Liu Kang and Jax are training, when Jax hits part of a wall so hard that it causes some of the ceiling to crumble. Liu just about avoids being spiked and tells Jax to watch it. Jax tells Liu Kang he thought Mortal Kombat champions were ageless. Liu Kang tells him it isn't quite like that.
Liu then starts thinking back to the first Mortal Kombat tournament he was in. Having fought several opponents and entering the outworld, Liu fought in a one on one battle against Shang Tsung. He eventually had Shang next to the edge of a pit, and created a fireball...
...to knock Shang off the edge and kill him. Shang's body wasted away into nothing.
Jax then snaps Liu Kang out of it and tells him that the alarm is going off. They go and meet with the rest of the team, as Nightwolf tells them that another rift has opened in New Guinea. The readings are off the scale, and he doubts that this could be the likes of the cyber ninjas. The team move out in their dragon jets to go and see what it is.
Kitana asks Liu Kang what is on his mind and he says that he has recently been thinking about the fact that he won't age. Kitana reminds him that this is the will of the Elder Gods -who declared that whoever wins a Mortal Kombat tournament will not age until the next tournament begins, so the champion can compete over and over again. Liu says he wonders if there will be another tournament since the Outworld violated the rules, and he thinks he may never age, ever. He isn't sure of he wants to be fighting for eternity. Kitana says he now knows what she feels like, as she is 10,000 years old -although Liu says she doesn't look a day over 500. Kitana tells him not to confuse agelessness against immortality -they are both vulnerable.
The jets arrive at New Guinea. The team can't see anything unusual, but Kitana says that Nightwolf said this rift was different from the previous ones they have seen. They decide to split up to try and find anything. Liu Kang walks off and sees a glowing red light now far away. He runs towards it...
...and finds a structure with lots of skulls littered around it, along with the red rift inside it. As he heads towards the light, some rocks fall from above and he looks up to see another man jumping down towards him!
The man goes on the attack, and Liu Kang defends himself. It doesn't take long for Liu Kang to overpower the other man though, and kick him off the structure. Before he can do any more damage, Kitana tells him to stop.
Kitana knows who the other man is -he is known as Rain. She knows him and says they are very old friends, but Rain says it was more than that. She is surprised to see Rain, as she thought he was dead, but he says that he has merely been hiding -Outworld has become a very dangerous place under Shao Kahn. The rest of the team show up, and Kitana introduces them to Rain.
Rain says he has come to tell Kitana some grave news: Shao Kahn intends to invade the realm of Zar. Liu wants to know what that has to do with Kitana, but Rain says that this effects them all. In that realm there is a sacred scimitar that contains the power to destroy the strongest warriors. If Shao Kahn gets it, he will rule all realms, including Earth. Liu Kang wants to know how Rain knows all of this. Rain says that he belongs to a small band of rebels, who are still loyal to the previous Emperor of the Outworld -Kitana's deceased father.
Rain says he must return to Outworld, but wants Kitana to go with him and he needs her help -the rebels are severely outnumbered. Stryker contacts Nightwolf and tells him to get Raiden to come here and open a portal up, but Rain says he isn't needed -this portal here, the one he used, still functions. As Rain moves towards it, Liu Kang tells him to wait -he isn't sure they should trust Rain so easily. Raiden then teleports in.
Sub-Zero starts to explain the situation, by Raiden says he already knows what is up. They plan to visit the realm of Zar, a realm which to him is like Outworld -a realm where he has no power. So if they do go there, he can't help them out. Kitana says she must go as she does not want Shao Kahn to succeed, so the team move out and go through he portal.
They arrive in the other realm, but Rain says the place is not familiar to him. Sub-Zero says they should split up into teams and scout the area. Liu Kang thinks that is a good idea and is about to suggest he and Kitana work together, but Rain interrupts him and says in times past he and Kitana were a formidable team. Kitana says she will go with him, but Liu Kang isn't happy.
He wants to know more, and why it seems to him that Kitana owes Rain something, but she reveals that she was once engaged to him -but there would be too much to explain now and he will just have to try and understand. Lui is clearly very jealous, and as he walks off with Sub-Zero, the rest of the team comment on what just happened. Just then several large demon-like creatures burst out of the ground and attack.
Despite them looking big and fierce, the team defeat them without much trouble. Several of the remaining creatures decide to retreat, and head through a portal.
The team try and follow them, but as they do Rain throws a smoke bomb at the portal. As the team stumble around coughing, Rain grabs Kitana and goes through the portal with her! As the smoke clears, the team see that Rain and Kitana are gone.
Sub-Zero believes that Rain must be actually working for Shao Kahn, and was sent to take Kitana to the Outworld whilst trapping them here. With them out of the way, Shao Kahn could easily attack and take over Earth. They need to find a way out of here fast, but things don't look good as they can't communicate with Nightwolf back on Earth, and there seems to be no other life anywhere. All Liu Kang finds is one of Kitana's fans. But then there is a bright flash and Raiden appears. Jax wants to know how he got here, but he says he has actually been here the whole time, keeping an eye on them.
Sonya and Jax says that a paranoid thunder god is the one thing Shao Kahn didn't think of, but Raiden tells him he isn't paranoid -he's smart. He creates a portal for them to go through to get back to Earth, but Liu Kang wants to stay. He wants to find Kitana, although Raiden says she might have willingly gone with Rain. Liu still wants to know the truth, and Stryker says he'll go with Liu also. The rest of the team go through the portal, as Raiden warns that Earth may be under attack already.
Liu Kang says he must know if Kitana cares about Rain or him, and Raiden decides to help. He warns that Liu Kang may be ageless, but he is still mortal. He then teleports away, leaving Liu Kang and Stryker to try and figure out where to go. Liu Kang puts Kitana's fan back down where he found it and sees it points off in a direction -maybe it is a clue. They look up and see that the direction the fan points leads to a castle, which is a short distance away.
The two reach the castle and start to climb up it, as they do, Liu Kang asks Stryker why he stayed behind. They rest and Stryker says that a long time a go, there was a girl he knew he looked at him the way Kitana looks at Liu Kang. But he was a riot cop, and his duty always came first. He was never around when she needed him, and she eventually walked out on him to go with another guy. Stryker threatens to smash his baton on Liu's head if he ever tells his tragic little love story to anyone else.
Back on Earth, the invasion has begun as Jax, Sonya and Sub-Zero fight lots of cyber ninjas, although the odds are not in their favor. However, Raiden then shows up and starts blasting the robots, and Sonya says it is about time he made himself useful. Raiden says that as an elder God, he shouldn't really be doing this, but continues to trash the robots.
"Hey, nice to see you you aren't just a big bag of..."
"Ugh!"
"Heh heh heh heh heh heh."
Meanwhile Liu Kang and Stryker reach the top of the castle, but they are met by several Centaurians, led by Motaro. Motaro says that they will not survive against him, and goes to attack Liu Kang. He picks him up and throws him at a wall.
Liu hits the wall but kicks off it, and gets Motaro in a head lock before making him fall over. Stryker starts fighting another Centuarian, but the four legged creatures starts using their tails to throw projectiles at the two.
Liu Kang and Stryker avoid the fireballs, which destroy part of the castle's walls. Motaro and another Centuarian make the tactically stupid decision of charging forwards, only to be pushing out of the newly created gap in the castle. With their leader out of the way, Stryker says he can deal with the rest and tells Liu Kang to go and find Kitana. Liu runs through the castle and finds another fan, pointing towards a waterfall feature nearby.
He throws a fireball at it, which somehow stops the water and reveals a secret passage. Liu runs through the passage, and appears on the other side where he sees Kitana chained up.
Kitana tells Liu to wait, as several clouds appear and gather into one, revealing a hideous insect creature which has multiple heads and is insanely strong. After being thrown around repeatedly, Liu charges up a super fireball and unleashes it...
...to destroy the creature. Liu frees Kitana, but wants to know one thing...she replies by saying she would never leave him. This is enough to satisfy Liu, just as Stryker comes in to say they need to get moving. Kitana seems to know her way around the place and leads them to an exit...
...only for Rain to appear. Liu Kang wants to fight him, but Kitana says she will deal with her old "friend", as it is a matter of honor. She is appalled to see what Rain has become, but he tells her that the new Emperor has been quite appreciative of his talents. The two start to fight.
After being knocked down once, Rain resorts to using a weapon, and grabs a club he tries to smash Kitana's head in with. He misses and hits a pillar, and eventually Kitana jump kicks him into the same pillar, which starts to crumble. It breaks away, and the whole castle starts to rumble. Rain says they will meet again.
He then jumps into a small pool and escapes, as the others try and find a way out. The exit is blocked, but Raiden appears to save the day. Before they go through his portal, Liu Kang says that he and Kitana make a good team, even if he does sometimes let jealously cloud his judgment. Kitana says they are both mortals, but no matter how long they may live, it is their most precious gift, and they are fortunate to be able to share it. Raiden reminds them that the sky is falling, so they move through the portal just as Rain's castle collapses and explodes.
NOTES
