Back at the refugee camp, Sonya walks through with her phone to her ear. A squad of S-F soldiers walks just behind her.
SONYA: Thanks for the heads up, Sergeant. Stay with Kotal Kahn. We’ll figure out next steps once I’ve got Kano locked down.
CASSIE: (Over the phone) Yes ma’am. Cage out. Sonya stops and looks out to the Outworld refugees.
SONYA: He’s still here. I can feel it.
As she continues through the camp, she comes across two of her medics carrying a bodybag on a stretcher.
SONYA: Report.
MEDIC: One of the refugees. Found her near the north perimeter.
Sonya unzips the bag. It contains a young Outworld woman who looks far plainer than Li Mei. Further detracting from her looks is her slashed throat, and adding insult to injury, her tongue is sticking out through the open slit in her neck.
SONYA: That’s one of Kano’s “neckties”.
Her composure briefly drops, but she steels herself in short order and zips the bodybag back up.
SONYA: (To the medics) Inform Li Mei. Tell her we’re investigating.
The medics walk off with the bodybag. Sonya pulls out a talisman that acts as a communicator. An image of Raiden is projected on it.
SONYA: Raiden, what’d you find?
RAIDEN: Shinnok’s Amulet has been stolen. Replaced by an exquisite duplicate.
SONYA: Damn it.
On the projection, Raiden looks to his left.
RAIDEN: Something is wrong. I will speak to you once I–
The projection fizzles out.
SONYA: Raiden? Raiden!
After a moment of contemplation, she puts the talisman in her back pocket while whirling around to address her soldiers.
SONYA: Lieutenant, I need you to take a team to Fort Charles. Check in with Raiden and report back.
The soldiers march off. Johnny Cage chooses this moment to stroll up to Sonya.
JOHNNY: What’s goin’ on?
SONYA: What’s your update from Colonel Flagg?
JOHNNY: He said, “Why’re you bothering me?” and I said, “Because my ex-wife is a pain in the–”
She holds a hand up to stop Johnny and turns, walking away from him. Johnny is quick to follow and intercept her.
JOHNNY: Where you goin’? You can’t just walk away. I’m in this too.
SONYA: Not my decision. Thank your buddy, Secretary Blake.
JOHNNY: THIS is what split us up in the first place. You disappear in your work. Never time for me and Cassie.
SONYA: I had responsibilities. Sorry you couldn’t be the centre of attention.
Johnny bites back his retort, and delivers a carefully measured response.
JOHNNY: There was a time when you cared more about your family than your job… General.
He walks off. Sonya continues in the direction she was going.
The scene cuts from there to a castle in the Netherrealm. The words “Twenty Years Ago – Quan Chi’s Fortress” appear at the bottom of the screen. Sonya and Johnny have reached the bottom of a large staircase, with a few S-F soldiers in tow. While the soldiers have automatic rifles as firearms, Johnny and Sonya are only using pistols.
JOHNNY: Nope, no evil sorcerers in here.
SONYA: Would you get serious?
JOHNNY: Quan Chi needs to clean up his man-cave.
SONYA: S’cleaner than yours.
JOHNNY: You’re comparing me to Quan Chi?
SONYA: Only in terms of cleanliness.
They continue further onto the bottom floor. A gigantic pool of dark fluid is the centrepiece of this area, complete with large jars containing embryos of failed experiments. Books and bottles filled with unknown substances dot the area, which is lit only by dark candles. Johnny and Sonya walk over to the pool.
JOHNNY: What’s this?
He kneels down as if to touch it.
SONYA: I wouldn’t do that.
JOHNNY: Ah, come on, where’s your sense of–
As he touches it, the pool turns blood red and begins to swirl around, like a whirlpool.
JOHNNY: …adventure.
The fluid begins to rise at the centre, where the red is fullest.
A portal opens before them, prompting Sonya and Johnny to raise their pistols. Quan Chi exits from it, with Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Jax in tow.
QUAN CHI: You wish for adventure? You shall have it.
The soldiers run up and aim their weapons.
SONYA: Fire!
They, Sonya and Johnny cut loose. Quan Chi chants in the Netherrealm tongue and conjures up a wall of green skulls that block all the bullets from hitting him and his revenants. As they stop firing, Sub-Zero shoots off an ice blast that freezes the soldiers solid.
QUAN CHI: I have no need of your soldiers. But you and Mister Cage will serve me well – once you are dead.
All four of them charge into battle. Sub-Zero and Jax go for Johnny, leaving Sonya with Scorpion and Quan Chi. She blocks their attacks and kicks Scorpion away, then kicks Quan Chi in the midsection and knocks him down with an axe-kick.
Johnny kicks Jax away, lands a solid punch across Sub-Zero’s face before downing him with a roundhouse kick. He backflips away from Jax’s attacks as Sonya rushes towards Scorpion with some punches. He blocks them all and lands one of his on Sonya, but she punches him right back, kicks him in the stomach and smashes him across the face with a forearm. He staggers back, but doesn’t fall.
SONYA: Dunno when to quit, do ya?
They fight. As formidable a foe as the hellspawn ninja is, Sonya’s training and advanced weaponry keep her in the fight long enough for her to take the battle to Scorpion. After a fierce brawl, she leaves him unconscious on the floor.
SONYA: Not as tough as you look.
Sonya begins fighting with Sub-Zero next. She blocks several of his strikes, but eventually she gets elbowed in the face. She ducks under a roundhouse kick and fights back with a superman punch as Sub-Zero turns round, but he blocks it. Johnny meanwhile continues to fight with Jax. He takes a kick to the side, but strikes the revenant in the face with a superman punch. He follows through with a clothesline, slamming Jax to the ground by his neck. From a seated position, Johnny pounds Jax in the face once more, knocking him out. Cage lets of a brief laugh of triumph before rushing over to Sonya.
She manages to punch Sub-Zero twice in the face and knocks him down with a spinkick to the stomach just as Johnny makes it to her. They nod together and walk toward Quan Chi, who’s picking himself off the floor.
Unbeknownst to them, Jax wakes up and rises to his feet. Sonya and Johnny both get into fighting stances
SONYA: Quan Chi, you’ve lost.
QUAN CHI: A delay, Miss Blade. The inevitable still beckons.
Jax manages to sneak up on Johnny and he plunges a dagger into Johnny’s back so fiercely that it ends up bursting through his chest with a massive spout of blood.
SONYA: Johnny!
As she turns to try and help, Quan Chi punches Sonya across the face, staggering her backwards. Jax pulls out the dagger and Johnny crumples to the floor, still breathing. The dark fluids of the pool begin to rise in a crimson red whirlpool. A creature of Netherrealm flesh begins to emerge from the pool – and this creature is the undead image of Johnny Cage, slowly being given form.
Sonya blocks several strikes from Quan Chi before punching him in the stomach and kneeing him in the face. She follows through with a right hand strike that sends the sorcerer down to the floor out cold. Desperately, she rushes over to the dying Johnny, who is writhing on the floor as he continues to lose blood.
JAX: You won’t be dead for long.
Sonya grapples Jax around the waist and throws him to the ground. He rises and gets into a fighting stance.
SONYA: This will not happen!
They fight. Fueled by desperation and heroic willpower, Sonya battles with a determination like never before. It proves just enough to defeat the undead Jax and leave him out on the ground.
SONYA: I’m sorry, Jax.
She rushes over to Johnny’s side. He’s still alive, but barely.
SONYA: I’ll get you out of here. You’ll be fine.
JOHNNY: Dunno. Blood’s… s’posed to be… on the inside…
The revenant of Johnny is gradually rising from the pool of sorcery, constantly being enriched by it’s magicks. A flash of lightning strikes in the fortress, and the God of Thunder teleports into the fray.
SONYA: Raiden!
RAIDEN: I must reverse his spell.
Raiden begins chanting in an ancient tongue, lightning coursing through his hands as he does so. He shoots it at the forming revenant. The lightning begins blasting the magicks away, and the creature begins to descend back into the liquid it was spawned from.
SONYA: It’s working!
Quan Chi, however, has risen to his feet in the midst of all this.
QUAN CHI: You cannot save him.
He fires off a flaming skull at Raiden. It catches him in the chest and disrupts his attack. Immediately, the revenant Johnny begins to rise from the pool again.
QUAN CHI: You’re weak, Thunder God. Johnny Cage is mine.
SONYA: No. He’s MINE. (To Raiden) Save him!
Sonya walks toward Quan Chi.
SONYA: I’ve got this son of a bitch!
They fight. Her desperation now replaced with anger, Sonya beats the living tar out of Quan Chi. Completely taken aback, the Netherrealm sorcerer can do little against her furious assault, and in short order he’s soon down on the ground on all fours, defeated at her hands.
SONYA: That wasn’t even CLOSE to what you deserve.
As Quan Chi gasps for breath, Sonya looks over to Raiden. The revenant of Johnny is still being blasted down by the Thunder God, but it refuses to finally sink down into the dark fluid.
RAIDEN: Sonya Blade! The link with Quan Chi is not completely severed!
SONYA: Not a problem.
[QUICK TIME CUTSCENE BEGINS]
As Quan Chi looks up into her eyes, Sonya methodically and repeatedly punches him in the face. After several blows, she cuts loose with a knee to the chin that garners an X-Ray shot of his lower jaw being pulverised, complete with several teeth flying out of his mouth.
He falls flat on his back and weakly raises a hand upwards. Sonya has none of it and slaps the hand away, before repeatedly stomping on his head. Finally, she walks over to his lower body and carefully parts his legs.
QUAN CHI: No!
His plea is ignored. Sonya delivers one final stomp to his Netherrealm jewels, making sure to give them a good twist with her boot. The pain is finally enough to render Quan Chi unconscious.
[QUICK TIME CUTSCENE ENDS]
With Quan Chi down, Raiden is finally able to blast the half-formed revenant back down into the flesh pool. It explodes with a demonic fury, it’s energies passing through the entire area of the fortress. Sub-Zero, Scorpion and Jax are all caught by the blast, and the effect it has on them is startling – their flesh is restored to a normal hue, and their eyes no longer glow with a yellow-white light. Sonya is amazed at what she sees; they are all restored to their human forms.
Raiden kneels over Johnny and begins another chant. He directs his energy (a blue light, not his regular lightning blasts) at Johnny’s torso wound. Sonya walks over to them.
RAIDEN: The others are restored to the living. By coupling Quan Chi’s dark magicks to my own, I was able to restore their souls.
He finishes his healing spell on Johnny. Sonya bends over his body, her hands on his chest.
SONYA: Is he gonna make it?
JOHNNY: Haven’t I told you? He’s a god.
Johnny sits up, much to Sonya’s delight.
SONYA: You scared the shit outta me.
JOHNNY: And they said I couldn’t do horror films.
The flash of a portal illuminates both of their faces briefly. They turn around to find Quan Chi has escaped through one.
SONYA: He’s gone?! How did he–?
JOHNNY: We gotta go after him.
He tries to rise fully, even though he’s still groggy, but Sonya stops him.
SONYA: He can wait. Right now we need to get you and the others back to Earthrealm.
She puts a hand on his shoulder. Johnny stops arguing, and they both share smiles at one another.
The scene cuts back to the present day refugee camp. Several of the Outworld refugees are waiting in line.
REFUGEE: Why is it taking so long?
An S-F soldier sat at a table is taking everyone’s names.
SOLDIER: Name?
REFUGEE #2: Re’em Adu Kaire.
SOLDIER: Thanks. All right, second line on your left.
Li Mei, Sonya and Kenshi are overseeing all of the refugees being screened.
LI MEI: (To Sonya) You seem to know this “Kano” intimately.
SONYA: Not the word I’d use, but yes. I chased him for years until he escaped to Outworld after Shinnok’s invasion.
KENSHI: Why would he return now?
SONYA: All that matters is he’s…
She trails off as she spots the same Outworld woman who was in the bodybag earlier, now not sporting Kano’s “necktie”. A brief flicker on the holographic face confirms her suspicions; it’s Kano in a high-tech disguise.
SONYA: …caught. Gotcha.
She discreetly thumbs over to Kenshi, who moves off to the side. Sonya walks directly toward the disguised Kano. Seeing her coming, he cuts away from the line he’s in, but is intercepted by Kenshi.
KENSHI: Are you lost?
He turns around, but Sonya bars his way. Seeing that there’s nowhere to run, Kano disengages his disguise and reveals himself, causing several refugees to backpedal in shock.
KANO: ‘Ello, love! Been a while!
SONYA: Not long enough.
She opens up a call on her communicator.
SONYA: This is General Blade. I need MPs to my location immediately.
KANO: Aww, let’s keep this between friends. A trade! Info for freedom.
She gets into a fighting stance.
SONYA: I don’t negotiate with scumbags.
KANO: Well then, if mother won’t play nice, maybe daughter will.
SONYA: If you ever–
KANO: Back off, and all’s well. Piss me off, and Cassie’s gonna meet Uncle Kano.
SONYA: I swear to God I’ll kill you!
They fight. Kano proves to be every bit as tough as he was in all of his previous fights with Sonya, and that’s not even counting all of the cybernetics he’s upgraded his body with. But Sonya has tricks of her own she brings to the forefront, and after an epic battle, she once again manages to leave Kano down and defeated.
SONYA: No. I’m not done with you.
She strides over to Kano and knocks him flat on his back with a kick to the face. She then mounts him and punches him twice in the face, before wrapping her hands around his throat. Kano is unable to pry her arms away.
KANO: Alright! Alright! Get off me!
Sonya is in no mood to stop, even with Kano gasping for breath. Johnny pushes his way through the crowd
JOHNNY: Sonya, ease up!
He tries to grab her, but she pushes him away and keeps on strangling Kano.
KANO: You kill me… never find… amulet!
The MPs arrive as well, and point their guns directly at Sonya. Johnny immediately motions for them to stop. They do, but keep their guns trained on her. Johnny desperately looks over to his ex-wife.
JOHNNY: Sonya, we need that info.
She ignores him. Kano’s gasps become more and more desperate.
JOHNNY: Sonya… don’t make this another thing you’ll regret.
She growls angrily, but it looks like Johnny finally got through to her. She let’s go and Kano drops back to the ground, taking in deep breaths of air.
SONYA: Talk!