The bullshit continues...
Spoilers: (Highlight to reveal)
After fighting Mileena, Kitana demands an explanation from Shang, who explains that "I am merely perfecting you, princess. As difficult as that might be." Kitana drags him before Kahn, expecting him to be punished, but Kahn congratulates Shang on his cloning success instead.
Kahn himself tells Kitana her father was Jerrod and says "If only I had not allowed Sindel to convince me of your worth...but now I have a true daughter!" and has Kitana taken away to be "made an example of."
The next Chapter has Jade fighting a bunch of guard characters like Baraka and one of the Shokan, I'm not sure which, to free Kitana from imprisonment. She can't for some reason (only having dialogue to go by and no scene direction is frustrating like that) and goes off to get Raiden's help instead.
Raiden says they don't have time to help Kitana, they have to get back to the tournament, but Liu argues Raiden is the reason she's about to be executed for turning against Kahn in the first place, so he and Kung Lao go to rescue her while the rest participate in the tournament.
When they arrive at the tower where Kitana was being held, Kung Lao gets a chance to fight Goro, I think. They find that she's already been taken to the coliseum for her execution and rush off to save her. She's chained up, I guess, and they're about to free her, but they can't just yet. Johnny and Smoke have been eliminated from the tournament and Sonya and Jax went back to Earthrealm, they must fight next, even though Raiden believes Liu is not "he who must win."
Kahn puts them up against Shang Tsung...and Quan Chi. (There he is again. What the fuck.)
We finally get to the end of MK2 as Shao Kahn kills Kung Lao.
Yep. Kung Lao dies in the MK2 part.
Liu Kang fights Kahn afterward and defeats him. So that's two out of three for Liu Kang.
Afterward, the heroes lament the price of their victory but think Earthrealm is now safe and Shao Kahn is dead.
Cut to Outworld, where there's an argument over who inherits the throne, because they too think Kahn is dead, but that's settled when Kahn walks back in, healthy again, and informs them that Quan Chi assisted in his recovery. Kahn is once again pissed as hell at Shang for failing to help him win Earthrealm, but Quan Chi suggests a new plan. I like the dialogue here, so I'm just gonna post it.
Quan: "There may yet be an alternative, Emperor. Invasion."
Kahn: "Invasion?! Do you mock me? Sindel's Ward prevents me from setting foot in Earthrealm."
Quan: "Have you considered why your wife and empress chose to betray you in this particular fashion?"
Kahn: "Of course. But even after millenia, her motives are a mystery."
Quan: She realized that the safeguards afforded by the Elder Gods through Mortal Kombat are but fiction. She sacrificed herself to give protection the Elder Gods could not. So Earthrealm could not suffer as had Edenia.
Kahn: "Indeed."
Quan: "I have mastered the spells necessary for her resurrection. Her ward will be nullified. And with it the barrier that prevents your entry into Earthrealm. I will return her to you, of course. You will find her much more... cooperative.
Kahn: "This a very magnanimous offer."
Quan: "I wish only to serve, Emperor."
Kahn: "I am weary of sorcerers, Quan Chi. Prove your worth. Bring her to me."
I like the direct focus here on the theme of "The Elder Gods ain't worth shit, they never do anything for anyone," as well as the acknowledgment from the old canon that Quan did the resurrecting. Particularly fitting since he's the one who's a necromancer, after all.
Anyway, the next scene has Quan speaking to Sindel, who has been evil-fied and eager to return to Kahn's side. "The invasion of Earthrealm can now begin."
After that, we find Stryker and Kabal who are apparently partners on the force, as per Kabal's new "left the Black Dragons to become a cop" bio, experiencing the invasion. They fight a few characters like Reptile and Mileena, witness Johnny Cage and Raiden fighting giant monsters...and then Kabal gets nearly burned to death, I'm not sure by who.
While Stryker waits for Kabal's med-evac, Nightwolf approaches him and invites him to join Raiden's forces. While they're talking, Kabal's body disappears.
We find that Kano is the one who rescued Kabal, and has taken him to Outworld. Shang Tsung's magic healed most of his body, but his lungs were too badly damaged. He's still hideously scarred and needs the respirator to live. Kano offers Kabal his old hookswords, which apparently he gave up when he joined the force.
Kabal at first rejects rejoining Kano, blaming him and the Outworlders for what happened to him. But after Kano tells him about Shao Kahn, Kabal figures out that Kano can get him close to Kahn.
Here we get a line of complete throwaway dialogue from someone else to Kahn that "Raiden has killed Motaro." Kabal makes a run at Kahn, but fails and instead must escape. It is here he discovers for the first time that he has gained superspeed, figuring it to be a side effect of the Outworld magic that healed him. He makes it through the portal back to Earth.
Kabal next encounters Cyber-Sub-Zero, Unit LK-52O
It's Kuai Liang.
My rage is over 9000.
Anyway, after Kabal defeats Cyber-Sub, the other heroes show up. Jax (I think) is able to undo the programming and give Cyber-Sub his free will back. They discuss the fact that they need intel and since Kahn doesn't know Sub-Zero's not on his side anymore, he could act as a mole.
Cyber-Sub reports to Sektor, who detects that he's been "recalibrated", forcing a fight.
Eventually, Cyber-Sub returns to the others and informs them he saw Quan Chi casting some sort of spell. Next, the giant Soulnado rises out of the graveyard and Raiden recognizes this is Shao Kahn stealing all of Earthrealm's souls to multiply his power. They head off to disrupt the soulnado.
It's here that Cyber-Sub encounters Noob Saibot, who informs him that he's Bi-Han. They fight and in the end, Sub wins and agrees afterward "You are right. We are not brothers."
The heroes then fail to stop the soulnado and Raiden despairs at his inability to prevent the things he foresaw. He decides he must speak to the Elder Gods and places Nightwolf in charge until he returns.
