In the Armoury, Baraka and another Tarkatan are inspecting a crate of

shotguns.

BARAKA: That is all of them.

Baraka puts his shotgun in the crate. The other Tarkatan, fiddling with a

shotgun of his own, points the barrel directly in Baraka's face. Angrily,

Baraka swipes the gun from him.

BARAKA: That is no toy! It belongs to Shang Tsung! We are finished.

Return to your post.

The Tarkatan walks off. Baraka places the shotgun in the crate and turns

to spot Jade walking toward him.

JADE: Stand aside. I will see Kitana.

BARAKA: No one enters the Tower.

JADE: You are an excellent guard dog, Baraka. But you must learn to heel.

BARAKA: I do not take orders from you.

They fight. While a vicious fighter, Baraka is unprepared to deal with

Jade's agility and her reach with her staff and boomerangs. After an

Intense battle, Jade soon has the Tarkatan down on the ground.

JADE: Good boy.

Baraka groans as Jade walks over to him.

BARAKA: Edenians have no loyalty.

JADE: Blind loyalty is not a good thing, as I have learned. You must keep

your eyes open-- to anticipate the finishing blow.

BARAKA: What are you talki--

Jade interrupts him by stamping on his face, knocking him out.

JADE: You make it too easy.

She walks off. In the Tower, Kitana is magically bound to a statue with

Sheeva standing over her as jailer.

SHEEVA: If you had not dishonoured yourself by--

KITANA: Jade!

Sheeva turns to face the newcomer.

SHEEVA: My orders are clear. No one is allowed in the Tower.

JADE: As you can see, I am here.

SHEEVA: Here to help the princess escape! You would deny her execution?

The only means of regaining her honour?

JADE: We have very different concepts of honour, Shokan.

They fight. Much like Baraka before her, Sheeva has quite the difficulty

fighting someone with as much agility and reach as Jade does, even with

two extra arms to help her. The battle soon ends with Sheeva unconscious.

JADE: Not much of a jailor, are you?

She turns to Kitana.

JADE: Now then, Your Highness, let us see how quickly we can remove

these bonds.

KITANA: Jade, I...

JADE: I am too.

Before she can continue, she hears a sound from behind the door to the

Tower.

BARAKA: Stop her!

MILEENA: Do not let her get away!

KITANA: Go. Find Raiden. Ask for his help.

With no choice, Jade does as Kitana asks. The scene cuts to the Wastelands.

Jade has just finished running from several unseen assailants.

JADE: That should distance me from any pursuers.

Mileena (now clothed in her purple attire) then teleports in front of her.

Jade turns to face her.

MILEENA: Others pursue. I find.

JADE: By the gods... You are Mileena!

MILEENA: You must return with me! There is to be a celebration for my

sister! She is going away...

They fight. While Mileena is an adversary just as quick and fierce as Jade,

she lacks the fighting experience of the Edenian warrior. After an intense

battle, Jade manages to beat Mileena unconscious.

JADE: I am more of a sister to Kitana than you. I must find Raiden.

RAIDEN: He is here.

Raiden teleports into the wastelands with Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Johnny Cage

and Smoke. Upon spotting Mileena's body, Smoke immediately jumps to the

wrong conclusion.

SMOKE: Kitana turns away from Shao Kahn so you attack her rather than join

her?

Jade holds up a hand in mercy.

JADE: This is not--

Raiden holds back Liu Kang and the others.

RAIDEN: Smoke, stop! That is not Kitana!

SMOKE: You will come no closer!

They fight. Although she doesn't want to battle, Jade has no problem

defending herself against an unwarranted attack. After a brief melee,

Smoke is down on the ground.

JADE: I did not wish to do that.

Raiden approaches as Jade as Smoke picks himself up.

JADE: Lord Raiden. I come at the request of--

While they're speaking, Johnny turns to Liu Kang and Kung Lao.

JOHNNY CAGE: "Lord"? I was with Smoke. I thought she was a bad guy-- eh,

girl. Guess he turned another one. What's Raiden got that I haven't got?

LIU KANG: God-like power?

KUNG LAO: A personality that is not at all like sanding paper?

JOHNNY CAGE: Jerks.

JADE: ...if we do not save her, she will be executed. Kitana does not have

much time!

At the mention of Kitana, the guys walk forward to join the conversation.

LIU KANG: Kitana... executed? Where is she?

JADE: Held captive in the Tower of Shao Kahn's fortress.

LIU KANG: I wil--

RAIDEN: I am not pleased with this outcome either, Liu Kang. But there is

no time. We must return to the tournament.

LIU KANG: But you are responsible for her capture! You persuaded her to

turn against Shao Kahn!

KUNG LAO: Lord Raiden, we can free her as others fight in our stead, and

join you thereafter.

RAIDEN: Very well.

Liu Kang and Kung Lao nod to each other, and as Kung walks off, Liu only

pauses to give Raiden a brief look of comtempt before joining him.

KUNG LAO: We will meet you at the Coliseum.

-------------------------

(3N) CHAPTER 11: KUNG LAO

-------------------------

Kung Lao and Liu Kang make their way to the Tower. No one is present.

KUNG LAO: I hope your girlfriend is worth Lord Raiden's anger, Liu Kang.

LIU KANG: Notice that I am ignoring you.

They look around the Tower, but still find no one.

KUNG LAO: Hmm... They must have relocated Kitana.

Just then, Sheeva opens the door to the Tower on one side. On the other

side, a ninja who looks like a dark wraith opens them on the other side.

NOOB: We have indeed. We knew someone would come for her.

Liu Kang and Kung Lao nod to each other. While Kang begins fighting with

Sheeva, Kung Lao faces down Noob Saibot.

NOOB: May you join her in death!

They fight. The wraith is unlike anything Kung Lao has faced before, with

his ability to conjure both dark magic and shadow clones of himself to

fight with. Nonetheless, Kung Lao's fighting ability and mastery of the

Shaolin arts sees him through the fight, and eventually he leaves the

wraith down on the floor.

KUNG LAO: Be thankful I choose not to spill your tainted blood.

As Noob struggles to remain conscious, Kung Lao notices something about

him.

KUNG LAO: Who are you? There is something familiar...

Behind him, Lao notices Liu Kang is still fighting Sheeva.

KUNG LAO: Do you need help? Four arms against two is hardly a fair fight.

GORO: Liu Kang?!

Kung Lao turns around to see Goro. The Shokan roars and gets into a

fighting stance.

KUNG LAO: You have had your match against Liu Kang. Now you will face me!

They fight. Goro proves just as much of a challenge to Kung Lao as he was

to Liu Kang, but the Shokan's overconfidence allows Kung Lao an edge that

Liu Kang didn't have. After a fierce battle, the Shaolin monk eventually

defeats the former champion of Mortal Kombat.

KUNG LAO: Now, if you have any honour left... you will tell us where

Kitana is!

By now, Liu Kang has defeated Sheeva and is also standing over Goro.

GORO: She has been taken to the Coliseum, where she has no doubt been

executed.

LIU KANG: You lie!

He stomps on Goro's face, knocking him out.

KUNG LAO: She may let live. Let us go.

They leave the Tower. Back at the Coliseum, Ermac punches Johnny Cage

across the face twice. Johnny tries a kick, but Ermac grabs his leg and

smashes his elbow onto Johnny's knee, dislocating it. Ermac lays him out

with a palm strike, leaving him writhing in pain on the ground.

SHANG TSUNG: Ermac wins!

Liu Kang and Kung Lao return. They spot Kitana chained up next to Shao

Kahn's throne.

KUNG LAO: There's Kitana.

LIU KANG: I must free her!

Raiden notices their appearance and runs after them.

RAIDEN: Not now! Smoke and Johnny Cage have been defeated, and I no

longer sense Jackson Briggs' or Sonya Blade's presence in Outworld.

Despite my doubts as to whether you are Earthrealm's saviour, you must

fight!

LIU KANG: But I am not "He Who Must Win".

Liu Kang walks over to where Kitana is, ignoring everyone else. The

Tarkatans surrounding her put up fighting stances, but Shao Kahn watches

him pass dismissively.

SHAO KAHN: Raiden! Put forth a worthy champion... if you can.

Kung Lao begins to step forward, but hesitates. He looks to the Thunder

God, who considers the implication.

RAIDEN: Perhaps you are meant to be the victor.

Smiling, Kung Lao steps forward.

SHAO KAHN: You will face Shang Tsung.

Tsung smiles while clenching his fist.

SHAO KAHN: And Quan Chi.