On a nearby hill, the Lin Kuei cryomancer Kuai Liang – better
known as Sub-Zero, lies on his belly overlooking the quarry
with a spyglass. His gaze focuses on an underground entrance built
into one of the rocky hills of the quarry. Several converted
cyborgs are carrying equipment further into the complex.
As Sub-Zero continues to observe, a yellow garbed ninja sneaks
up behind him. Sensing his approach, Sub-Zero looks away from
the spyglass and turns around just as the ninja pulls out his
ninjato sword. He is unable to do anything more as the faster
ninja brings his sword to bear, pointing it in his direction.
Sub-Zero finally gets a good look at the ninja and his face sags
in bemusement.
NINJA: Your hearing is failing, Sub-Zero.
SUB-ZERO: I recognized your footsteps, Hanzo.
The ninja is indeed Hanzo Hasashi – once known as Scorpion, but no
longer. Hanzo puts his sword back in its sheath as Sub-Zero gets
to his feet.
SCORPION: Where’s Sektor? I will not let him threaten my clan
again.
SUB-ZERO: The old Cyber Lin Kuei factory was defunct, buried
beneath this quarry – until the time disruption. Now, Sektor’s
returned and reactivated it. He’s building an army by processing
Lin Kuei warriors kidnapped from my temple.
SCORPION: I can see why you need me.
Sub-Zero points to the entrance.
SUB-ZERO: We could enter through that tunnel, but a frontal
assault would be…
SCORPION: Bloody.
SUB-ZERO: …needlessly dangerous.
Sub-Zero hands Hanzo his spyglass.
SUB-ZERO: There’s another entrance, less populated.
Hanzo initially looks in the wrong direction, prompting Sub-Zero
to gently move his sight to the side entrance he refers to.
SCORPION: And the rest of your plan?
SUB-ZERO: We get help on the inside.
The two Grandmasters look to the quarry and say no more. The
scene cuts to the side-entrance. A single Cyber Lin Kuei stands
on guard. Sub-Zero and Scorpion sneak up behind it and stab
it repeatedly – Scorpion with his kunai, Sub-Zero with a
constructed ice dagger. Once the multiple stabbings bring the
cyborg to its knees, the Grandmasters finish the job by
simultaneously stabbing the cyborg through the joints
connecting its neck to its shoulders. With the guard dead,
Sub-Zero and Scorpion run down the entrance way into the complex.
The scene cuts to inside the factory itself. Sub-Zero and Scorpion
enter a large room and take in the spectacle before them.
Sub-Zero’s eyes widen as he glances over machinery designed to
convert living humans into cybernetic monstrosities. He walks
past human heads stuffed into glass tubes and sealed in an
unknown liquid.
Under his feet are bloodied corpses with their skin flayed off
their bodies. He spots a badge covered in blood and bends down to
pick it up. Despair sets on his face as he realises the badge is
one of the Lin Kuei’s – meaning the corpses around him are of his
own clan. Hanzo puts a reassuring hand on Kuai Liang’s shoulder.
SCORPION: We’ll avenge your clan.
A whirring sound catches the Grandmasters’ attention and they
run for cover as the doors behind them open. Two new figures
enter the room. The first is a cyborg covered with a yellow
paint job, and the second is the hooded woman seen at Kronika’s
side. The woman is carrying a vial of Jinsei, which she puts
into one of the machines in the room.
As she does so, a nearby buzzsaw comes to life and starts
bisecting a body strapped to a circular operating table. Another
buzzsaw chops the head off a flayed corpse, and another device
brings forth an unactivated cyborg body. Both the Grandmasters
observe this process, looking toward the yellow cyborg.
SCORPION: Cyrax is your inside man?
SUB-ZERO: He was converted against his will. If we disable the
behaviour inhibitors that control him…
SCORPION: …He will turn on Sektor.
SUB-ZERO: All Cyber Lin Kuei are linked to a common network.
Cyrax can shut them down from within.
SCORPION: Who is the woman?
SUB-ZERO: I don’t know. Focus on disabling Cyrax. He’s the key.
As they walk, Cyrax looks over to the woman.
CYRAX: We require additional candidates for cyberization.
WOMAN: Once delivered, how long before the next generation is
ready?
Just as she finishes her sentence, she is blasted in the back by
an ice ball from Sub-Zero and frozen solid. As the Lin Kuei
Grandmaster finishes a slide and strides forth, Cyrax charges in
to attack. But before he can get close, Scorpion teleports in from
behind and grapples Cyrax in a full nelson hold.
As Hanzo struggles with Cyrax, the ice surrounding the unknown
woman cracks and she breaks free. Her hooded garment is
destroyed in the process, revealing that she is in fact a cyborg
as well. She turns to face Sub-Zero, who’s face narrows in
disgust.
SUB-ZERO: Frost.
Frost generates some ice magic of her own and blasts the ground
near Hanzo’s feet, forcing him to let go of Cyrax. As Hanzo
regroups, Sub-Zero approaches Frost.
SUB-ZERO: I gave you a home. I was your mentor. Yet after all
this, you ally with Sektor? He corrupted the Lin Kuei!
FROST: YOU corrupted our clan when you made peace with this
Shirai Ryu filth! With Kronika’s help, I will restore the Lin
Kuei’s honor.
—–
[PLAYER CHOOSES SUB-ZERO]
SUB-ZERO: Keep Cyrax alive. We need him.
As Scorpion walks off to the side, Sub-Zero walks toward his now
former pupil.
SUB-ZERO: There is no future in which you are fit to lead the Lin
Kuei.
FROST: You always doubted me, Sub-Zero. Held me back. Kronika sees
my true potential.
They fight. Frost displays not only a frightening control over
her latent ice powers, but entirely new abilities as a result
of her cybernetic upgrades. She is stronger and faster than ever
before. But Sub-Zero’s experience and power proves to be more than
Frost can handle, and she is soon defeated by her master.
SUB-ZERO: You deceive yourself, Frost.
Scorpion blocks multiple strikes from Cyrax and hits a double palm
blow that forces him back. Cyrax readies his buzzsaw gauntlet and
swipes, narrowly missing Hanzo’s neck. The Shirai Ryu Grandmaster
evades two more swipes before hitting a second double palm blow
that sends Cyrax staggering.
[PLAYER CHOOSES SCORPION]
SCORPION: Help Cyrax. I’ll discipline your former pupil.
As Sub-Zero walks off to the side, Scorpion strides towards Frost.
FROST: I should have killed you the day Sub-Zero invited you to our
temple.
SCORPION: You tried and failed.
FROST: Not this time. Now… you die.
They fight. Frost’s ice powers have only been magnified by her
cybernetic upgrades, and they make her faster and stronger than
she was when she first faced Hanzo at the Lin Kuei temple. But
Hanzo’s control over hellfire is a natural counter to her
cryomancy, and despite her best efforts Frost is once again
defeated by Scorpion.
SCORPION: Sub-Zero can decide your fate.
Sub-Zero blocks several strikes from Cyrax, but is forced to
backpedal when the cyborg swings his buzzsaw hand out. Sub-Zero
blocks a righthook and punches Cyrax in the gut, lands a follow up
punch to his face and a roundhouse kick that sends the cyborg
staggering.
—–
Cyrax rights himself and faces down the two Grandmasters. Behind
him, several more cyber Lin Kuei – all in white armor as opposed
to Cyrax’s gold – activate and jump down from their restraints.
SUB-ZERO: The upgrade, Cyrax. Is this Kronika’s doing?
CYRAX: To better serve her, Sub-Zero. We defend Kronika as she
re-writes history.
The cybernetic Lin Kuei advance toward Sub-Zero and Scorpion. Both
men ready themselves.
SCORPION: So you’re nothing but pawns?
CYRAX: We act to secure the Lin Kuei’s glory in the New Era.
—–
[PLAYER CHOOSES SUB-ZERO]
SUB-ZERO: (To Scorpion) Take the others.
As Sub-Zero walks off to face down Cyrax, Scorpion charges the
other cyber assassins. The nearest one steps into a fighting
stance, but Hanzo teleports behind it and slams into the
cyborg on its left with a flying kick, instantly disabling it.
Scorpion teleports again, this time to the other side. He sweeps
another cyborg and disables it with a fist to the chest.
Again he teleports, this time judo-throwing the first cyborg to
the ground. He punches it in the cranium to disable it, teleports
again and takes out a fourth cyborg by swiping his chained kunai
twice across its chest. He then throws the kunai at a fifth
cyborg, embedding the weapon in its chest.
SCORPION: COME ‘ERE!
He pulls on the chain, hauling the cyborg across the room and
into the final cyborg, taking them both out. He then teleports
away in a flash of hellfire to see off any reinforcements.
During this time, Sub-Zero and Cyrax approach one another.
SUB-ZERO: You’ve been enslaved, Cyrax. First by Sektor, now by
Kronika. It ends today.
They fight. Cyrax’s cybernetic upgrades and his formidable arsenal
would be more than a match for any normal human, but Sub-Zero
has beaten him before, and he has only grown in strength and power
since then. Taking care not to cause too much damage, Kuai Liang
soon overpowers his ex-comrade and defeats him. Scorpion rejoins
him just as the fight draws to a close.
SUB-ZERO: You will be freed.
[PLAYER CHOOSES SCORPION]
SCORPION: (To Sub-Zero) I’ll deal with Cyrax.
As Scorpion walks off toward Cyrax, Sub-Zero generates ice from
the water vapour in the air around him. After gathering it close
into his hands, he extends his palms toward the cybernetic
assassins. The ice pours out like a blizzard and all of the
cyborgs are instantly frozen solid.
During this time, Scorpion and Cyrax face each other down.
CYRAX: You will be forced to serve.
SCORPION: I’ve been down that road, Cyrax. Never again.
They fight. While Cyrax’s skill as an assassin and his lethal
weapons are only amplified by his cybernetic upgrades, Scorpion’s
power over hellfire and his skill in battle remain unmatched.
Using as minimal force as possible, Hanzo Hasashi manages to
overcome Cyrax’s assault and leave him defeated on the ground.
SCORPION: No one should be a slave.
—–
The two Grandmasters approach Cyrax’s beaten form. Sub-Zero
generates more ice from the air and uses it to weaken part of
Cyrax’s back armor. He pulls a section of metal off, exposing the
circuitry below.
SCORPION: Hurry, before we face more Cyber Lin Kuei.
SUB-ZERO: He’ll need a moment to initialise.
Sub-Zero fiddles with the circuitry. After a moment, Cyrax’s eyes
light back up. Suddenly, Scorpion is struck from behind by a flash
of dark magic. The magic dissipates as quickly as it formed,
leaving no visible sign that it was ever there. Sub-Zero and
Scorpion look around, falsely presuming they are dealing with
an invisible opponent.
SUB-ZERO: Sektor? Show yourself!
Instead of Sektor, a new figure teleports in front of them with
another swirl of dark magic. Kuai Liang recoils in surprise, but
steels himself at the sight before him. It is his brother, the man
once known as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero before him, but now known only
as the wraith Noob Saibot.
NOOB: Recognise me, little brother?
SUB-ZERO: Bi-Han?!
NOOB: Yes. It is I.
SCORPION: You were killed – swallowed in a storm of souls.
NOOB: Quan Chi’s creations do not die easily. Kronika offers me a
new clan to lead.
He shifts into a fighting stance. A shadow clone of himself jumps
out of his body to his side, standing in the same stance.
NOOB: Its shadow will darken the realms.
Scorpion and Sub-Zero both jump into fighting stances as well,
with Sub-Zero preparing another ice ball.
—–
[PLAYER CHOOSES SUB-ZERO]
Sub-Zero breaks off his ice attack.
SUB-ZERO: (To Scorpion) Leave Bi-Han to me.
As Scorpion moves to side to check over Cyrax, Kuai Liang walks
toward his brother.
NOOB: You always mimicked me. But you make a poor Grandmaster.
SUB-ZERO: I uphold the Lin Kuei principles I thought you shared.
They fight. Since his death, Bi-Han’s dark powers have continued
to grow stronger, but Kuai Liang’s own powers were always stronger
than his. After an intense exchange, it is the younger and
current Sub-Zero who emerges victorious.
SUB-ZERO: We share blood. We are not brothers.
[PLAYER CHOOSES SCORPION]
SCORPION: (To Sub-Zero) I’ve beaten your brother before.
Sub-Zero moves off to the side to watch over Cyrax as Scorpion
steps forward and prepares his kunai.
NOOB: Quan Chi unleashed your vengeance. Without him? You are weak.
They fight. Bi-Han may have gained immense new powers following
his death and enslavement by Quan Chi, but he is facing the man
who overcame and destroyed the Netherrealm sorcerer. Hanzo
Hasashi’s skills and experience in battle gives him the edge
in the fight, and eventually victory.
SCORPION: My strength is more than vengeance.
—–
By the time the fight has finished, Cyrax awakens and begins
to pull himself back to his feet. He gratefully takes a helping
hand up from Sub-Zero, and as he stands he takes a look at his
robotic hands, realising what has happened to him.
CYRAX: No! He ripped out my heart, made me a machine…
SUB-ZERO: Your soul is intact, Cyrax. Trust me, I speak from
experience.
CYRAX: Kuai Liang, is that you? You look so old. And…
He looks over at the man who walks over to Sub-Zero.
CYRAX: …Scorpion?
SCORPION: We’ll explain later. For now, know that we share the
same goal: the Cyber Lin Kuei’s destruction.
SUB-ZERO: We need your help, Cyrax.
CYRAX: I can disable their communications network. It’ll shut
down this factory and every Cyber Lin Kuei connected to it.
Across the room from them, a multitude of missiles are launched,
homing in at a rapid speed in their direction. Moments before
impact, Cyrax fires out his digitized trapping net, which
catches the missiles and detonates them before they can wipe out
the threesome.
There is no mistaking who fired the missiles. Sub-Zero and
Scorpion get into fighting stances, while Cyrax merely stares
down the robotic nemesis walking into the room. His cyborg
form is coloured dark red, and he retains his higher thoughts,
twisted as they are by his methods.
SEKTOR: Frost warned me that you two had become allies. I did
not think you capable of such dishonour, Sub-Zero.
—–
[PLAYER CHOOSES SUB-ZERO]
SUB-ZERO: (To Scorpion) Aid Cyrax. Sektor is mine.
Scorpion motions to Cyrax and they run off to one side. Sektor
shoots out a blast of flames from his wrist gauntlet, but Sub-Zero
shoots a ray of ice that solidifies into a minature glacier when
it contacts the flames. After a few moments, the flames
absorbed by the ice cause it to explode outwards, almost causing
Sub-Zero to stagger, but he quickly faces Sektor once more.
SUB-ZERO: I’ve taken your head once, Sektor. I will do it again.
SEKTOR: The past you know is no longer set. The Cyber Lin Kuei
will usher in Kronika’s New Era.
They fight. Sektor remains as deadly as he ever was when
Sub-Zero faced him in the past, with his numerous gadgets and
weapons only enhanced by his cybernetic augmentations. But it
is still not enough to overcome the cryomantic strength of
Sub-Zero, who once again is able to defeat his nemesis.
SUB-ZERO: The Cyber Lin Kuei are finished.
[PLAYER CHOOSES SCORPION]
SCORPION: (To Sub-Zero) I’ll stop Sektor. Help Cyrax.
Sub-Zero and Cyrax both move off to one side. Sektor shoots out
a blast of flames from his wrist gauntlet, and in response
Scorpion merely flexes his arms and takes the blast full on his
chest. After a good five seconds, it becomes clear that Sektor’s
fire has no effect on a man who can control the fires of Hell
itself. Nonetheless, the cyborg still keeps at it.
SCORPION: You started this fire. Selling out your clan so Quan Chi
would slaughter mine.
At these words, Sektor finally stops the barrage and prepares
to fight conventionally.
SEKTOR: He should have killed you as he promised. Now I finish
what he could not.
They fight. Even with his cybernetic upgrades and abilities,
Sektor is no match for the skill, speed and powers of Hanzo
Hasashi. Fighting with a fury not seen since he killed Quan Chi,
Scorpion leaves Sektor a broken mess on the ground before him.
SCORPION: For Harumi and Satoshi.
——
With Sektor defeated, Cyrax places his hand on a computer
interface. The scanner quickly grants him access.
CYRAX: I’m in. I’ll reformat the system drives and shut us all
down.
He takes his hand off the interface and looks to Sub-Zero.
CYRAX: Goodbye, Kuai Liang.
SUB-ZERO: It is not the end. I will find a way to restore you.
Anything is possible. Hanzo and I are living proof.
CYRAX: Please, don’t bring me back as a machine. I can’t live
like this.
SUB-ZERO: Machine or man, you have a warrior’s soul. As long as
I am Grandmaster, the Lin Kuei will welcome you.
CYRAX: Then until we meet again.
They shake hands. Cyrax walks over to a section of the wall and
tears it off, exposing several large wires. He grabs two and
rips them apart. Immediately, warning lights flash throughout
the complex and Cyrax falls to the floor, his cybernetic body
sparking and falling non-responsive. Electricity sparks shower
throughout the rest of the facility.
In the confusion, Frost runs over to Noob Saibot, who is
kneeling over Sektor’s unresponsive form. The three of them
are engulfed by one of Kronika’s sand tornados and teleported
from the facility.
SCORPION: They’ve escaped! We should pursue.
SUB-ZERO: First we speak with Raiden.
As the facility continues to shut down, both Grandmasters look
down on Cyrax’s motionless form, saying nothing more.
The scene cuts to the inside of Kronika’s Keep. Three figures
stride down one of its passageways – Geras, Kano and Erron Black.
KANO: Our lady Kronika’ll get all the service she needs. But I
can’t quote a fee until I know the job.
GERAS: You will see.
They enter a room with Sektor’s body on a table.
GERAS: Can you restore him?
Kano looks over Sektor, using his metallic eye to shoot out
infrared rays and scan the cyborg’s inner workings. Several
areas of Sektor appear on a nearby monitor showing damage
in multiple areas.
KANO: There’s some frame damage, circuitry looks good.
He deactivates the eye scanner.
KANO: But it looks like someone did a software wipe. Fixing
that won’t come cheap.
GERAS: Once he is repaired, can he be replicated? Hundreds of
times? Thousands?
Kano and Erron exchange looks, then lean toward each other
to converse.
ERRON: That’s a tall order.
KANO: But anything’s possible, with the right help.
GERAS: Serve Kronika and she will provide.
Another voice cuts into the conversation.
UNSEEN: Take the deal. Trust me.
The voice is all too familiar, and the man who walks into the
room is none other than Kano – looking twenty-five years older
but every bit as rugged and malicious as his younger self.
O. KANO: Otherwise, who can you trust?
Young Kano walks over to his future namesake, and both
leaders of the Black Dragon admirably size each other up.
O. KANO: You weren’t kidding. S’like a mirror, reflecting the
past.
Y. KANO: How about that? Over fifty and still a ripper.
He punches his older self on the shoulder, which is not even
felt by the elder. Erron coughs loudly before the two Kanos
can get any more intimate.
ERRON: There’s still the matter of our fee.
O. KANO: We get paid in the New Era. Kronika’ll make sure the
Black Dragon come out on top. Not only in the black market…
in every market.
Y. KANO: Right then. Let’s get to business.
The scene cuts to the Special Forces headquarters. Sonya is
chatting with Jax over cups of coffee. Nearby, Jacqui is typing
on a communications device. The camera focuses on the screen, and
the device displays “Calling Dad” over a picture of Jacqui and her
father, the elder Jackson Briggs. The call is interrupted with a
red bar displaying “Call Failed”.
Jacqui ends the call, looking concerned and agitated at not being
able to reach her father. The older Johnny Cage walks over to her.
JOHNNY: Reach your dad yet, kid?
JACQUI: The network’s still down. I hate being so far away. Dad
must be climbing the walls.
JOHNNY: Be patient. You’ll get through.
They both look over to the younger Jax.
JACQUI: I know my dad’s still alive, but… it’s like I’m seeing
a ghost.
JOHNNY: You and me both. But they aren’t ghosts. Oh… they’re
definitely real.
JACQUI: Can this get any more bizarre?
The scene cuts to a farm in the countryside, amidst the sunset
of autumn. The name “BRIGGS” is displayed on a nearby postbox,
which is full to the brim with unopened mail. The camera pans over
to a house that is in need of some paint work.
The camera cuts to inside the hallway of the house. On the walls
are pictures of a young Jax in his military uniform, an older
Jax posing with his daughter, then two separate pictures of
Jax and Jacqui wearing boxing gloves in fighting stances.
As more pictures of Jacqui as a child posing next to her father
appear, along with a child’s drawing of Jax pounding the ground to
send the sorcerer Quan Chi into the air, we hear sounds of kitchen
objects being moved around. We see two more pictures of Jax and
Jacqui in full military dress with an American flag draped behind
them, and one final picture of Jacqui as a child, her arms
around her father’s neck (and holding a cuddly toy dog with shades
and a beret).
With this last picture, the camera finally shows the elder Jackson
Briggs, frantically searching a nearby desk, before slamming it
shut in frustration. He walks over to his refridgerator and hauls
it up effortlessly with one hand, feeling under it with the other
but finding nothing.
JAX: Oh, come on, damn it!
He lifts up the seat of his armchair, finding nothing once more,
then turns to some papers on another desk. He quickly moves them
apart and locates an identical communicator to the one Jacqui had
earlier. He activates it at once.
JAX: Come on, come on…
The camera focuses on the screen, and the device displays “Calling
Jacqui” over the picture of child Jacqui with her arms around
her father seen earlier. The call is interrupted with a red circle
which displays the words “Connection Failed” beneath it.
Jax begins to shake in nervous anxiety. Frustrated, he hurls the
device across the room and sits down in his armchair. Far from
relaxing though, he leans forward and puts his head in his hands,
falling into despair.
The camera slowly pans upwards, then cuts to the same location
hours later. Jax has fallen asleep in his chair, a beer in his
hand and leftover pizza on a nearby table, the only light coming
from the television across the room flickering with static but
showing nothing else.
As he sleeps, the beer slowly tilts from his relaxing hand and
begins to fall, spilling its contents toward the floor… until
time stops and the bottle’s motion with it. With a swirl of
sand magic, Kronika teleports into the room and walks toward
Jax.
KRONIKA: Jackson Briggs.
Jax awakens at the sound of his name, but makes no effort to
confront the intruder in his house. Kronika looks at him with what
appears to be pity and remorse.
KRONIKA: Do not fear. I have come to offer you a new life – a
better life.
JAX: That’s awfully generous, seeing as we’ve never met.
KRONIKA: We have not met, but I know you. How valiantly you served,
how horribly you have suffered. That was not my plan for you.
JAX: Your plan?
KRONIKA: You were to retire distinguished, not in disgrace. Years
from now. General Jackson Briggs. More importantly, your daughter
was not to serve, nor endure the same tragedies you have.
She looks to the pictures on the wall.
KRONIKA: Your home should be filled with grandchildren. Help me
and it will be.
Jax looks to her, his face uncertain but pondering the weight
of her words.
The scene cuts to Outworld, inside a beautiful temple garden.
Luscious plants surround the walls, while patches of mildew adorn
the marble steps. A waterfall flows into a nearby fountain, and
standing on the steps are Raiden, Jade, and Kotal Kahn.