair of the pointy blades from the Kobu Jutsu which she used to slash Reiko in the face twice. Reiko stumbled back as several soldiers began to circle Tanya. She then did another rapid spinning motion, much like her drill cannon except this time she remained standing. As she spun with fire surrounding her, it formed a tornado-like burst of fire that protected her as she spun around into the soldiers. She was stopped quickly when Reiko threw the Wrath Hammer into the flaming tornado.

"Stay away from my daughter!" Nyah yelled as she came rushing over to protect Tanya, having become separated by a large group of soldiers loyally and dutifully protecting Reiko.

Nyah slid under the legs of one soldier and used her naginata like a pole to spring over another row of soldiers. She landed on top of Reiko's head, wrapping her legs around him and performing a headscissors takedown, causing him to stumble into a flurry of flaming kicks from Tanya as she recovered from the Wrath Hammer that was recklessly hurled at her. Reiko kipped up and summoned the Wrath Hammer back in his hands. Konga, who had fallen onto this level during his altercation with Nitara, reluctantly protected Reiko by standing in the way of Tanya and Nyah.

"Sorry," Konga apologised, "but I can't let you attack him anymore."

"Fine," Tanya muttered. "Let's get this over with.

Tanya and Nyah shared a nod before charging at Konga who tried to overpower them with his bigger size and strength physically. Kintaro and Katrina remained focused on tearing apart Reiko's loyalist soldiers, the powerful Shokans being too much for any regular footsoldier to handle. This left Mileena who glared at Reiko who met her gaze. After a brief moment staring daggers into each other, Mileena sprinted as fast as she could after Reiko. She leapt forward like a leopard before rolling along the floor. Using the special magic of her enchanted sai, Mileena began rolling along the floorboards, crashing into Reiko and toppling him over like a bowling pin. Mileena quickly got on top of her rival, attempting to stab her sai into him, but Reiko used his own energy magic to send forth a beam of red energy that passed through Mileena. She raised an eyebrow, puzzled by what had happened. The brief moment of hesitation allowed Reiko to transfer his body over to where the harmless mist of angry red energy was, a weak but still effective method of short teleportation.

Reiko dropped elbow first onto Mileena's back before attempting to crush her skull with the Wrath Hammer. Mileena rolled aside, causing the heavy melee to splinter a couple floorboards with ease as they dropped into the chaotic battle below. Reiko gasped as he noticed his forces below being overwhelmed by the Shokan and Centaur alliance. He also grew more concerned about the fire that continued to climb the bell tower. This distracted Reiko and left him vulnerable to being pierced in the back by Mileena's sai. Reiko reached behind him, grabbing Mileena by her left leg and hurling her into the air. Mileena clung into the centre bell which began to ring from the sudden collision. The ringing grew louder as Reiko angrily smashed the Wrath Hammer against it, shaking the instrument back and forth. Mileena climbed on top of the bell before stepping onto the top floor as the Wrath Hammers damaged began to drag the bell downwards. Reiko turned around, seeing Katrina and Kintaro defeating the last of his allies except for Konga. He ran back but soon found himself pinned against a wall.

"Nowhere to run, fool," Kintaro told him as he began cracking his knuckles.

"Do not underestimate me, feline," Reiko said with a grin as he suddenly slammed the Wrath Hammer into the wall. It shattered a hole with a single blow.

"Jump," Kintaro dared him. "You won't land on your feet."

"As angry as a TaiGore," Reiko quipped. "Goodbye."

Reiko threw the Wrath Hammer at the centre bell one last time before leaping off the burning bell tower. Kintaro was shocked that he actually did such a thing and immediately began to run over to witness his fall. Suddenly, the bell collapsed due to the repeated Wrath Hammer blows and it landed on top of Kintaro as he approached, crushing him. The bell was so big and heavy that not even Kintaro had the strength to lift it off his battle worn body.

"Kintaro!" Katrina cried out.

"Do not worry about me, my friend," Kintaro attempted to reassure her. "Focus on stopping those flames!"

Katrina peered down the top of the stairway where the fire continued to creep upwards, about to reach the floor they stood on. Katrina began freezing the floor boards they stood on. Despite the inconvenience such a slippery surface would cause, Katrina believed it would give them the time they needed to find an escape. Fortunately for them, their escape had arrived. Flying onto the balcony at the top floor was Asgaarth and Ermac with the Kytinn couple of D'Vorah and A'Vital who were loudly flapping their fragile wings behind them. Also behind them was an Avien flock checking the skies in case of any more Dragonflies.

"We presumed you required our assistance," Ermac commented as Mileena greeted them all.

"This One has a warning for the Empress," D'Vorah declared as she hovered past Ermac and Asgaarth.

"I'm sorry," Mileena apologised as she peered over the ledge. "It's Reiko! I need to catch him!"

"Use me as your wings, Empress," Asgaarth offered.

"No," Mileena declined. "The floor below has some of our friends who will need your wings to fly them away before this tower collapses!"

"Understood!" Asgaarth shouted as he saluted Mileena.

"How will This One be able to lift a Shokan?" A'Vital muttered as they began climbing down to the floor below.

"We'll do it together!" Asgaarth assured her.

Mileena continued to watch Reiko's descent, seeing him summon the Wrath Hammer in midair. He even spotted Mileena from above, grinning menacingly at her. Mileena knew he had a trick up his sleeve and she was correct. Reiko began spinning as he finally began nearing the ground. Mileena shot her sai energy replica projectiles directly at him, but Reiko managed to use the momentum from spinning with the Wrath Hammer to have the weapon bounce off the ground and propel him in the air. Mileena frantically lobbed her actual sai in the air, teleporting to them as she soaring downwards in pursuit of her nemesis. Reiko kept repeating his spinning bounce technique through the streets of Sabar City, racing in the direction leading to Mileena's Fortress. As she made her own descent to the ground, Mileena squinted her eyes and lined up a sai throw. The pair managed to impale into the back of Reiko, throwing him off of his momentum. He surrounded himself with his inner energy to shield him from the impact of finally touching the ground as he collapsed onto the tiled roof of an antique store. Mileena then teleported directly to him as the sai were still planted within his back.

"Your magic is false!" Reiko declared as he smacked Mileena off of him and kicked him down the slanted roof which she now clung to the edge of. He scoffed as he plucked the sai out his back and examined them. "Enchanted weaponry as I expected," he concluded. "You are nothing without these gifts from Shao Kahn!"

"Amusing how you say that whilst continuing to carry his Wrath Hammer," Mileena countered as she pulled herself up only to immediately be whacked by the Wrath Hammer and thrown onto a lower flat roof of a general goods store.

"I embrace Shao Kahn's powers," Reiko stated.

"I noticed," Mileena rolled her eyes.

"Yet you deny them," Reiko pointed out as he tossed her sai aside before leaping over to the other rooftop, attempting to crush Mileena with a Wrath Hammer smash.

Mileena teleported to wherever Reiko had thrown her sai, causing Reiko to crash through the roof and fall into the small store which fortunately all the customers and staff had abandoned due to such warnings of this awful invasion. Reiko looked up at the massive hole he had made in the ceiling and saw Mileena leap from the air in her signature ball roll as she crashed down on Reiko like a cannonball. Reiko used the Wrath Hammer to prop himself up but Mileena wrapped her legs around him and threw him to the ground. Reiko reached out for the Wrath Hammer again, but Mileena responded by stabbing him in the hand with a sai. Reiko quickly punched her aside with an energy charged fist. He slowly stood up but Mileena immediately teleported to the sai that was stuck in his hand, digging it further into his flesh. Reiko began repeatedly headbutting his adversary in an attempt to get her off of him. It succeeded and allowed him to follow up with a shoulder bash which launched Mileena into a shopping isle, a shelf collapsing onto her head as she leant against a stand. Reiko grabbed the Wrath Hammer and charged forth. Mileena rolled out the way just in time, Reiko shattering the contents of the isle into hundreds of pieces with one heavy blow. Mileena ran in from behind and sweeped Reiko by the legs. Reiko used his energy to quickly pull himself into the air to counter the attempt to ground him, performing a flip kick in the air which clipped Mileena's jaw.

"At least you're trying," Reiko remarked as he landed, clenching his fist to apply pressure to his injured hand.

Mileena growled at Reiko as he leapt up and threw the Wrath Hammer before quickly disappearing into a circle of his own energy swirling in the air. He then emerged behind Mileena and wrapped his arms around her, holding her still as the Wrath Hammer smashed her in the gut. Reiko then continued with a back suplex, dropping Mileena on the back of her neck.

"Give up," Reiko demanded. "I wouldn't recommend continuing to irritate me."

"I… never give up…" Mileena said weakly as she tried to push herself up.

"At least we have that in common," Reiko stated as he began lining up his next Wrath Hammer shot mockingly, as if he were playing baseball or cricket.

As soon as Mileena stuck her head up, she immediately met the Wrath Hammer again as it was swung at her head. She ducked and scurried between Reiko's legs. Using all her energy, she got up and hit a spinning heel kick to the back of Reiko's head. She threw one sai away whilst beginning to stab rapidly into Reiko's back with the other. Reiko attempted to hit a spinning elbow smash, but Mileena teleported to the other side of Reiko and landed on top of him, biting his left ear.

"Get off me, feral beast!" Reiko yelled as he wrapped his arms around her again, this time to force a bear hug submission where she squeezed on her back, but Mileena stayed latched onto his ear with her sharp Tarkatan teeth.

Reiko called for his Wrath Hammer and slammed it into Mileena's back. Mileena yelled out in pain, releasing her hold of Reiko's ear. Worst of all, Reiko still had a hold of Mileena. Smirking as he realised this, Reiko immediately took off and tackled her through the shop door, kicking her down the stairway and onto the path of the street. Reiko then grabbed the pair of sai he found dropped in the store and hurled them at Mileena who rolled out their way. He didn't want her sneaking up on him with her teleportation tactics again. Mileena picked her weapons up and allowed them to cover her body with the enchanted magic. She once more got into her ball and rolled forth smashing through a window in the store with glass shards being launched at Reiko, giving him several cuts. Mileena then broke out of her ball position, slamming her sai down over Reiko. Fighting through the pain, Reiko thrusted the handle of the Wrath Hammer forth which caught Mileena in the throat. Outworld's Empress staggered back before being shoulder bashed back outside, tripping over again. Reiko grunted as he stepped outside, the focused seriousness that made him such a strong General in the first place.

"You won't slip from my grasp a second time," Reiko made a promise to himself.

"My promise is the same," Mileena replied as she stood up again. "Perhaps I was too generous to have let you leave the Coliseum with your blindly loyal goons all those years ago."

"It was quite foolish of the new ruler to do that," Reiko agreed as he looked down at the Wrath Hammer. "Not a mistake he'd make."

"Every decision Shao Kahn's made since choosing to be a tyrant has been a mistake!"

"Does that include commissioning you?" Reiko asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I…" Mileena was taken aback. She expected Reiko's face to distort into the sadistic grin she had become accustomed to… but his face remained stoic as he glared at her. "How do you even know about that?!"

"From talking to Tsung obviously," Reiko clarified. "The old man is a useless schemer, however, he clearly had a knack for creativity in those Flesh Pits of his."

"That's one way of putting it," Mileena muttered.

"I hadn't realised it was a secret," Reiko said in reference to her origins.

"It's not!" Mileena immediately denied Reiko's accusation. "I'm comfortable with what I am and I am proud of the rest of my Flesh Pits family!"

"I didn't ask," Reiko said bluntly as he dropped the Wrath Hammer and began stretching out of boredom. "Not sure why you sounded so surprised is all."

"Well it's not like you'd attend any of my speeches where I bring it up…"

"You're right," Reiko confirmed. "My spies gave me a good briefing of them all," he explained. "They were versions without all of your false hero babbling!"

"Whatever you say."

"What I say is that you should owe everything to Shao Kahn!" Reiko raised his voice.

"Once more we go back to disagreeing with each other, Reiko," Mileena pointed out.

"Clearly," Reiko said as he finished stretching and picked up the Wrath Hammer again. "That was an extremely uneventful talk, Mileena, I need to get back to taking the throne that you stole!"

"I have nothing else to say too," Mileena related as she pointed her sai at Reiko. "You're clearly beyond reasoning."

"Actions do speak louder than words, 'Empress'," Reiko lectured her. "I beg of you, please show me some more action."

"Gladly."

Mileena threw her sai into the air again. Expecting another teleportation attempt, Reiko leapt in the air and met her as she teleported to her enchanted weapons. Reiko caught her by the throat and chokeslammed her as they both came crashing down. Keeping his hand around Mileena's throat, Reiko threw her down the street. He dashed after her and delivered a running headbutt, using Shao Kahn's helmet for extra damage and protection. Mileena was launched into a lamppost at the end of the street, the lantern on top of the pole being put out from the collision. Two turns were beside Mileena as Reiko went swinging in with the Wrath Hammer. Mileena scurried to the right, the Wrath Hammer smashing the lamppost into the air. Reiko threw the Wrath Hammer in front of Mileena as she tried to get into a safer position. She turned around to see Reiko running along the walls of several buildings in the street. Bouncing off with a front flip, Reiko landed behind Mileena. Reiko slammed her into the ground and kicked her up into the air. He ran up a wall again to meet Mileena in the air, wrapping his arms around her as an energy blast propelled them higher into the air. Reiko threw Mileena to the ground, almost breaking her back with the vicious landing. He then teleported beneath her, hoisting her on his shoulders before performing a burning hammer grapple move, dropping Mileena on the concrete path.

"I am profoundly disappointed," Reiko commented as he went to grab the Wrath Hammer, but he paused as he heard movement. "Oh, who am I kidding?" He asked himself. "You'll just counter it… again."

"That hammer's too heavy for you," Mileena quipped as she tried to stand despite the excruciating pain her body was in.

Reiko threw the Wrath Hammer aside. Unarmed, Reiko approached Mileena. He kicked her down in the middle of her attempts to stand. Reiko then performed a front flip senton, landing his body on Mileena's. He wrapped his arms around Mileena's legs as he stood up, hoisting her legs over his shoulders. Reiko then pulled down on her legs, thrusting her down onto the concrete back first with a brutal slam. Reiko approached her only to be tripped up by a drop toehold. Reiko cut his lip on the unexpected landing. Mileena rolled backwards and transitioned into a standing position before sprinting over to Reiko as he got up, stomping on his back. Mileena attempted to stab Reiko with her sais in a desperate effort to put an end to his chaos. Reiko turned around and grabbed one of her wrists, snapping it to one side and forcing the sai she was holding to stab the forearm of her other arm.

Reiko dashed back and revealed a set of shurikens which he began rapidly throwing at the Outworld Empress. One sliced Mileena's cheek, leaving another deep cut. She leapt over the second and used a sai to catch the third by fitting the blade through the centre hole of the shurikens. Spinning her sai in a twirling motion, she spun the shuriken off the blade and sent it hurling wildly towards Reiko. He summoned the Wrath Hammer to bash the shuriken into the air to avoid it stabbing him. Reiko ran forth and swung the Wrath Hammer at Mileena who jumped up, landing on the large weapon. She then dove onto Reiko, wrapping her legs around his head, pulling the old and worn out helmet of Shao Kahn off as she delivered a flipping piledriver that cracked his head open with a nasty wound.

Both fighters lay on the street, gasping for air. Mileena looked up at the beautiful bright purple sky as the morning had properly begun in Outworld after the sun rose fully. She then saw something else coming down…

"No!" She yelled as she saw a shuriken about to land on her.

Reiko snickered as the shuriken stabbed Mileena in the stomach. He slowly got to his feet and stomped down on the impaled shuriken, digging it deeper into Mileena's gut. Still showing defiance, Mileena spat in Reiko's face. He wiped the spit from his cheek, becoming visibly angry after his bloodied hand brushed past his face. He suddenly grabbed Mileena by the arms and began spinning her around for a solid minute before releasing her. Mileena was hurled down the street. She used her sai to surround herself with a pink energy shield in time to partially cushion the impact as she smashed into the stairway leading up to the Parliament Hall of Outworld, their fight having diverted away from Mileena's Fortress and back to where the members of the Union originally rallied during today's conflict. Reiko walked down the road as Mileena sat on the stairs, pulling the shuriken out of her as she clutched her body in agony, not sure how much longer she could fight for. Things were made even worse for Mileena as she saw Skull and Raza marching down from a separate path that led to the mountain in the centre of the capital city where Mileena's Fortress was located on top of.

"Look what we have here!" Skull exclaimed.

"I told you that commotion would be something big," Raza replied as they approached Mileena. "Good to see you're already suffering, Empress."

"Leave!" Mileena demanded angrily as Skull and Raza laughed.

"Skull! Raza!" Reiko called for as he continued strutting down the street, Wrath Hammer in hand. "Why are you here?!"

"We heard a lot of ruckus," Skull clarified.

"Our squadron pursues the Tarkatan forces up the hill to Shao Kahn's Fortress," Raza detailed with Reiko grinning at the news. "Their leader is badly injured so we left the soldiers in the hands of Epos."

"Baraka…" Mileena muttered, becoming frightened about the danger her allies could be in rather than the threat standing before herself.

"She said you sent her to check on us," Skull recalled with Reiko nodding.

"The situation is under control," Raza concluded.

"Excellent," Reiko said cheerfully. "I can handle this situation of my own just fine too," he assured his two friends. "However, since you're here…"

"Let's put the false Empress out of her misery!" Skull shouted as the three began to surround Mileena with their powerful weapons ready…

The aforementioned soldiers heading up the steep hollowed out mountain that resided in Sabar City were nearing the top where the giant Fortress stood. The bridge before the entranceway was guarded by Tarkatans whilst Baraka was helped inside. Several guards stationed at posts in Mileena's Fortress came down to stand beside their Tarkatan allies. Epos stepped forth from the Kahn Guard soldiers, her pair of small mace weapons readied.

"It was Baraka who hurled Reiko off this bridge," Karbrac recounted as he closed the main doors, leaving Baraka in the care of Korhau. "I believe things will end similarly if you continue with this meaningless crusade."

"Your forces are the ones running away," Epos pointed out. "We aren't."

"I'm not running now."

"Because you have nowhere else to turn," Epos quipped as the Kahn Guard soldiers laughed amongst themselves. "And I see this stronghold isn't the same death trap it once was."

"We aren't savages," Karbrac replied. "Despite what Kahn's propaganda may portray."

"If I thought that then I'd be underestimating you," Epos pointed out as she got into her fighting stance. "I am not."

Karbrac drew his energy charged arm blades as Epos charged at her. The energy created a shield that protected himself from Epos' swinging mace attacks. Epos laughed at this. Even though it was a solid defence tactic, Epos saw this as Karbrac acknowledging that his bone arm blades would be bent and broken if they attempted to collide with her spiked maces. Karbrac kicked her in the shin and attempted to perform a charging blade thrust. One soldier with a massive shield bashed Karbrac aside. He collided with the supportive barriers on the sides of the bridge.

"Thank you, brother," Epos expressed her gratitude to the large warrior, seeing all her fellow soldiers as family. "Use your might to push inside the stronghold, and to continue shielding our comrades."

The soldier nodded and led a small group of other soldiers through the crowd of Kahn Guard and Tarkatan warriors fighting atop the bridge. Epos rammed a mace into Karbrac, squishing him between the spiked weapon and the bridge. She then swung her other one at Karbrac's skull. He leaned back, almost falling over the bridge in order to prevent his brains being bashed in. Epos attempted to attack again, but this time Karbrac sliced his arm blade at her arm, cutting her and making her drop a mace. He then went to cut her other arm but she stepped back. She jumped into the air, spinning her mace before throwing it down. Karbrac rolled aside and then lunged on top of Epos as she landed from her high jump.

"I do not wish to kill you," Karbrac stated as he crossed his wrists so that his arm blades were pressed near either side of Epos' neck. "Call your soldiers off…"

Before Epos could even consider Karbrac's demand, the Tarkatan was smashed in the side by a large spiky spinning disc that was hurled at him. The weapon was the Yeyecame Disc, belonging to none other than Kotal. The Osh-Tekk warrior marched across the bridge, his fellow warriors who put their blind trust in him followed. Both D'Vorah and A'Vital chased after them but had kept being swatted away.

"Do not fret!" Kotal announced as he stretched a hand out to help Epos up. "Your saviour is here," he boasted, "as I was the saviour of those ungrateful Kytinn!"

D'Vorah and A'Vital flew at Kotal, attempting to dive bomb him. Kotal grabbed one stinger on each of the two insectoids and slammed the couple together, displaying his immense strength as the patterns painted on his green skin beamed with ancient magic that the totems his followers carried had unlocked. Kotal was always a large, strong and fierce warrior but now he felt powerful enough to do the unthinkable…

"Where was I?" Kotal spoke as he reached out to Epos again.

"Yuck," Epos dismissed him as she slapped his hand away and got up on her own. "Now what's the Osh-Tekk army doing trying to help us?"

"Did Reiko never mention his spies?" Kotal asked.

"He did," Epos confirmed. "Wait… seriously? You're one of them?"

"The only insider left after Talon," Kotal clarified. "She-"

"Before you say anything about her," Epos interrupted. "Know that Talon is my wife."

"What a fine coincidence," Kotal replied. "I pledged my loyalty to Reiko when I found one of your encampments," he explained. "I am not too fond of tyranny but Shao Kahn's vision brings a safer and stronger Outworld, so I offered my aid and promised to keep his secrets hidden."

"I don't care about your life story!" Epos yelled. "We have a duty to perform!"

"You're welcome…" Kotal muttered. "Well then! Break inside the fortress and seize the throne room!"

"Our soldiers are already doing that!" Epos snapped. "And you are not the General of the Kahn Guard!"

"Are you sure we should be helping these people, sir?" Commander Vyro asked quietly, having recently caught up with Kotal's Osh-Tekk forces on their journey to Sabar City.

"I told you I have a plan," Kotal muttered. "Do you not trust me?"

"Are you going to share with the group?" Epos asked as they were blatantly talking.

"This One isn't finished with you, Kotal!" D'Vorah yelled as she thrusted a pair of stingers into his back as he had become distracted by Epos.

Commander Vyro immediately pushed D'Vorah off of his leader. D'Vorah fell over but landed on her hands, falling into a spider walk position. The rest of the Osh-Tekk forces had given the Kahn Guard a much needed edge over the Tarkatan warriors fighting on the large bridge. Many Tarkatans had been slain on the bridge, some even being hurled over. A'Vital had also gotten up and went to stand beside her beloved, but several Osh-Tekk soldiers shifted focus onto the Kytinn pair. One warrior tackled A'Vital, whilst Vyro thrusted his Tecpatl, an Aztec knife, into D'Vorah's torso. Blue blood splattered all over Vyro as the stabbing left a deep wound in D'Vorah. A'Vital hissed like an enraged cockroach as she witnessed this, unable to help due to being pinned down by several warriors. As Vyro thrusted the Tecpatl out of D'Vorah, she saw several Kytinn insects that had resided in the living hive all gathered around on the knife. The various bugs quickly crawled onto Vyro, beginning to painfully bite away at his exposed green skin. Vyro ran aimlessly in a panic, tripping over a jagged rock and began a long tumble down the mountain.

Meeting them partway down the mountain was none other than the Deadly Alliance. They had murdered any soldier who they spotted during their journey to scout the fortress. Quan Chi made a noise of disgust as he cringed upon the sight of the pathetic commander. He summoned a green skull, Shang Tsung lighting it on fire as he dropped the heavy bones on top of Vyro. The flames spread, igniting the flammable insects which caused the flames to spread rapidly across Vyro's body. The Deadly Alliance then casually resumed their conversation, talking over the screams of Vyro as he slowly burnt to death.

"I wonder what the commotion up there is?" Quan Chi asked as Tsung shapeshifted into a Kytinn, gaining the idea after seeing the insects on Vyro.

"This One shall check," Tsung replied as he took flight to get a better look at the top of the mountain as Quan Chi chuckled to himself, amused by his friend's mockery of Kytinn speech.

Shang Tsung watched as the outside Tarkatan defences and guards were defeated by the unlikely pairing of Kahn Guard and Osh-Tekk soldiers. He then saw them work together to break down the main doors leading to the interior of Mileena's Fortress. Shang Tsung then landed before reverted to his original form.

"So?" Quan Chi awaited a report.

"Reiko's forces have gotten inside Mileena's Fortress," Shang Tsung revealed. "The Osh-Tekk are helping them oddly enough."

"That is of no concern to us," Quan Chi replied.

"Reiko believes that whoever can seize control of the Fortress, they can take over Outworld," Shang Tsung explained.

"Under the right circumstances then I suppose so," Quan Chi partially agreed. "I would recommend we come back at a quieter time."

"Yes," Tsung agreed. "We should wait until there is an undisputed outcome from this conflict."

"What shall we do in the meantime?"

"This realm has plenty of leisure activities for us, my friend," Shang Tsung told him. "And I'm sure there'll be no need to worry about crowds throughout this chaos."

"Give me a tour of the city then," Quan Chi requested as he took Shang Tsung's hand.

"Follow me!" Tsung yelled as the two began laughing wickedly, having so much fun as they awaited their inevitable victory.

The heroes facing Colossus, however, were having anything but fun. Skarlet's plan of stopping the living statue involved using her blood magic, making a pool of blood large enough that it could begin to swallow the giant as if it were sludge. The only problem was that she kept being interrupted. Whether that be from a ground shaking stomp or being flung back by Colossus, fortunately Krimson was always there to catch her mother before she could be launched across Sabar City. She was beginning to form a pool of swirling blood, using all her currently stored blood to try to complete this. She turned pale, unintentionally beginning to expel too much of her blood into the pool she had made. From this puddle of blood, Skarlet intended to extend the blood out to catch Colossus, but she had drained too much of her own blood and collapsed as she felt faint.

"Mom!" Krimson cried out. "Somebody help her!"

"I'm here!" Nitara cried out as she and Azaco had landed from flying away from the now set ablaze Bell Tower.

"We'll distract it!" Li Mei immediately came to aid by sending several ineffective but still distracting Nova blasts which caught the attention of Colossus.

Colossus' eyes turned red before unleashing a laser blast that almost incinerated Li Mei. Fortunately for her, Jade activated her emerald energy armour as she shoved her fiancée out of harm's way. She absorbed the large laser beam, however, she was thrown down an alleyway to the side of the marketplace and ended up in a neighbourhood. Li Mei and Topaz ran down the alley to check on her. Meanwhile, the Demon ladies stood around Skarlet as she had passed out from blood loss. Kia and Mika were trying to figure out if they had any healing spell that could resolve this, to no avail. Nitara stepped past them and knelt beside her lover.

Colossus attempted to use a second eye beam, intending on disintegrating the group gathered around Skarlet, concerned for her health. Due to a lack of equipment and powers to stand against the magic statue, Ruby had been keeping her distance during the conflict. But here she came frantically running forth. Although she had no magic to defend her like Jade, Ruby repeated what she had done. She took the beam in the chest, shielding her allies. Ruby was thrown all the way down the marketplace, crashing through a fruit stall.

"Ruby!" Kitana cried out. "Somebody help her!"

"I'm on it!" Sareena responded quickly as she began running to Ruby.

"Wait!" Kia called for. "Are you sure you don't want my healing magic?" She asked. "I've only shown you the basics, Sareena."

"If I need you I'll carry her over!" Sareena promised. "Keep your focus on Skarlet, ladies!"

"Alright!" Kia replied before lowering her tone to say, "I admittedly am unsure of what to do with her though…"

"I have an idea," Nitara realised.

"And that is?" Kia asked.

"You owe me dinner after this, Skar," she quipped as she gently scooped her up and brought her head to hers.

Nitara attempted mouth to mouth, but in this specific scenario she was spitting back up blood to donate to Skarlet. Colour slowly began to return to Skarlet as Nitara continued this process until she finally awoke. Nitara continued despite knowing this of course.

"Look out!" Azaco yelled as he pointed up.

Colossus was about to crush the team of heroic Demons and Vampires until Kitana flew in the way and used her pair of steel fans to blow a gust of wind upwards, pushing Colossus back slightly as she focused all her enchanted weapons magic on achieving this feat. Colossus staggered back, landing in the pool of blood. Skarlet sat up and realised this, smirking as she raised her arms and caused sharp spikes made of blood to emerge at each foot of Colossus. The blood magic pierced inside the stone statue, with the blood filling out the inner cracks and creeping up the statues entire body. Colossus' eyes glowed with an enraged red, as the statue suddenly let out an ear piercing bellow…

"YOU WILL NEVER WIN!"

Colossus' deep voice boomed throughout the city. It terrified all those near him as the echo made the sudden yell even more frightening. Some unforeseen side effect of the enchantments imbued within the statue, Colossus began to mimic Shao Kahn's voice as well as his sayings. Although the blood pool began to hold his feet in place, Colossus still had full control of his arms. He put one hand in front of his eyes, unleashing a beam of energy that formed into a massive construct replication of the Wrath Hammer. Colossus ruthlessly began slamming the weightless but everso powerful hammer down on the ground, causing a massive earthquake that split the ground directly going forth from where the hammer landed. This caused a ravine in the centre of the already destroyed marketplace. Kitana fell down the ravine, but used her weapons to hover in place until Meat could lend a fleshy hand, pulling her up.

"Thank you, brother," Kitana said gratefully as she took a minute to catch her breath.

"Nobody hurts my family!" Meat yelled at Colossus as he recklessly but fearlessly ran at the sentient statue.

"WEAK AND PATHETIC FOOL!" Colossus yelled as he punt kicked Meat as he slid across the blood puddle.

Meat soared through the air with Kitana flapping her fans like wings to fly up momentarily in order to catch him, returning the favour for his aid moments ago. Skarlet grunted, frustrated that Colossus had broken a leg free. Nitara placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"You can do it," Nitara told her with a smile.

"Did you give that thing a pulse?!" Siann questioned. "Why is it talking?!"

"Don't worry about it!" Nitara instructed. "She'll handle it!"

"I don't think there's ever been a sighting of magic like this that we could possibly compare this to," CIlene remarked which made her realise something important. "Uh… speaking of magic…"

"Something wrong?" Siann asked.

"Dodger isn't responding to my summons…" Cilene had noticed. "I hope my baby is alright…"

"It'll be okay," Siann tried to assure her.

"Don't worry, girls!" Mika said positively, as per usual.

"Although we should probably worry about that!" Sora yelled.

"KNEEL BEFORE EMPEROR SHAO KAHN!" Colossus yelled as he attempted his next attack.

Kronika swooped in before Colossus' energy makeshift Wrath Hammer could crush the heroes. She levitated over and spread her arms out, guiding a circular bundle of magic which she used to push the group of allies out the way. Colossus focused on Kronika since she had been the target escaping his wrath for the longest. He attempted to crush her with a stomp once more, however, Skarlet had managed to focus her blood magic by closing her eyes. She caused the blood running through the escaped foot of Colossus to burst. This caused an explosion of blood inside the statue, combusting below the knee of the right leg of the statue into a pile of rubble. It forced the statue to fall to one knee, the blood pool rising to wrap around his body to swallow him further.

"You said you need it kept in place, Lady Kronika," Krimson reminded her. "I think she's done just that!"

"Excellent work, Skarlet," Kronika praised as she began to float towards Colossus and placed her hands in it as she began to conduct her magic. "I need a minute to freeze it in time."

"Well it's arms refuse to be stuck!" Ashrah warned.

"It's going to slam the hammer down again!" Kia noted.

"Let me try this!" Jataaka yelled as she drew her signature Laser Sword and shot a beam of her own energy at the energy constructed Wrath Hammer. The beam momentarily pushed the weapon back, allowing the heroes to scatter out the way, but the force of the Wrath Hammer eventually proved too much and began pushing Jataaka's blue laser back down. This bought enough time for Kitana to blow a gust of wind from her fans, blowing Jataaka out the way as well as directing the wind upwards.

"That's my wife!" Kia said proudly as they watched Jataaka land onto the body of Colossus.

Jataaka climbed up Colossus whilst everybody else braced for the earth shattering impact of the Wrath Hammer slamming the ground again. It made even Colossus shake, causing Jataaka to lose her grip on the stone statue. Skarlet extended the blood that was wrapping around Colossus more and more to wrap around Jataaka like a tentacle before throwing her back up. She extended her Laser Sword forth, surrounding the blade with the energy as she sliced through Colossus' hammer wielding arm. The energy had protected the metal of the blade as well as making it both sharp and powerful enough to cut through stone. The arm dropped, crushing a row of abandoned market stalls. Colossus swiped his remaining arm, catching Jataaka in his solid grasp.

"YOU WEAK, PATHETIC FOOLS, I HAVE COME FOR YOUR SOULS!"

Colossus' blank stone eyes glowed red again. He charged up another eye beam, directing it at Jataaka who was stuck in his grasp. She had dropped her Laser Sword and had no escape. But then the laser beam stopped charging up and remained stagnant. Jataaka was confused until she looked down to see Colossus' body come to a complete stop.

"It has been done!" Kronika cheered. "Quickly, it will only be frozen in time momentarily."

"What do you want us to do?" Kitana asked.

"Anything that you think can inflict damage to it, try it!" Kronika insisted. "The barrage of damage will overwhelm it once it becomes unfrozen."

"You heard her!" Nitara yelled. "Let's destroy this thing!"

Jataaka slipped out of Colossus' grasp, standing on a finger. She leapt off, slicing her blade along Colossus numerous times as she used the weapon to scrape down to the surface. Kitana was repeatedly sending wind gusts, hoping the force would be so strong once Colossus became unfrozen that it would at the very least collapse. The Demon ladies used their various spells, hoping they'd achieve some sort of effect. Lastly, Meat used his brute strength to pick up the severed arm of Colossus before hurling it at his face right as Colossus became unfrozen after a short minute.

Colossus began to shake in reaction to all the damage inflicted, all of it inflicting him at once similar to how the tyrant he was mimicking had been defeated so many years ago. Cracks began to form on Colossus, the arm thrown at him by Meat having smashed a hole through his chest which left the statue even more vulnerable. Ashrah flew up using a torpedo spin special attack to break through the chest of Colossus, creating a much larger hole. Cracks began to spread as Skarlet bursted all the blood that had seeped through the cracks, causing the shattering stone to explode into countless pieces. Colossus was defeated.

"Thank the Gods…" Skarlet said with audible exhaustion as Nitara spun her around in a loving embrace. "It's over."

"The fight with that thing is, at least," Krimson replied as she joined in on the hug.

"I'm afraid that there's still much left to resolve in this battle," Kitana commented.

"I'm sure a large portion of the conflict will be near that!" Ruby pointed to the burning Bell Tower as she and Sareena rejoined the group.

"Glad to see you're alright," Kitana said to Ruby.

"Don't worry about me," Ruby replied. "Although Cualli will be mad if she hears how reckless I've been…"

"I'm sure she'd be proud," Kitana stated, "for what you did was very selfless."

"You are all strong heroes," Kronika told the group. "I admit that my anxieties of future glimpses have made me interfere once more, and this time I think unnecessarily now that I know you all turned up."

"We needed your magic to stop that thing, Lady Kronika!" Nitara told her.

"You would have found an alternative method," Kronika assured the group. "I shall keep watch of you all."

"Thanks for everything," Kitana said gratefully.

"I do the bare minimum for someone blessed with such magic," Kronika replied humbly. "Thank you for leading these fine heroes to this battle," Kronika said to Kitana. "I shall focus on helping civilians who are either harmed or in harm now, and I hope you all finish this battle."

"We shall," Kitana promised.

"Farewell then," Kronika replied as she suddenly teleported away.

"Let's not waste anymore time," Kitana decided. "Is everybody ready to get moving?"

The crowd of heroes cheered in unison, making Kitana smile as she raised a steel fan into the air.

"Then follow me!"

As Kitana led her fellow heroes to help stop Reiko's remaining forces, the Deadly Alliance watched on through a window, both sorcerers transforming into shapeshifted forms of random civilians they had slain on their journey to the big city. They had found a sandwich store that had luckily been untouched. They waited behind the counter for the terrified store owner who was sitting on the other side, hiding behind the counter out of fear of what was outside.

"This is very poor customer service," Quan Chi said jokingly. "Hello?!"

"What do you two Chaosrealmers want?!" The store owner asked.

"Mind your racism!" Quan Chi did an exaggerated gasp. "We aren't Chaosrealmers!" He corrected him. "And we're here for food, why else would we come to a bakery?"

"Then why are you just hanging around?!" The store owner interrogated. "Are you blind as to what is outside?!"

"Yes, I would like to order a sandwich," Quan Chi ignored his stressful cries. "What would you recommend?"

"We're closed, sir!" The store owner announced. "I need to get out of here!"

"I can help with that," Quan Chi replied as he summoned a portal to demonstrate his magic. "Where do you want to go?"

"Just out of the city!" The store owner replied. "My family is waiting for me but I couldn't go because of that giant… thing!"

"Get me a TaiGore sandwich and I can get you out of here," Quan Chi promised.

"TaiGore?" The store owner raised an eyebrow. "The royal family has one as a pet, nobody is allowed to hunt them by law!"

"That's the first rule that we should abolish," Quan Chi muttered to Tsung. "Fine, then I'll have a bacon sandwich from your finest PiggLutts!"

"Make that two," Shang Tsung added.

The Deadly Alliance watched out the window as they awaited their order. Quan Chi chuckled to himself as more Osh-Tekk soldiers were blindly dragged into conflict with their former Union allies due to the chaos Kotal had caused in his selfish act that his mind perceived as selfless and heroic. This had been an unexpected development for the Deadly Alliance, but it certainly was not a negative one for their future plans.

"It's ready!" The store owner announced, throwing the two sandwiches at the sorcerers.

"Fantastic!" Quan Chi cheered. "Now there's the matter of your payment."

Whilst beginning to ravenously eat his sandwich, Quan Chi summoned a portal and suddenly shoved the store owner through it without warning. He then shut the portal whilst snickering to himself.

"Where did you actually send him?" Tsung asked.

"The Netherrealm," Quan giggled. "Thanks to my generosity I'm certain some lucky Oni are having a nice lunch themselves…"

Amidst the chaos within Sabar City, Li Mei was helping Jade up after being hurled down an alleyway by the sheer force of Colossus' enchanted eye beam. She had momentarily passed out due to crashing hard against a wall, but was at last awake and beginning to stand. Jade looked around at the completely different street she found herself on, a neighbourhood full of homes. It was familiar to her and she had only just processed where she was.

"Mothers!" Jade cried out as she rushed towards a home despite having a splitting headache.

"Huh?!" Li Mei was confused and chased after her. "Love, what's wrong?!"

"I grew up here!" Jade explained. "My parents live at the house at the end of the row!"

"I've never been to their home?" Li Mei suddenly realised. "I suppose they were the ones visiting us by coming to Sun Do all those times…"

"Focus, sweetheart!" Jade requested. "We need to stop these soldiers!"

"Of course, dear!" Li Mei replied as she quickly drew her Kunlun Dao.

"Leave these people alone!" Jade screamed as she dived into action with a blazing nitro kick to one soldier trying to break down a front door of one the houses in the street. The neighbourhood was structured in a circular form around a large flower covered roundabout, a sign of life being restored into Outworld now that its Jinsei was regaining the essence once sapped by the selfish Shao Kahn. The soldier fell into the flowers. Other soldiers surrounded the roundabout, at least a couple focused on one house each.

There was concern that with the amount of civilians that were rushing out of the city, that they could gather even more reinforcements such as the Seidan Guard. Instructions had been given to ensure as few more left as possible, either by forcing them to remain in their own homes, or killing any resisters. The roundabout ended with a long straightforward path which at the end was where Jade's adoptive parents resided. She continued to rush down the street, drawing the attention of the gathered soldiers. To check if there were any civilians home, the soldiers were progressively breaking down each door one by one and searching for any residents. Jade and Li Mei planned to put an end to that.

Jade leapt into the air, slamming her staff down on one soldier's head with such force that it split their helmet open. More soldiers gathered around the lengthy path, prepared to boldly challenge two of the many famous Outworld heroes within Mileena's Union. Li Mei charged in with her sword, impaling a soldier with the running thrust. The couple continued to force their way through the aggressive soldiers as they made it down the street. Jade then saw one of her mothers trying to fight back against the soldiers herself as she knocked out another soldier with a spinning staff move, smashing into any soldier that tried to get near her.

"Mother!" Jade called for.

"I will not stand idly by as you harass my neighbours!" She yelled as she stepped outside her home after disarming the soldier trying to break inside.

"Emitta Krystal," the commander of the squadron recognised her. "You were a respected warrior of the Kahn Guard!" He declared. "Why do you refuse to comply, elder?"

"Outworld has been a lot better since Kahn lost his head," Emitta remarked as she drew an old sword that she wielded as well as a suit of armour she wore during her time with the Kahn Guard. "I mean literally, figuratively he lost his mind the minute he desired the throne."

"And his hard work will be paid off thanks to Reiko!" The commander yelled. "You're just like us!" He claimed. "If you wish to come out of retirement, then we'd welcome a respected veteran such as yourself!"

"When I was a commander, I never harassed civilians," Emitta replied. "I decline your offer, sir, and I suggest you take up my offer of leaving this place now."

"That's not happening," the commander replied as he drew his sword. "Kill her!"

Emitta quickly drew her sword, thrusting it with such force that it punctured the commander's armour and stabbed him in the gut. Emitta shoved him aside as the rest of the soldiers surrounded her. Then ran in Jade and Li Mei. Jade extended her staff and shoved it into a group of soldiers with their backs turned to them, focused on Emitta. Li Mei meanwhile was using her signature Nova Blasts to push back all the other soldiers. After finishing off the commander, Emitta turned to her daughter and they embraced.

"Good to see you, Jade," Emitta said as they hugged. "It's been a while."

"I just wish it wasn't under these circumstances," Jade replied.

"Come here too, Li!" Emitta instructed. "You're my daughter too! Soon to be that is!"

"Thank you," Li Mei said as the three hugged. "Only one of you though?"

"Yes," Jade had noticed. "Where's mother, mother?"

"That's the thing…" Emitta sighed. "I don't know!"

"What happened?" Jade asked. "Did the soldiers take her?!"

"I don't know," Emitta repeated. "She's been gone for a few days now… before all this conflict."

"Have you told anyone?" Jade asked. "How could she go missing?"

"Surely it's something to do with these monsters," Li Mei predicted.

"I went to the station nearby," Emitta explained. "The guards have been doing their best in searching, I think," she believed. "If Kahn was still in charge my plea would've been ignored surely…"

"And now there's this mess…" Jade said as she looked around and saw the remaining soldiers approaching.

"I'm so sorry," Li Mei apologised. "But we'll find her."

"I hope so…" Emitta replied. "I guess we'll have to talk more about it later."

"We will," Li Mei promised. "I'll gather the other civilians here and we'll leave."

"They blocked the nearest exit," Emitta revealed. "They'll try locking us all in the city if we aren't fast enough."

"I know a route that will take us back around to the front entranceway," Jade said as they were currently on the upper half of Sabar City, hoping the Kahn Guard had only blocked the exits on that side of the capital.

"I'll gather everyone!" Li Mei decided as she began rushing to each house to alert the residents as fast as she could.

Jade and Emitta meanwhile stood side by side, awaiting for the remaining soldiers. They all charged at Jade and Emitta at once. Jade spun around, pointing her staff at the ground so it would trip the first few soldiers to approach. Emitta leapt over the staff and sliced through a couple of soldiers. The first one fell whilst the other one used their own sword to block the leaping slash. Emitta landed, now having to block the soldiers' own sword strike. They both pushed their blades together with Emitta using her experience to know to stop applying force. This made the soldier's sword push forth only for it to be diverted to the side, leaving him vulnerable to a finish strike. Jade meanwhile had knocked out the tripped up soldiers and Li Mei had rounded up all the neighbours.

"Follow us, everyone!" Li Mei commanded. "We'll bring you to safety!"

As Li Mei, Jade began to lead many civilians to safety, they had unknowingly left their daughter behind in an alleyway beside the marketplace where the battle with Colossus had occurred. Like Li, Topaz had followed Jade after she was blasted down the alleyway. However, Topaz tripped and collapsed without anybody noticing. She had felt a sudden rush of fear and panic go through her as she tried to get up in the dark alleyway, everything getting darker as she lost sight of her parents. Whilst she lay against a wall between conflicts happening in the city, she focused on her breathing in order to prevent what she realised was a sudden panic attack. All the chaos happening in Sabar CIty so suddenly had made her terrified and the fear was only truly setting in now. Topaz had fought and valiantly defeated anxiety before though, but she needed some time to calm her mind within the surrounding warzone. As she was doing this, her vision became clearer, but was soon shrouded by a dark shadow again. This time it wasn't from her nearly fainting, but it was a looming figure instead. Topaz gasped, looking up and shrieking at the sight of the person standing over her. The Executioner. He let out a loud cackle that echoed throughout the empty alley.

"Wh-what do y-you want?" Topaz stuttered out a question.

"I think you can figure that one out," the Executioner spoke as he extended his large axe, pointing the blade at Topaz. "All members of Mileena's Union are to be executed!"

The Executioner swung his massive axe, Topaz rolling out the way just in time. When she had tripped, Topaz had unfortunately dropped her weapons by accident and they still remained on the floor. The Executioner grunted as he ripped his axe out the wall after having stuck it in there due to missing Topaz on his first heavy swing. Topaz scrambled towards her weapons, but the Executioner grabbed her foot with one massive hand and threw her around with ease. Topaz slammed back first onto the ground, her armour fortunately protecting her from any major damage. She kipped up as the Executioner charged forward, swinging his axe with tremendous force. Topaz dodged his attacks with lightning-fast reflexes, trying her best simply just to survive. She knew that she couldn't afford to make a mistake against this ruthless foe. As the fight continued, the Executioner's attacks became more ferocious. Topaz was pushed back against a wall, with the Executioner once more towering over her. With a swift move, she jumped over The Executioner and landed behind him. As he turned to face her, she landed a powerful blow to his back, causing him to stumble forward, slamming his face against the wall, cutting his face open even if the black sack he wore over his head obscured any signs of damage. This stunned him and with The Executioner off balance, Topaz seized the opportunity to strike. She leaped onto his back, using her feet to inflict a series of quick, precise blows. The Executioner howled in pain as Topaz trampled him, causing him to drop his axe. With the large man down, Topaz realised she had an opportunity to escape. She rushed over to her weapons to retrieve them before darting out of the alleyway before the Executioner could get back to his feet and pursue her.

Topaz began to chase after her parents, soon finding the crowd they were leading not too far away. With the civilians behind them, Li Mei and Jade took the lead as they ran through the bustling streets of Sabar City, their hair whipping behind them as they sprinted down countless streets as fast as they could.

"Come on, we're almost there!" Li Mei shouted over her shoulder to the following citizens.

Jade nodded and quickened her pace, her eyes scanning the buildings and signs as they ran. She was concerned about encountering another squadron of soldiers, but it seemed these outskirts had been untouched from the battle so far. As they turned a corner, Li Mei skidded to a stop, nearly causing Jade to crash into her. Li Mei pointed towards Outworld's Parliament Hall, meeting it on their journey to one of the exits at the front of the city which was very close to the building. Significant on its own, that was not why Li Mei was pointing at it. Jade turned and saw Empress Mileena fighting on the wide stone stairway leading up to the entrance of the building. She was struggling to hold her own against Reiko, Skull and Raza.

"We've got to help her!" Li Mei yelled.

"I'm by your side," Jade said as she was already getting prepared for the fight by grabbing her razorang.

"Wait!" a familiar voice cried out.

"Topaz?!" Li Mei immediately recognised her daughter's voice.

"I'm here!" Topaz yelled as she pushed through the crowd to hug her parents.

"Good to see you, dear," Emitta said with a smile.

"Grandma!" Topaz cried out as she hugged Emitta.

"How did you find us?" Jade asked.

"I ran right behind mom after that thing blasted you with its laser!" Topaz explained. "I tripped and… I…"

"I'm sorry, Topaz!" Li Mei apologised. "I never saw you running with me!"

"It's okay, we were both focused on her," Topaz looked at Jade. "It took me a while to get up because of my…"

"Anxiety attacks?" Li Mei guessed.

Topaz silently nodded.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Li Mei said as she ruffled her multicoloured hair. "We'll talk about it more later, okay?"

"We have to go help Mileena," Jade explained.

"I'll come too!" Topaz insisted.

"Are you sure?" Li Mei was surprised by her confidence.

"C'mon, Mileena can hardly fight in that condition!" Topaz pointed out. "Please, we need to have even odds!"

"Take the civilians and get out of here," Jade told her mother.

"No!" Emitta refused. "I can't lose the rest of my family!"

"We'll be fine, mother!" Jade promised. "We don't have the time to discuss this further, I'm sorry but you need to get a move on."

"I understand," Emitta replied as she reluctantly agreed to follow Jade's request as she agreed that it seemed necessary. "The rest of you, with me!"

Li, Jade and Topaz approached the other trio of Reiko, Skull and Raza. Seeing them, Reiko was ready to put an end to their fun as he went to crush Mileena's skull with the Wrath Hammer. Topaz sprinted at Reiko, letting out a scream of pure rage. She leapt at Reiko with a flurry of punches. Reiko kicked Mileena down the stairs whilst Topaz began pushing him up the stairs. Topaz drew a sword she had received from Sindel in Edenia shortly after her knighting, she had experience practising sword fighting thanks to Li Mei and she also would use one of Jade's old plain Outworld Steel Bo staffs, something that Jade had taught Topaz to use. Although she had an impressive knowledge with both powerful weapons, Topaz had hardly had any opportunity to apply her learning in any real conflicts… until now. Reiko pushed her back into a pillar as they reached the top of the stairs. This led to a flat spacious platform before the main doors into the building. Reiko summoned the Wrath Hammer and swung at Topaz who rolled aside, causing him to shatter a pillar with ease. Topaz readied her weapons. Although she hadn't expected to have used it until today, she always carried her weapons due to their significance to her. Thus she readied herself, holding a long, slender staff in one hand and a sharp sword in the other, while Reiko gripped the massive war hammer, the Wrath Hammer, with both hands.

"Topaz, wait!" Li Mei cried out.

"Bold but foolish of you to come straight at me," Reiko told Topaz.

"There's many things that frighten me," Topaz replied, "you are not one of them."

"I'm coming!" Jade yelled.

"You'll have to get through us first," Raza stated as he and Skull got in the way of Jade and Li Mei.

"Agh…" Mileena grunted in pain.

"Empress," Li Mei called for. "Do you see that crowd of civilians there?" She pointed to the group being led out of the city by Emitta.

"Yes?"

"Join them."

"I can help…" Mileena insisted.

"You've helped as much as you can," Li Mei assured her. "Please get to safety!"

"If you're certain…" Mileena complied as she began to limp away. "Thank you both."

"You can't just walk away!" Skull complained. He attempted to pursue Mileena but now Li Mei blocked him.

"Clearly we have to deal with each other first," Jade realised.

"All the chances you've been handed," Li Mei remarked as she readied her Kunlun Dao. "I will not allow you monsters to continue your acts."

"You can try," Raza stated as he pointed his sword at her.

"We will succeed," Li Mei said confidently. "You will not escape me this time."

"We will not have a reason to retreat," Raza assured her as the two collided their blades. Meanwhile, Jade threw the razorang she was holding at Reiko before leaping into action with Skull by using another blazing nitro kick.

Topaz and Reiko glared at the bottom of the stairway, watching the four warriors battle it out. Reiko laughed at the incoming razorang before grabbing it out of the air with ease. Topaz was taken aback, surprised by such skill and precision. She grew increasingly more anxious and nervous, her hands noticeably trembling as she tried to hold her weapons. Topaz then tried to slow down her breathing to concentrate on the threat before her. It had been made no secret growing up that she had been adopted by the Sun Do Chieftess and her lover after her birth parents were slain, and she was well aware that the culprit stood before her.

"Child, I shall grant you this one opportunity to run along and save your parents from eternal despair of losing you," Reiko threatened as he threw the razorang over his shoulder casually.

"No," Topaz refused the offer. "I'm going to make you pay for everything you did!"

"I don't even know who you are!"

Without another word, Topaz charged at Reiko. Topaz twirled her staff in a dazzling display of speed and agility, striking at Reiko from all angles. Reiko, however, was unfazed, and raised his hammer to block her attacks. The two warriors engaged in a fierce exchange of blows, each one trying to gain an advantage over the other. Topaz darted around Reiko, her staff whistling through the air as she landed blows on his armour. But Reiko was a far more experienced and seasoned fighter, and he countered her attacks with crushing blows from his hammer. Topaz managed to dodge most of Reiko's attacks, but a glancing blow from the Wrath Hammer sent her tumbling to the ground. She quickly recovered, though, and sprang back to her feet, renewed determination in her eyes. With a fierce cry, Topaz charged at Reiko again, sword and staff flashing in the light. Reiko met her head-on, the two weapons clashing in a shower of sparks. Topaz swung her sword with all her might, but Reiko parried the blow and slammed his hammer into her staff, sending it flying from her grasp. Disarmed, Topaz was quickly kicked to the floor. She looked up to see Reiko looming over her, his hammer raised high. She braced for the killing blow, but Reiko hesitated for just a moment. That was all the time Topaz needed. With lightning speed, she grabbed her sword from the ground and slashed at Reiko's legs, knocking him off balance. Reiko stumbled backwards, his hammer falling from his grasp. Topaz seized the opportunity, kipping up to her feet and ramming into Reiko with her sword.

"I'm the person who's village you raided!" Topaz yelled as she stabbed Reiko and drove him against a wall. "I'm the person whose birth parents you slaughtered when I was just a baby!"

Reiko laughed.

"Why are you laughing?!" Topaz asked as she angrily drove the blade deeper into Reiko.

"Do you have the slightest comprehension of how little that narrows it down?" Reiko asked as he stretched a hand out.

He called upon the Wrath Hammer, drawing it magically towards his grasp. Topaz stepped aside as Reiko grabbed the weapon. Topaz's sword was still stuck within Reiko, who removed his makeshift cape from the last Kahn Guard flag. He wrapped it around his waist tightly so that it would cover his wound as he pulled the sword out and tossed it aside. Topaz who thought she had gained the upper hand just realised she had forfeited her weapon. Before she could act, Reiko shoulder bashed her with the amplification of his red energy. The force threw Topaz back, slamming her into a wall.

"Topaz!" Jade cried out as she saw her daughter in danger.

Li Mei and Jade had struggled in their battle against Skull and Raza, constantly looking over to Topaz out of fear for her own safety. This had allowed for the Kahn Guard duo to gain an advantage against them numerous times, which they tried to do once more. Noticing this, Li Mei quickly jumped back to avoid a swing from Skull's sword, pushing Jade out of the way before doing so. Jade's focus returned to the two soldiers, dodging a thrust from Raza's blade. The soldiers were fierce, their eyes glowing with a demonic red light in Skull's case, and a contrasting blue for Raza. This was a sign of their energy powers being put to their fullest. The swords they wielded that once belonged to Shao Kahn himself were stated to have the same power as the former Emperor, this being because of the enchanted magic enhancing the inherent powers of the wielders as well. The bladed weapons themselves were still of increased power, however, having a dark purple mist frequently exuding from the Outworld Steel the blades had been forged in. The force of the enchanted blades had already knocked both Jade's staff and the Kunlun Dao aside, leaving the heroic couple completely unarmed.

Li Mei and Jade decided to rush at the two in unison, figuring it would be best to deal with them as quickly as possible despite the risk of the strategy. Li Mei took the lead, launching a series of lightning-fast kicks and punches at Skull, but he parried her strikes with ease. Jade circled around Raza, trying to find an opening in his defence. Suddenly, Raza swung his sword at Jade, but Li Mei dove in and sent a nova blast flying to knock the sword aside, creating a shower of sparks. The two soldiers fought with a ferocity that seemed almost inhuman. Li Mei and Jade realised that the two warriors they were facing had become far more empowered since their last encounter. Li Mei spun around, launching a powerful kick at Skull's head, but he dodged the attack and swung his sword at her. She managed to block the strike with her arms, but the impact sent her flying back several feet. Jade saw her friend in trouble and quickly sprang into action. She leapt into the air, flipping over Raza's head, and then struck him with her heel, knocking him off balance. Li Mei took advantage of the opening and launched a flurry of punches at Skull's chest. Skull roared in anger, his eyes glowing brighter than ever. He swung his sword at Li Mei, but she ducked and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the blade. Jade continued to battle Raza, dodging his sword swings with precision but unable to find another opening to strike him. Li Mei jumped to her feet and charged at Skull, her fists blazing with energy. She unleashed a powerful punch, which connected with Skull's chest, sending him flying back. Jade took advantage of the moment and struck Raza with a fierce blazing nitro kick, knocking him to the ground. The two soldiers struggled to get back on their feet, their demonic powers ebbing away. Li Mei and Jade closed in for the final attack, launching a double kick that struck Skull and Raza simultaneously, knocking the two soldiers over.

"It's over," Li Mei told Raza as she retrieved her Kunlun Dao and placed it by his neck.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Reiko yelled as he held up Topaz by her throat. "I've been toying with this child for the past couple minutes now, but I can end the games at any time I please!"

"Let go of her, Reiko!" Jade demanded.

"You think you're in a position of giving me requests?!" Reiko asked. "Step aside and let my allies stand!"

Li Mei and Jade nodded in agreement, complying with Reiko by stepping back. Skull and Raza quickly got up as they stared each other down. Reiko laughed from atop the stairway.

"As if I'd release her," Reiko said as he readied the Wrath Hammer. "Wave farewell!"

Li Mei and Jade instinctively ran at him, but Skull and Raza re-engaged them in combat. Reiko laughed over the sound of steel weapons colliding, as he went to finish Topaz…

"REIKO!"

Reiko hesitated for a moment, sighing from so many interruptions. He looked over to see a man dressed in Kahn Guard armour limp down the pathway towards him. The man pulled his helmet off and threw it aside.

"Konga!" Reiko yelled back at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Wanted to make sure our precious leader was safe after abandoning me at the bell tower," Konga remarked as he gritted his teeth.

"I didn't even realise you were there!"

"Of course you wouldn't!" Konga shouted. "For such a respected leader, all you've ever done is use me!"

"Bravo, knucklehead, that's some genius detective work," Reiko said sarcastically. "I had your brother killed and you forced into my ranks!" Reiko recalled. "What else did you expect from me?!"

"I'm surprised that you remember the misdeeds you've done…"

"And I'm surprised you're still alive!" Reiko retorted. "Do you want a hug or a handshake from me?"

"No," Konga declined.

"Then get out of my sight," Reiko ordered.

"No."

"I said-"

"I said no!" Konga repeated. "I only served you to survive! Yet you knocked down that bell and little did you know that it landed on me! The members of Mileena's Union there helped me escape the bell tower before it collapsed, meanwhile you were trying to kill an actually good leader! I never liked you obviously, but now my own life is at a greater risk sticking with you!"

"I will ravage Makeba when this is over!" Reiko threatened. "How dare you even consider betraying me!"

"Your conquest is clearly failing here!" Konga outright stated which made Reiko even angrier. "There is no aftermath for this!"

"Then I'll just have to kill you…" Reiko decided.

"I'm not afraid of death anymore," Konga replied. "I've seen too much of it as is."

Konga had gathered his remaining strength, ignoring the immense pain he was in from the bell tower conflict, he rushed forth. Skull and Raza gasped in unison, shocked by the speed of the injured large man. Konga charged into both men, the shoulder tackle launching them both off their feet, dropping their swords. Konga snatched Raza's sword from the air as he continued running, now heading up the stairway. Reiko was forced to throw Topaz aside as the massive warrior headed straight at him. Reiko bent down, quickly grabbing the dropped razorang and throwing it at Konga. Reiko's throw was very accurate, the razorang stabbing Konga in an exposed part of his chest. Due to the bell that had landed on him, his armour was in a bad shape and the chestplate had suffered a noticeable crack which Reiko took advantage of. Konga managed to use the sword to deflect Reiko's Wrath Hammer swing, disarming him before collapsing from the impaled blade. Konga fell backwards and tumbled down the stairs.

"No!" Jade rushed over to check on Konga.

Reiko went to retrieve his Wrath Hammer, but soon realised Topaz was escaping him, dragging the weapon down the stairs with her. Reiko snapped his fingers, summoning the Wrath Hammer back to him. Topaz held on, trying to prevent the magical hammer from escaping her grasp but found it too heavy.

"You'll have to let go!" Li Mei shouted.

Topaz looked over her shoulder to see her parents and nodded, letting go of the Wrath Hammer. To the surprise of both Topaz and Reiko, however, Li Mei ran in and grabbed the hammer out of the air. She spun it around before releasing it, causing it to fly uncontrollably into Reiko, smacking him to the ground.

"Are you okay, Topaz?" Li Mei asked, checking her for major injuries.

"I'll be alright… I think…" Topaz replied with uncertainty. "Look out!"

Topaz suddenly shoved Li Mei out the way of a swirl of red energy emerging on the floor. This was one of Reiko's mini portals, ones that he was capable of activating occasionally to transport him anywhere within his view. Reiko emerged from beneath Topaz, swinging the Wrath Hammer into her legs which threw her into the air. Reiko then grabbed her with one arm and dumped her on the concrete with a jumping powerslam.

"Topaz!" Li Mei cried out. She charged at Reiko who threw his Wrath Hammer into another pillar at the top of the stairs, this time using the magical bond between himself and the weapon to pull his own body up the stairs and to the Wrath Hammer.

"We've got to find some help for her and Konga!" Jade stated.

"Don't… worry about… me…" Konga spoke weakly. "After what I did… I doubt I'll get to join my brother in the Heavens… but I'll take my chances…"

"You aren't going to either yet!" Jade assured him.

"You saved our daughter," Li Mei pointed out. "That cleanses you of all sin if you ask me."

"Enough!" Raza interrupted. "Over here!"

"You should worry about us!" Skull yelled as he came in swinging as an unarmed Raza stood behind him.

Li Mei leaned back to duck Skull's sword swing before throwing the Kunlun Dao high into the air. Li Mei and Raza began trading rapid fire fists, Li knocking Raza's helmet off. She kneed him in the gut, making him bend over to clutch his injured stomach. This allowed Li Mei to follow up by swinging onto her back and landing a double foot stomp. Raza stumbled forth, as Li Mei had intended. The Kunlun Dao then landed on top of the savage warrior, slicing off Raza's head.

"Raza!" Skull screamed. "I'll kill you all!"

Skull quickly retrieved Raza's sword. His enraged energy charged both bladed weapons with a dark red energy as he rushed at Li Mei. Jade suddenly intercepted, using her staff to hold Skull back as it pushed down against his throat. Skull still tried swinging his powerful swords at Li Mei, who parried each wild unfocused swing. With his guard down, Li Mei began charging her fists to unleash a flurry of rapid fire punches to his body. She then moved up to Skull's skull. Li ripped his helmet off and began violently battering him in the face with hard closed fists. Skull collapsed to his knees from pain and exhaustion, which Jade took as a chance to knee him in the back, snapping his neck against the force of her staff. The feared duo of Skull and Raza was no more.

Li Mei and Jade turned to see Reiko atop the stairway, frozen in disbelief with his jaw agape. He then gritted his teeth, plain white eyes now glowing an angry red. Now that they had a little time remaining, Jade and Li Mei quickly returned their attention to Konga and Topaz.

"He's passed out," Jade realised as she looked at Konga. "Still breathing."

"You're stronger than me," Li Mei claimed. "Can you carry him out of here?"

"Sure," Jade replied. "What of Topaz?"

"Sweetie?" Li Mei knelt beside her as she was struggling to stand. "Do you think you can get up?"

"I… I'm trying!" Topaz responded. "Give me a hand!"

Li Mei helped pull her daughter to her feet. She quickly lost footing due to her recently sustained leg injuries, leaning against Li.

"Can you hold onto me, dear?" Jade asked Topaz as she picked up Konga.

"I'll try," Topaz said as she clung to Jade.

"And what of you?" Jade asked before she began leaving.

"I can take him," Li Mei spoke with confidence before kissing Jade on the lips. "I'll see you both later."

"You better," Jade replied as she began walking away. "I'll come back as soon as I get these two to safety!"

"Bye, mom!" Topaz shouted as Li Mei waved to them both.

"You monster!" Reiko screamed at Li Mei. "They were my closest friends!"

"You've taken away a lot more friends and family from people than I, Reiko," Li Mei countered. "If you wish to be so much like Shao Kahn, then it is best for Outworld that you die like Shao Kahn."

"Well it seems like you'll be losing your head too," Reiko said with a sly smirk as a shadow loomed over Li Mei.

Li Mei turned around and quickly ducked as the Executioner suddenly appeared and attempted to behead her with his axe. Despite what Topaz had thought, the Executioner had indeed pursued her and found Li Mei. He had headed to the conflict slowly, only walking as he thought of how he would butcher his victims. Li Mei attempted to quickly stab the Executioner with her Kunlun Dao, but it was batted aside by his much larger axe. Li Mei then resorted to rapid fire punches empowered by her energy which the Executioner grabbed her by the throat and shoved her to the floor in order to prevent further punches being inflicted. He raised his axe up high and charged at Li Mei, who hit a spinning kick to his axe. The weapon spun around and the massive blade of the axe bounced off into the Executioner's face. He immediately fell down, executed by the very axe he had used to execute countless innocents.

"Damn you!" Reiko cursed loudly.

"Do you think I wanted to do this?!" Li Mei asked as she picked up her Kunlun Dao. "Do you think you didn't have enough chances?!"

"I've had enough of watching you slaughter my allies!" Reiko screamed as he raised his Wrath Hammer. "You will be the next warrior to die!"

Reiko leapt down the stairway, attempting to slam the Wrath Hammer over Li Mei. She countered, however, landing a superkick which knocked Reiko into the stairs in an awkward painful collision. Li Mei ran forth as Reiko got to his feet, throwing the Wrath hammer into the air. This freed his arms up to wrap them around Li Mei as she collided into him. Reiko hit an aerial belly-to-belly suplex, landing Li Mei on her back. The Wrath Hammer then came crashing down onto Li Mei, her purple and silver armour being the only thing saving her from being crushed to death from the heavy hammer. Reiko ran forth and dragged Li Mei to her feet, beginning to punch her up the stairway. Li Mei fought back with a cartwheel kick, her armoured heel slamming Reiko over the back of his head which could be felt through the helmet of Shao Kahn's. Reiko bent forth, clutching the back of his head in pain whilst swinging wildly at Li with the Wrath Hammer without even facing her. Li Mei threw her Kunlun Dao to avoid getting close to the Wrath Hammer, the sword precisely slicing into Reiko's hand.

With Reiko vulnerable, Li Mei ran in and began pulling Reiko by his arms before delivering an underhook piledriver on the stairs. This cracked Shao Kahn's already worn helmet and revealed a nasty gash on the top of his head. Li Mei kicked the helmet off of Reiko, the last remnant of Shao Kahn's feared attire being kicked down the stairs as Reiko got up and continued to fight. With an upwards energy charged shoulder bash, Reiko launched Li Mei to the top of the stairs. He recalled the Wrath Hammer whilst sprinting up the stairway. Reiko slammed the hammer into Li Mei as soon as it returned to his grasp, launching her against the wall. Li Mei leapt at Reiko, determined to continue to fight her adversary, but Reiko grabbed her out the air and threw her through a window that led inside of Outworld's Parliament Hall.

Li Mei slowly got to her feet, stood in a corridor that served as a reception before entering the hall itself. She stood in front of another window, which she peered through to see the familiar room where decisions were made and discussions about all predicaments relevant to Outworld were hosted. Li herself had made several appearances here, to discuss the many requests and concerns of the people of Sun Do so that the word of the people was made more aware, which is what many who entered this building would do. Reiko, though? He would rather torch the building to the ground.

"What would there be to debate if your ruler was competent?" Reiko questioned as he stepped through the broken window.

"Shao Kahn ignored the wants and needs of the people of Outworld!" Li Mei argued. "And that's not just of the civilians, but his own allies!"

"That's a damn lie!"

"No it's not!" Li Mei yelled. "I was only forced into the Kahn Guard for a brief period, however, it didn't take much time to realise that his own military was starving!"

"I do not care for what you have to say!" Reiko dismissed her claims.

"You don't care yet you must know deep down that it's the truth!"

"I'm here to fight!" Reiko shouted as she ripped the Kunlun Dao that was impaled in his arm out and kicked it towards Li Mei's feet. "Pick it up!"

Li Mei bent down to retrieve her Kunlun Dao, only to be suddenly struck by an upwards swing of the Wrath Hammer. Li went flying through the other window, crashing into some of the seats in the hall. Despite the brutal hit and nasty landing, Li Mei managed to stand still, resilient as ever, as Reiko kicked down the doors to the room and stepped inside. Li Mei and Reiko now stood in the middle of Outworld's Parliament Hall, surrounded by broken furniture and shattered glass. They both stood in their fighting stances, ready to continue their battle. Reiko was the first to attack again, lunging forward with a powerful punch. Li Mei quickly dodged and countered with a swift kick to Reiko's midsection. Reiko stumbled back, but quickly regained his balance and swung his arm, sending a barrage of energy blasts towards Li Mei that swooped across the room. Li had managed to dodge most of the blasts, the energy throwing the seats in the room all around the hall, but one caught her in the shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain.

Unfazed, Li Mei pressed her attack, leaping forward with a series of high kicks and punches. Reiko managed to block most of them, but Li Mei's speed and agility proved to be too much for him. One of Li Mei's rapid fire punches connected, sending Reiko flying across the room and crashing into a wall. Reiko retaliated by throwing the Wrath Hammer which Li Mei ducked causing the hammer to crash through the opposite wall. What Li Mei didn't expect, however, was a sudden barrage of shurikens to follow. Li Mei responded to these ranged attacks with a nova blast which slammed Reiko back into the wall once more. However, Reiko quickly regained his footing and charged back at Li Mei, unleashing a powerful tackle followed through into a devastating side slam grapple manoeuvre. Li Mei, caught off guard, was then lifted into the air and slammed back onto the ground from a pop-up powerbomb. Reiko then followed up with a series of quick punches and kicks, keeping Li Mei on the defensive as she lay on the ground trying to survive this onslaught. Reiko was growing confident that he had Li Mei beaten in this position, but Li Mei was not easily defeated. With a fierce cry, she summoned a powerful energy blast that engulfed Reiko, sending him flying across the room and crashing through a window as she directed the direction of the nova blast.

Li Mei ran into the reception area and darted to the Kunlun Dao left on the carpeted floor there that was purple but was now mixed with splotches of red blood stains. Li Mei grabbed the sword and spun around swinging at Reiko who attempted to sneak up on her. Reiko ducked the blade and charged his fist for a leaping uppercut. Li Mei was propelled to the ceiling, slamming her head off it as she fell into a catching powerslam. Reiko then picked up the Kunlun Dao and went to slice Li Mei's in the neck, but suddenly was struck by a hard kick to the back. He spun around as he lost his footing, seeing Jade after she had delivered a blazing nitro kick from behind. He stumbled back, then he was tripped up by Li Mei. Reiko fell to his back as Jade slammed her staff over him before handing the Kunlun Dao to her fiancée. Reiko then began crawling back into the hall as Jade battered him with her staff.

"Stop squirming!" Jade yelled as she placed a foot on his throat. "What do you have to say for yourself?!"

"Nothing that I don't regret!" Reiko yelled. "Besides killing the pair of you and your stupid kid in Sun Do!"

"You're making this decision a lot easier, Reiko," Jade said as she pressed harder on his neck.

"Get off my neck!" Reiko grunted. "Or am I not allowed my final words anymore?"

"Be quick," Jade permitted as she stepped off him.

"I crafted the perfect plan!" Reiko complained. "Yet somehow Mileena and her pathetic goons still just showed up outta nowhere!"

"What a shame that a realm has strong defences," Jade remarked.

"Strong?!" Reiko repeated. "You have prevented this invasion by sheer luck!" He claimed. "By running off to Edenia for what exactly? A celebratory bender for doing the bare minimum as self proclaimed 'heroes'?"

"Watch your mouth, Reiko," Jade advised as she slammed her staff next to his head.

"I'm serious!" Reiko clarified. "I would've never abandoned my realm for another! The destruction of this city and the countless deaths today is on your Union's shoulders alone!"

"If scum like yourself did not exist then none of these incidents would be occurring in the first place!"

"Agreed!" Reiko yelled. "Shao Kahn was right-"

"Oh, he always is, isn't he?!"

"The realms should stay merged!" Reiko claimed. "Good luck trying to protect even more worlds simultaneously!"

"Don't listen to him, Jade," Li Mei instructed as she slowly approached struggling after the battle she had fought. "He's an unreasonable madman."

"Madmen aren't capable of orchestrating plans like mine!" Reiko shouted.

"Ones that fail?" Jade remarked.

"As I said, your defences are pathetic failures as well!" Reiko reviewed angrily. "The amount of villages I managed to seize control of before finally failing at Sun Do, which still required the aid of that fat slob you call a Protector God!"

"Wh-" Jade went to reply but was interrupted.

"I'm not finished!" Reiko yelled. "Sun Do has already been successfully pillaged by the Kahn Guard before! It makes sense that you'd heighten defences, but how many other villages have been neglected?! I easily ran through Makeba with a small squadron!"

"Wait…" Li Mei spoke up. "How do you know of the attack on Sun Do?"

"Who do you think sent out the soldiers?!" Reiko questioned. "Your wicked mother killed the first group I sent!"

"They threatened innocents!"

"They weren't granting the Emperor his well earned tribute!" Reiko countered. "How is your village innocent?!"

"Those taxes were absurd!" Li Mei complained. "There was no feasible way for us to pay any tribute even if we banded together as an entire village!"

"That's your problem, not the Kahn Guard's!" Reiko believed. "When we learnt what had happened with your village's defiance, I went to the Emperor personally.'

"You did what?!"

"I couldn't let your pathetic community get away with this!" Reiko shouted as Li Mei clenched tightly to her Kunlun Dao. "I made sure to get the news of this under the Emperor's skin, convinced him to personally pay Sun Do a village!"

"He slaughtered so many when he came!" Li Mei furiously recalled the traumatic event. "Including my mother! Then he forced me to join the Kahn Guard or else he'd slaughter the rest of my village!"

"I know! It's another thing I do not regret!" Reiko said firmly. "I'm glad what happened to your mother, and I only wish I could've continued in his steps by slaughtering the rest of her bloodline!"

"Enough!" Jade yelled before turning to check on Li as tears poured from her eyes. "I told you he's not worth listening to, dear, are you okay?"

"You're both delusional monsters, to the same extent that you think I am," Reiko told them as he reached up. "I too am done talking to you!"

"No!" Li Mei screamed as she saw Reiko calling for the Wrath Hammer as it flew back into the room.

Li Mei dropped the Kunlun Dao and managed to shove Jade out of the way before the Wrath Hammer could hit her, repaying her for saving her earlier. Li then grabbed the hammer out of the air as she had done so at the start of their fight, spinning around and slamming the heavy weapon over Reiko's skull. She did not stop at one blow, however, she continued with a barrage of blows to the head using the Wrath Hammer. Li Mei yelled as she aggressively attacked, enraged by Reiko's horrid revelation.

"This is for Jade!"

"This is for Topaz!"

"This is for my Mother!"

"This is for Sun Do!"

"This is for Outworld!"

"Li!"

Li Mei suddenly paused as Jade carefully pulled the Wrath Hammer away from her. Li processed what she had done, staring at Reiko's now dead body with his face completely unrecognisable from the repeated swings of the Wrath Hammer. Li wiped tears from her eyes as she tried to calm down through death breaths.

"I'm sorry…" Li Mei apologised. "That was… barbaric… of me…"

"I don't blame you, dear," Jade said reassuringly as she placed a gentle hand on one of her tired shoulders. "It had to be done, one way or another, and I can't say he didn't deserve the way you chose."

"How's Topaz?" Li Mei asked as she picked up her Kunlun Dao.

"She's safe," Jade replied with Li letting out a relieved sigh. "We'll be fine, love."

"Thank you," Li Mei said as she kissed her on the lips.

"Let's get out of this place," Jade decided after kissing her back. "Come along!"

As Li Mei and Jade headed over to check on the escapees of Sabar City, the conflict within the city walls hadn't ceased yet. Whilst many warriors were still occupied in battles on the streets, especially due to the sudden arrival and betrayal of the Osh-Tekk army, the important battle continued at Mileena's Fortress which was at risk of losing its ownership again very soon.

Kotal and his soldiers atop the mountain had broken through the main gates to the stronghold after leaving the exterior defences either dead or bleeding out. They began marching into the neatly decorated courtyard. More Tarkatans and guards ran out but Kotal paid no attention to them, leaving Epos to have to command the troops in the ongoing fight. Kotal and a couple of Osh-Tekk warriors who were carting his mysterious totem stack behind him just walked on by, searching for the throne room. Some guards chased after Kotal, circling him as he entered the hall. Kotal laughed as he brushed his macuahuitl against the enchanted totem stones, the blade being coated in a magical teal aura. With a single swing, the aura detached from the macuahuitl, creating an energy sweep which sliced through all the guards as if a massive blade had just flown through the hallway.

"What was that?!" One totem carrying soldier asked, concerned by the sight they had witnessed.

"Just a small sample of the power of the Osh-Tekk's secret magic," Kotal replied. "Secrets which my father hid."

"Fall back!" Karbrac yelled as he and Korhau led the Tarkatans inside as they rushed past Kotal. The forces had become overwhelming and they failed to prevent the full squadron from stepping inside the stronghold.

"Follow those dogs!" Kotal demanded.

The Tarkatan forces had unknowingly led Kotal directly towards his target: the throne room. They quickly tried barricading themselves within the room, however, Kotal immediately launched his Yeyecame Disc, breaking down the doors as they stepped inside the room, the Tarkatan squadron being the only thing standing between Kotal and the throne of Outworld. The throne room was an open space, but not as large as Shao Kahn's room once was. Renovations had reduced the size of the room due to the need for more guest rooms rather than using the throne room as a gathering place, as Mileena didn't feel comfortable hosting meetings whilst sat on a fancy throne. This made the room very crowded as a standoff took place.

"Make room for the totems!" Kotal demanded as he shoved Epos aside.

The totem carrying soldiers pushed through and dropped the enchanted totem stack on the marble floor, the weight leaving a crack where it rested. The Tarkatans had headed to the throne room as their leader was waiting in the room, and they wished to consult him on how to deal with this situation, but were now even more trapped than before.

"Baraka," Kotal acknowledged. "Step forth!"

Baraka hobbled in front of his group, his leg issues worsening overtime. Despite this, he extended his blades, ready to protect his people and realm at all costs.

"I never trusted you," Baraka commented. "Our alliances with the Osh-Tekk were thanks to your father, not you!"

"Because I have a vision superior to your lovers," Kotal claimed.

"Some dreams you cannot manifest," Baraka replied. "Whose vision is this anyway? Reiko's… or yours?"

"That's a good question!" Epos yelled as he stepped in front of Kotal. "Are you actually with the Kahn Guard?! Or are you just in it for yourself!"

"I-" Kotal response was interrupted by the screams of an approaching soldier.

"He's dead!" Cried the Kahn Guard warrior as they barged into the room.

"Who is?!" Epos asked.

"Reiko!"

"At last!" Baraka yelled as Kotal smiled to himself. "Some positive news!"

"No…" Epos sobbed. "Where is his body?"

"The extermination squad I'm with found his corpse at Outworld's Parliament Hall, ma'am," the soldier announced.

"Show us!" Epos ordered as the Kahn Guard troops departed to see their fallen leader.

"Get back here!" Kotal demanded to which they ignored.

The Tarkatan forces now greatly outnumbered the remaining Osh-Tekk soldiers who weren't occupied with other matters, many being slain on the journey to break into Mileena's Fortress due to Kotal's own lack of care for their wellbeing, becoming insanely fixated on having the throne for himself. He readied his macuahuitl, prepared to send another powerful strike at the Tarkatan forces.

"If I swing this blade then this magic will rip your squadron apart," Kotal warned.

"He's not lying either…" Korhau commented. "I saw the remains of the guards in the hall…"

"That's about to be all of you," Kotal said with a wicked grin as he swung his blade.

"I do not think so!" Karbrac yelled as he leapt forth, using his blades to create an energy field that absorbed the lethal magic aura as it was disintegrated by the field.

"I will wear your teeth as a crown!" Kotal shouted as he swung again at Karbrac who caught the macuahuitl between his blades.

Interrupting their struggle, Baraka pulled Karbrac behind him and took his place. Baraka then thrusted a knee strike to the chest which pushed Kotal back. He shuck it off as he and Baraka stared each other down. Baraka growled as Kotal grunted with annoyance.

"Baraka!" Karbrac called for. "You're injured!"

"I know," Baraka replied.

"I can take him!" Karbrac said confidently.

"I know," Baraka repeated.

"Then let me!" Karbrac pleaded.

"You should listen to him!" Kotal taunted. "That leg looks weak!"

"That magic," Baraka said, "I do not understand it, but I know it's dangerous."

"You mutants are smarter than you look," Kotal mocked.

"If we all stay here then his magic will kill us all!" Baraka raised his voice. "The Kahn Guard forces have departed, that is an opportunity for you all to do the same."

"What about you, Baraka?" Korhau asked.

"My injuries will only slow down your escape," Baraka stated, "and someone needs to keep this lunatic occupied."

"We won't leave you!" Karbrac yelled.

"I'm cutting through you all regardless," Kotal promised. "Maybe not today, but I will ensure that the Tarkatan race is brought to extinction!"

"You truly have lost your mind, Kotal," Baraka replied. "Or maybe this is just your true self emerging at long last?"

"The latter," Kotal confirmed. "I could never stand you savages."

"As is clear," Baraka commented. "Now… Please leave me be, friends."

"Just come with us!" Karbrac pleaded. "We can get out of here together!"

"Unfortunately not this time," Baraka told him.

"Hurry up!" Kotal demanded as he began brushing his weapon against his totems to refuel its powers.

"We don't have much time," Baraka pointed out. "You're ready to lead Tarkata, Karbrac, it no longer needs my support."

"Oh, Baraka…" Karbrac began to tear up. "Your mind really cannot be changed on this, can it?"

Baraka shook his head.

"Thank you for everything, Chief Baraka," Korhau expressed his gratitude to Baraka as the reality began to sink in of what was about to occur.

"He's the Chief of Tarkata now," Baraka announced as he pointed to Karbrac. "I'm afraid to say it but… we've failed to protect the throne… but I will make sure that this group leaves this city safely!"

"We'll miss you, Baraka," Karbrac told him. "Are you sure about this?"

"It is the best option, old friend," Baraka said as he grabbed one of his steel arm blades and tore it out his arm, grunting in pain as he offered it to Karbrac. "Here, take this."

"Baraka!" Karbrac cried out as he accepted the memento. "I love you, brother."

"I love you all," Baraka replied as the two embraced. "Tell Mileena I love her."

"I will," Karbrac promised. "Farewell for now."

"You mutants aren't going anywhere!" Kotal shouted as he directed his soldiers so that they blocked the doorway.

Baraka scraped his remaining arm blade along the one he removed as it rested in Karbrac's arms, causing several blade sparks to be blasted at rapid fire towards the soldiers, temporarily incapacitating them. Kotal gasped, taken aback by this.

"Go!" Baraka ordered as he hurled one last blade spark at Kotal. "Get to safety!"

The Tarkatans reluctantly complied, rushing off in a rare retreat for the Tarkatan warriors. Karbrac hesitated, turning back at the doorway as Baraka waved goodbye. Wiping tears from his eyes, Korhau guided him out of the stronghold. This left just Baraka as the last line of defence before Outworld's throne. The last defender.

"Was all that drama really worth it?" Kotal asked as he dusted himself off. "Once I am Emperor, I'll burn your tribe to ashes."

"You aren't capable of handling the responsibility of being a leader," Baraka stated as he pointed his remaining blade at him. "I doubt your reign would last a day."

"Too bad you won't be alive to find out," Kotal said as he charged forth.

Baraka did a full spin around with his blade extended out, slicing Kotal in the chest as he came close. Kotal staggered back, grunting in pain and rage at being outsmarted by a Tarkatan. Baraka began to beat his own chest ferociously, showing that he was still standing despite everything.

"That was luck," Kotal accused. "It matters not regardless, considering you chose to abandon one of your blades."

"One blade is all I need."

The two warriors began circling each other, eyes locked in a deadly stare. Then, with a fierce roar, Baraka this time was the one who charged forth towards Kotal in spite of his leg pains, his metal blade gleaming in the dim light of the throne room. Baraka thrusted the blade forth but Kotal sidestepped Baraka's attack, swinging his macuahuitl with all his might. The spiked blades covering the sides of the unique sword clashed against Baraka's blades as he ducked the powerful aura that was exuded from the weapon, sending sparks flying in all directions. Baraka, however, quickly found a way to break free from the struggle again, this time by landing a swift kick to Kotal's stomach. Kotal stumbled back, his breath escaping him in a painful gasp. Baraka seized the opportunity and lunged on top of Kotal's body, his blade aimed at impaling Kotal's back. But Kotal was too quick, dodging to the side with a roll and then running back into action by landing a powerful right hook to Baraka's face. Baraka staggered back, blood trickling from his nose. But he was not deterred. With a fierce roar, he charged forward once more, his arm blade flashing in the air. Kotal met him head-on, the two warriors exchanging blow for blow. Their weapons clashed repeatedly, each blow ringing out through the throne room.

The duel was a violent uncontrollable deadly dance, each fighter trying to outmanoeuvre and overpower the other. As more blows were landed down with punches, kicks and weapons clashing throughout the room, Kotal began to gain the upper hand. His strength and skill were far superior due to Baraka's injuries, and he was able to land several devastating slices with his macuahuitl to Baraka's body. Baraka, however, refused to give up, fighting with every ounce of his being despite blood pouring down his attire, coating his primarily white tunic in red. Baraka threw his head into the mix, headbutting Kotal before sinking his teeth onto his left ear, ripping it off and spitting it back in Kotal's face in one last act of defiance to Kotal's uprising. An enraged Kotal then kicked Baraka in his injured ankle as hard as he could, causing the Tarkatan warrior to trip back into the totem stack. Kotal began trying to drain more of the mysterious powers the totems offered, but Baraka tackled him to the floor before he could utilise the strange totems any further. Baraka pressed his blade against Kotal's neck, about to slit the monster's throat. But he was interrupted by a soldier who had recovered from the blade spark blast! The soldier dragged Baraka off of Kotal, only to have their throat cut instead. The soldier collapsed, dying quickly, which Kotal saw that Baraka would now share such a fate. Emerging from behind and picking up his macuahuitl, Kotal drove the massive blade through Baraka's back, the massive sword impaling Baraka through the heart and emerging out of his chest. Kotal, exhausted from the fight, released his grip on the macuahuitl and Baraka collapsed to the floor. The Outworld hero had been slain…

Kotal stood over his fallen opponent, victorious. But even as he basked in his triumph, he knew that the fight had taken its toll. He was battered and bruised, and his breathing came in ragged gasps. Slowly, he made his way towards the Outworld throne, taking a seat with a weary sigh. The fight had been a difficult one, but in the end, he had emerged victorious. As he sat there, his mind already turning to his next battle, he couldn't help but feel a surge of pride. Kotal was now the emperor of Outworld, and no one could defeat him…