Kabal’s skin is scarred heavily from the burns, but it’s no longer looking like charcoal. He begins to wake up, groaning as he does so. It’s now apparent that the both of them are in Shang Tsung’s Flesh Pits.
KANO: Easy there, mate. You’ve had a rough one.
KABAL: Kano?
KANO: Heh heh, in the flesh.
KABAL: I was… on fire…
KANO: Burned to a crisp, you were. Good thing I found ya.
Kabal touches the mask on his face.
KABAL: I’m hideous…
KANO: Shang Tsung’s magic healed the rest of ya. But your lungs? Yeesh.
KABAL: Take it off.
KANO: Can’t. It’s permanent.
KABAL: What?
KANO: No mask, no breathing.
KABAL: I’m… a freak!
Kano holds up a pair of hookswords. As Kabal is looking at the rest of his attire, Kano offers the weapons to him.
KANO: Go on. Give ’em a whirl.
KABAL: I don’t use those anymore.
KANO: Yeah, you’re all proper police now. The Black Dragon ain’t the same without ya, mate. You should come back. We’re in the money on this war.
KABAL: You sold those monsters their firepower.
KANO: Guilty as charged.
KABAL: This is YOUR fault!
KANO: What’re you on about, eh?
He drops the hookswords.
KANO: You’re here, ain’t ya?
KABAL: I should be dead! Now you’re gonna be!
They fight. Kabal finds out that not only is he still an able fighter, but he finds himself fighting with multiple new powers he didn’t have before, including super speed. He gets the hang of these new powers quickly and uses them to completely overpower Kano, knocking him to the ground.
KABAL: Now how do I get outta here?
KANO: Not so keen on being dead now, are ya?
Kabal retrieves his hookswords.
KABAL: How do I get outta here?
KANO: Heh, good luck. No one gets outta Outworld with Shao Kahn’s say-so.
KABAL: Outworld? Shao Kahn?
KANO: Shao Kahn’s the big boss round here, and soon, Earth’s new master.
Kabal points the hookswords at Kano’s neck.
KABAL: Where is he?
KANO: Don’t bother. You can’t get near him.
KABAL: No. But I’m guessing you can.
The scene cuts to Shao Kahn’s throne room. Mileena, along with several Lin Kuei cyborgs and Tarkatan minions, drag Motaro’s body through a portal on a slab.
SHAO KAHN: What is this?
MILEENA: Raiden has killed Motaro.
Kabal enters the room, with Kano in front of him. The latter has one of his own knifes being weilded by Kabal and pointing into his back.
KABAL: That’s him? On the throne?
KANO: You’re a right genius, you are.
SINDEL: It’s no great matter. I will go to Earthrealm. To finish Motaro’s work.
SHAO KAHN: Yes. Shang Tsung.
SHANG TSUNG: Yes, Emperor?
SHAO KAHN: The empress requires something of you.
Kahn blasts Tsung with his magic and sucks out all of the souls within him, disintegrating him into nothing.
KANO: See there? I’m thinking he’s a bit much
Kabal hits him with the blunt end of the knife, knocking Kano out.
KABAL: I can take him.
Shao Kahn blasts the power of the souls into Sindel. While he’s doing so, Kabal walks into the room. Noob Saibot and Mileena notice this and move to intercept him.
MILEENA: No one attacks the emperor!
They fight. While fighting two on one would be a severe handicap for most, Kabal’s new powers enable him to take the fight to both of Shao Kahn’s minions. After an intense battle, he puts both Mileena and Noob down for the count.
KABAL: And I thought I was a freak.
With Mileena and Noob down, the Tarkatan and Lin Kuei minions all surround Kabal.
SHAO KAHN: Quan Chi! Seal the portal!
KABAL: Time to go.
He zips across the room just as the minions all try to grab him, coming to a stop at the portal.
KABAL: Huh?
After a moments hesitation, he leaps through the portal before Quan Chi seals it. He lands back at the bridge he was at previously, and the portal closes behind him. He rolls over onto his back and sits up.
KABAL: This speed’s incredible! Guess it’s a side-effect of the Outworld magic.
The camera cuts to the point of view of an unseen assailant, clearly cybernetic in nature. The newcomer examines Kabal through a database on it’s heads-up display. The search comes up blank.
CYBER SUB-ZERO: You are not authorised for portal use.
KABAL: Yeah? Says who?
We now see the cyborg in question. His robotic suit is colour-coded blue, and his hands pulse with ice energy.
CYBER SUB-ZERO: Sub-Zero. Unit L-K-5-2-0.
KABAL: Heh, you say that like it means something.
CYBER SUB-ZERO: As you will soon discover.
They fight. As a cyborg, Sub-Zero is more powerful than ever, boasting an array of ice attacks and cybernetic powers his previous form could never muster. However, Kabal’s mastery of his new powers proves to be an equal match to the cyborg, and with a few clever moves Kabal manages to disable Sub-Zero and power down his systems.
KABAL: Ha! Not as cool as you thought.
Just then, Sheeva walks onto the bridge.
SHEEVA: Why do you turn on your brother, Lin Kuei?
KABAL: That is not my brother. He’s machine. I’m human.
SHEEVA: You do not appear human.
KABAL: Don’t let the mask fool ya.
They fight. As powerful as Sheeva is, she is little match for Kabal and his super speed. After a brief battle, Kabal soon has Sheeva knocked out on the floor.
KABAL: Starting to feel like the old days – only faster.
Behind Kabal, Smoke and Raiden walk onto the bridge.
SMOKE: Sub-Zero!
He rushes to his friend’s side and kneels by him. Raiden faces Kabal.
RAIDEN: You have great power indeed, Kabal.
KABAL: Wait. You’re the lightning guy. You helped Stryker. Stryker! Is he
RAIDEN: He is safe. He has joined us in the fight against Shao Kahn. We would welcome your aid also.
SMOKE: Sub-Zero!
Raiden turns to Smoke.
RAIDEN: That which made him Sub-Zero no longer exists.
SMOKE: He is my friend. What they did to him… it is… hideous.
KABAL: You’re right. We gotta help him if we can.
Kabal helps Smoke lift Sub-Zero up for carrying. The scene then cuts to black. It stays like like for a moment, and all that can be heard is the background noise of diagnostics. Then the word “_INITIALIZING” pops up on the screen.
JAX: That’s it. Here goes nothing…
Sub-Zero’s mainframe begins rebooting, all of which is seen from his point-of-view.
SMOKE: You are certain this will work?
JAX: Hell no! I’ve never done this before. It’s not like there’s a manual.
The screen is suddenly lit up in red. The word “OVERRIDE” shows up in enlarged text. It successfully engages, and Sub-Zero tries connecting to a wireless uplink. The connection fails and an error pops up, noting his command and control module is missing. With that, his slaving protocols are disengaged and his autonomous command module is engaged, restoring his higher brain function. Smoke looks directly into his eyes at this point.
SMOKE: Sub-Zero? (To Jax) Can he hear me?
JAX: He should.
Sub-Zero locks onto Smoke’s eye and does a retinal identification.
SMOKE: Sub-Zero?
The scan provides Sub-Zero with information about Smoke, including his age, country of origin (both unknown), his allegiance (Lin Kuei) and special ability (teleportation).
CYBER SUB-ZERO: Yes, Smoke.
SMOKE: How do you feel?