In the center of the cage – filled with broken bottles, used bed
mattresses and other assorted junk – Sonya sits up and tries to
get her bearings. A voice chimes in over the loudspeakers
Y. KANO Rise and shine, Sonya.
Sonya gets back to her feet. She looks down at her arms and finds
that she’s no longer wearing her wrist gauntlets.
SONYA Wha…
Y. KANO Yeah, you won’t be needing that stuff, love.
She looks up to the top of the cage, which is covered by patches
of razorwire. Both Young and Old Kano look down at her from a
makeshift stage.
Y. KANO One thing we Black Dragon know, there’s no fun in a fair
fight.
A heavy door opens offscreen and a newcomer makes their way
through the crowd, who all step away from them. The newcomer is
Kabal – the unburnt young Kabal from another timeline. He looks
up to the stage that both Kano’s are on.
KABAL So Sonya’s the skank who burns me
O. KANO Oh, she more than burns you, Kabal. She goes black-ops on
your arse. Shocks, knives, the bloody works. Patched you back
together meself. Well, most of you.
Kabal’s eyes narrow in anger and he clenches his fists in rage.
KABAL She’s dead.
The crowd around him start cheering encouragement. Young Kano
looks over to his older self.
Y. KANO Miss Law and Order really does that to him
O. KANO Nah. But now he’s motivated.
Both Kanos smirk in an identical fashion. Below them, two Black
Dragon goons open the cage door. Upon spotting the open door,
Sonya immediately turns and makes a run for it, but she is
bowled over as Kabal charges her with his super speed. Evidently,
whichever timeline this Kabal is from, he had the speed even
before being burned by Kintaro and healed by Shang Tsung’s magic.
Sonya picks herself up as Kabal slides to a halt in front of her.
KABAL Hope you’re ready for some pre-emptive vengeance.
SONYA What the hell are you talking about, Kabal
KABAL You, torturing me to get dirt on the Black Dragon.
They fight. Augmented with Black Dragon technology and weapons,
this version of Kabal is no less deadly then his revenant
counterpart, and Sonya is at a further disadvantage without
her wrist gauntlets. But she still has years of Special Forces
training and fighting experience, and Sonya calls on everything
she’s learned to take the fight back to Kabal. After a brutal
exchange, she finally leaves the Black Dragon lackey down and
out.
SONYA Don’t believe every rumour you hear.
She looks out toward the crowd around her.
SONYA I’m done entertaining you clowns!
She turns toward both the Kano’s overlooking her.
SONYA Get in here, you cowards!
Across the bar, two more goons drag in a semi-conscious person.
Y. KANO Tempting, love. But we think our next contender is a
beaut.
Sonya looks over to the cage door and to the person the goons
are dragging in. She recognises him immediately.
SONYA Shit.
The door is opened and the goons chuck the young Johnny Cage
into the arena, to the cheers of the crowd around them. Sonya
immediately runs past Johnny and through the open door, but
she is quickly grabbed by the goons and shoved back into the
cage. They slam the door on her again, and despite her best
efforts she is unable to force it open. She then turns back
to the badly beaten Johnny and helps him to his feet.
SONYA I won’t fight him!
The crowd starts booing. Bottles of beer are thrown at the
cage and shatter into pieces.
Y. KANO You’ll damn sure fight, or you’ll both die!
SONYA Cut the shit! You’ll kill us whether we fight or not!
Y. KANO Ah, you caught me, love. But put on a good show, eh
It’ll be less painful.
Now standing on his own, Johnny tries to assume a fighting
stance. It becomes quite clear that he’s doing all he can to
even remain upright.
JOHNNY C’mon. You’ve been dyin’ to hit me all day. Here’s your
chance.
SONYA And give them the satisfaction of watching us fight Like
hell.
JOHNNY You said it they’ll kill us whether we fight or not.
Fighting buys us time to find a way out. So… quit being a diva
and hit me!
Reluctantly, Sonya assumes a fighting stance. Young Kano lightly
punches his older self in glee and anticipation. After some
hesitation, Sonya cocks her right fist and punches Johnny square
on the nose, drawing blood. The crowd roar in delight as Johnny
tries to get his bearings.
Sonya then delivers a barrage of punches to Johnny’s ribs, and
Cage is so battered that he can’t even block the strikes.
Nonetheless, he remains standing from the assault.
SONYA Take a dive!
JOHNNY No way. These people know a dive when they see one.
Grimacing to herself, Sonya winds up for another punch. Before
she can hit Johnny again though, a garage door to the bar is
blown open with a massive explosion, throwing aside the two
guards standing next to it. As Sonya stops, Johnny finally falls
to his knees.
Cassie charges into the Black Dragon bar, firing her dual pistols.
Behind her, a Special Forces squadron charge in as well, firing
their assault rifles in much the same manner. Two Black Dragon
goons try to return fire but they are cut down by Cassie’s bullets.
Two more close in but Cassie leaps into the air and knocks them
both aside with a mid-air split kick. She lands on her feet,
raises her pistols to either side and shoots two more thugs
through the head.
Cassie shoots another goon with a perfect headshot, shoots a
female goon in the leg, then as she goes down to one knee, Cassie
steps onto her shoulder and springs off, perforating the goon’s
back with bullets as she lands. A male thug tries to put a pistol
to Cassie’s head, but she blocks his arm with her own, then shoots
another nearby thug through the head. She turns back to the thug
who tried to shoot her and blows the brains out of another
charging goon by firing a shot over his shoulder.
The thug pulls out a knife and tries to stab Cassie with his
free hand, but Cassie smacks her pistol into the side of his head.
He drops the knife and Cassie jumps onto him, locking her legs
around his waist and rolling backwards. The resulting flip ends
with the thug on his back and Cassie on top of him. Cassie turns
around and shoots both a charging female and male goon through the
head, before standing up and running further into the bar, flanked
by her fellow squad members. She and they open fire on the crowd
before them.
Back in the cage, Sonya helps Johnny back to his feet. On the
stage, Young Kano angrily motions with his head to a third
person standing with them – the young Erron Black. Erron steps
down from the stage, ignoring the fighting between the Black
Dragon thugs and the Special Forces. Both Kanos remain where
they are, both now wearing equal looks of contempt and anger.
The cage was padlocked by the thugs shortly after Johnny was
thrown into the cage. Both Sonya and Johnny kick at the door,
but it doesn’t budge.
SONYA Three… two…
Before she can say One, the padlock is shot off by Erron.
Both Sonya and Johnny backpedal as the masked gunman opens the
cage. Johnny bravely steps in front of Sonya to face Erron down,
who promptly draws his pistol and shoots Johnny through the
arm. He recoils in pain, but charges in with a punch before
Sonya can stop him. Black easily dodges the punch and he clubs
Johnny in the back of his head with his pistol, knocking him out.
Erron pulls out his other pistol and aims directly at Johnny’s
head, but in doing so he turns his back to Sonya, who punches
his facemask before he can fire. Black turns back to her
and fires off his pistols, but Sonya rolls backwards to dodge the
shots. She rolls to her feet and dodges some more bullets with
a jumping corkscrew pirouette.
Sonya cartwheels toward Erron, avoiding his shots, and tags him
with a jumping roundhouse kick that staggers Black for a moment.
ERRON Now ain’t this a thrill. Bagging the legendary Sonya Blade.
They fight. Without her weapons, Sonya remains at the
disadvantage, but she is by no means helpless in a close quarters
battle. In his arrogance, Erron Black manages to underestimate the
fighting skill of the Special Forces lieutenant and Sonya uses
that to her advantage. The fight is intense, but eventually Sonya
manages to prevail against the Texas cowboy.
CASSIE Lieutenant!
Sonya turns around and spots Cassie running toward the cage. A
Black Dragon thug charges in and swings his fist at her, but
Cassie ducks his attack, punches him in the face and bowls him
over with a roundhouse kick. She pushes the cage door open and
walks up to Sonya.
CASSIE (Looking at Johnny) He needs a med evac. We’re gonna have
to fight our way out to the rendezvous.
She hands over a pair of wrist gauntlets.
CASSIE You’ll need these.
As Sonya takes the gauntlets and reattaches them to her wrists,
Cassie walks up to Johnny and helps him along through the chaos
of the fight club. Johnny limps along as best as he can, though
every step is clear agony for him. Sonya, Cassie and another
Special Forces soldier move alongside him. As they reach the fight
club entrance, Cassie hands Johnny over to Sonya and draws her
dual pistols. She fires directly ahead and to her sides, taking
down Black Dragon thugs before her.
The soldier to her left suddenly catches a hail of gunfire,
screaming in pain as the bullets rip through his armour and
vital organs. As he falls, Cassie guns down the goons who killed
him with precision shots.
Cassie, Johnny and Sonya step out of the club into a construction
site covered in derelict structures and vehicles. Snow has fallen
recently and it covers the ground beneath them in patches. As
they run through the site, Cassie turns around and shoots even
more charging thugs dead with pistol fire.
As Sonya and Johnny take cover behind a nearby truck, Cassie
finishes gunning down the last remaining Black Dragon goons. Just
then, the older Kano emerges from the fight club… carrying a
minigun.
O. KANO Where do you think you’re going
Cassie gasps and sprints for cover, just narrowly avoiding a
barrage of gunfire that would have torn her into shreds. She
ducks behind the truck that Sonya stands behind, while Johnny
is seated next to them, far too wounded to do much of anything
else. The truck is thankfully bulletproof, providing sufficient
cover against the deadly hail of minigun fire.
Kano stops the barrage after a moment. Cassie tenses, readying
herself to step out and shoot Kano dead, but unbeknownst to her
Kano activates an advanced X-Ray vision display using his
cybernetic eye, allowing him to see Cassie from behind the truck.
He winds up the minigun and fires again just as Cassie emerges.
The resultant barrage tags her in the right arm before she
can get a shot off and knocks her off her feet.
Sonya grabs her before Kano can finish the job and drags her
behind the truck, next to Johnny. With Cassie out of commission
and Kano stepping ever closer to the truck, Sonya looks at her
wrist gauntlets and activates them.
CASSIE No! It’s too dangerous!
Sonya looks back at her future daughter and says nothing,
focusing her mind to the task at hand. Kano has now reached
the other side of the truck, and he stops firing the minigun
for a moment. He slowly approaches where Cassie and Johnny
are hiding, but doesn’t notice that Sonya has climbed the
truck and is looking down at him from the roof.
He suddenly looks upward and spots her, but as he raises
the minigun Sonya shoots off a sonic blast from her gauntlets,
striking the firing mechanism of the gun and rendering it
useless. As Kano steps back and drops the minigun, Sonya
launches herself off the truck and tags him in the chest with
a diving kick. She lands fully on Kano and rolls into a
crouching stance.
Kano picks himself up quickly and throws a knife at her. Sonya
moves her head in the nick of time and the knife buries itself
into a steel pole just inches away from her face. Kano breaks
into a run and Sonya chases after him, but just as she is
about to catch up, the younger Kano catches her in the side
with a running knee, knocking her head over heels to the ground.
She picks herself up as the two Kanos approach her, each one
smirking in the same cocky fashion as each other.
Y. KANO Best thing about this future, love I’m alive, but you’re
dead as a doornail.
O. KANO Worst thing is, it’s those Netherrealm stiffs did you in.
Shoulda been me.
Y. KANO Let’s have ourselves a do-over.
All three of them charge at each other. Sonya strikes the younger
Kano in the chest with a running knee of her own, sending him
sprawling into the older Kano. As the older Kano falls flat on his
back, young Kano rushes in with punches, but Sonya parries them
and lands a punch to his face, following through by kicking him
in the stomach and hip-tossing him to the ground.
Old Kano recovers and punches Sonya in the face immediately
afterward, but she blocks his follow up strikes and punches
him back, following that with a leg sweep which he jumps over.
As Old Kano lands, Sonya blasts him in the face with a roundhouse
kick that knocks him down.
Young Kano then leaps at her, brandishing dual knives in his
hands. Sonya catches him in the face with a sidekick as he lands,
knocking him flat on his back, and follows it up with an axe kick
that crunches into his abdomen. Behind her, Old Kano reels in pain
from the strike as well.
Sensing this, Sonya kicks Young Kano in the abdomen again, causing
Old Kano to double over in pain. He roars in anger and fires a
laser blast from his cybernetic eye. Sonya dodges the laser with
a jumping corkscrew pirouette and launches herself at Old Kano in
the same motion, blasting him in the head with a flying roundhouse
kick. The blow sends Old Kano to the ground, unconscious.
Sonya turns back toward Young Kano, who spits contemptuously to
his side and stands ready to fight.
SONYA You might be alive in this future, but that can change.
They fight. Kano has the initial advantage over Sonya, what with
her fighting for her life just moments earlier against uneven
odds. But for all of his dirty tricks and fighting prowess, Kano
never had the warrior discipline that Sonya had installed with her
throughout her tenure in the Special Forces. Though the battle is
intense, Sonya manages to outfight, outmaneuver and outwit her
longtime nemesis and leave him down and out one more time.
SONYA Let me give you a break.
She walks over to Kano and places her boot on his throat, readying
herself to crush it into mulch.
O. KANO Now this is a pickle.
Sonya turns around. Old Kano has Johnny Cage in a chokehold and
holds a bowie knife across his ribs.
O. KANO Can ya break his neck faster than I can gut Pretty Boy
Don’t forget, it’s two-for-one. He dies, so does your little girl!
At his word, Sonya looks down at the younger Kano… and smirks.
SONYA Thanks, Kano.
O. KANO For what
SONYA For reminding me of the rules.
Without hesitation, she pulls out her service pistol from its
holster and shoots Young Kano through his remaining eye, blowing
a bloodied hole clear through his head. Immediately following
this, Old Kano drops Johnny from his grasp and walks off to the
side, gasping in pain. He turns back toward Sonya… and shows
the same gaping wound in his face that his younger self now
sports.
Young Kano remains face up in the snow, dead as a doornail. Old
Kano gasps one last time and is suddenly engulfed in a timestorm
of sand. Much like Dark Raiden before him, Old Kano dissolves
into dust and is removed from existence, with nothing but a
cloud of sand to denote the occasion.
The scene cuts to the same location, some time later. Special
Forces soldiers patrol the area, and Cassie is sitting in the
back of an armoured carrier, her shoulder wound being treated by
a medic. In front of them, Sonya patches up Johnny’s arm.
JOHNNY Sweet move. I’m totally stealing that one for Timequake.
Sonya smiles and pats him on the back of his shoulder. She turns
and walks away, but Johnny – looking more sincere than he ever
has done – calls out to her.
JOHNNY How about… dinner sometime
She stops, smirking to herself, and turns back to him.
JOHNNY Y’know, to thank you for saving my life And, er…
apologize for being, well, me. No pressure. No romance…
SONYA Patience is a virtue, Cage.
They both smile and look to Cassie, who returns the smile…
right until she spots something on the other side of the area.
Catching her gaze, Sonya and Johnny turn around to where she’s
looking… a nearby watchtower. An unidentified person has
just grabbed a Special Forces soldier and hoisted him over his
head.
SOLDIER No… no… nooo!
SONYA What is that
As they turn, the soldier is thrown from the watchtower and
lands in a messy heap before them. The man who threw him leaps
into the air and crashes down in a three point stance.
It is Geras.
Immediately, six Special Forces soldiers open fire on him with
their assault rifles. Geras strides toward them, his body
bleeding with every bullet that hits him but doing no damage to
him regardless. He lashes out with a haymaker strike that
decapitates the nearest soldier, then he sweeps the legs of the
next soldier with his fist, punches him in the chest and stomps
his head into the ground so hard that it is turned into mush.
Geras picks up a pole from the ground and impales a soldier
straight through the chest with it, killing him as well. The
fourth soldier smashes Geras in the face with the butt of his
rifle, and Geras responds with a backhand that breaks his nose.
With the soldier stunned, Geras takes his head in both his hands
and squeezes, crushing the poor man’s skull until it explodes.
Geras knocks down the fifth soldier with a left hook and
approaches the last man, who has run out of ammunition. He pulls
out a knife and slashes at Geras, drawing blood with every strike
he manages, but Geras doesn’t react to any of it. As the soldier
tries a stab, Geras takes the blade in his shoulder but grabs the
soldier by his head and punches him in the face twice in
succession, knocking him down. Geras strides over to the soldier
and places his hands over his face. With the view obscured by
Geras’ body, we do not see exactly what he does to the final
soldier… but we do see the large pool of blood that forms
around his twitching, and eventually unmoving body.
Johnny and Sonya watch all of this with a mounting horror.
JOHNNY (To Sonya) Who’s the special guest villain
SONYA Geras, Kronika’s goon. Allegedly, he can’t be killed.
Johnny starts to walk over to him.
JOHNNY I fought a dude like that in Fatal Infinity…
He flexes his right arm, but immediately doubles over in pain.
Sonya strides past him.
SONYA (To the medic) Get him evac’ed. I’ll keep this thing
occupied.
As the medic takes Johnny back to the carrier, Sonya rushes up
to Geras, who lands on the ground before her.
GERAS Sonya Blade. Mother of Cassie Cage.
SONYA Yeah, what of it
GERAS Cassie Cage defeated Shinnok, son of Kronika. I am his
mother’s vengeance.
They fight. The battle proves to be the most difficult of
Sonya’s life. For all of her fighting ability, gadgets and
training, it does not matter against a construct that cannot be
killed. Every one of Sonya’s attacks is shrugged off by Kronika’s
minion. But she refuses to give up, and with a last desperate
assault she manages to floor Geras for a moment.
SONYA Stay away from my daughter.
As Geras picks himself up again, Sonya hears the sound of an
approaching vehicle and dives off to the side. Geras is not so
quick and is impaled through the abdomen by a forklift being
piloted by Cassie. The forklift slams into a large crate,
pinning Geras against it.
CASSIE Try coming back from this.
She pulls the pins from two grenades and throws them at Geras’
feet. Upon spotting them, Geras merely groans in resignation.
The grenades explode, consuming Geras and the forklift in the
resulting fireball. Cassie is almost blown off her feet but
is caught by Sonya.
SONYA You okay
CASSIE I’ll be fine. I come from tough stock.
SONYA Listen. What I said back at the base, about the mission…
it wasn’t fair. You’re a damn fine soldier. I’m so proud, I can
almost picture myself dating Johnny.
She winks at her.
SONYA Almost.
CASSIE I wish I could go back. Do our last mission over.
SONYA It wasn’t easy, finding out how I die– or, could die. But
I re-read the file. You followed orders. Saved your squad. I’m
just glad my sacrifice saved Earthrealm… and you.
Cassie says nothing, but she is clearly grateful for what Sonya is
saying.
SONYA Besides, you heard Raiden. Things’ll never go back to what
they were.
She places her hands on Cassie’s shoulders.
SONYA We all have to choose our destiny.
She pulls her future daughter into an emotional hug. Around them,
the congealed blood pools – all that remains of Geras – begin to
form together in one location. Sonya and Cassie pull out of their
hug when they spot the show before them.
SONYA Liu Kang and Kung Lao weren’t kidding about this guy.
CASSIE All squads withdraw! Evac, now!
They and the rest of the Special Forces begin to evacuate.
The scene cuts to the inside of Kronika’s Keep. Kronika continues
to manipulate her hourglass while the revenant Liu Kang stands
guard. She peers into the depths of the glass and seemingly
deduces the events that have just taken place.
KRONIKA Geras failed. When he returns, I will strengthen him
further for the final battle.
Liu Kang approaches her. Even without looking at him, Kronika
senses that he has something to say.
KRONIKA Speak your mind.
LIU KANG We’ve lost Shao Kahn, his Outworld army and now the
Black Dragon.
KRONIKA While Raiden’s allies have burned precious time fighting
Kano and Shao Kahn, our most important work has continued,
uninterrupted, on Shang Tsung’s island.
LIU KANG That island is in ruins. What could possibly–
KRONIKA Timecraft requires an abundance of raw temporal energy.
Every mortal soul contains a lifetime of this power. Every hour,
every minute, every second lived, is stored within.
LIU KANG Shang Tsung fed off souls. He collected them.
KRONIKA In his Well of Souls which remains, untouched, beneath
his island. A destiny I crafted for Shang Tsung, in case I ever
had need.
At these words, Liu Kang smirks and bows before her.
KRONIKA Shang Tsung’s souls will… be mine.
The scene cuts to a navy ship, plowing its way through foggy
waters.