The Defenders of the Realm are fighting a group of Cybers. But it's revealed to all by part of a simulation being watched by Quan Chi. He says this will happen three hours from now, and the pool of prophecy never lies. Rayden's minions will enter into battle in three hours, more than enough time for him and his pet snake to make their little journey. Soon enough, a crippling evil shall infiltrate these pathetic mortals and devour them from within. Then, the dimension of Earth shall be theirs!

At the base, Sonya and Jax are sparring. Jax tells her she needs to kick higher to keep your opponent off guard. But Sonya manages to sweep Jax off his feet, so she asks the blubber butt if he meant something like that. Jax gets up and tells her to not ever call him that. Sonya doesn't get it, and says she was just kidding. Jax says if he tells her this, she must promise never to tell another living soul.

He says that when he was a kid, he was fat, the fattest kid in his school. The other kids used to rag on him something fierce, and one of their favorite little nicknames was what she just said. He knows he shouldn't still let it get to him. An alarm then goes off, so they head off to the command center. Nightwolf says there is a dimensional rip in the thermal fields of Iceland. The team head off in the dragon jets. Jax asks Sonya about what he told her back there, but she says his secret is safe. She might even give him some dish on herself sometime. Jax says he already has enough to bury her.

The team arrive in Iceland and land their jets. Stryker says he doesn't see any dimensional rip, just rocks, geysers and plenty of mud. Liu says there isn't a ninja in sight. But they then come across a portal. Lots of Cybers start running out of it and head straight towards them, so the team start fighting them.

Quan Chi tells his snake that this is just as the pool of prophecy foretold. With the Defenders battling Shao Kahn's mindless automatons, they are free to run their little errand. They head towards a cave. Nightwolf contacts the team and says he's detected more portal activity, this time in the Peruvian rainforest. Jax says he'd love to help out, but they've got a little more company than they expected. Nightwolf tells them to kick some Cyber-butt and then get over there as fast as they can.

Quan Chi uses his powers to open a portal and tells his snake that beyond this lies the hidden realm of Zaterra, and the object of their quest. And Earth is the crossroad between realms, so they must enter from here. He heads through the portal and then creates a large energy sphere in front of him.

He then arrives at his destination and finds what he wanted: the Gem of Tetsurri. He starts to approach it, but as he does, a giant flaming skull appears and starts shooting fire everywhere. Quan Chi has his snake staff fire out several smaller snakes, which wrap around the skull and destroy it. He then takes the gem.

Later on, the team arrive at the location of the new rip. Stryker points out where the portal is, but Liu says something is coming through it. A boy runs through who asks them for help, as he has escaped from Outworld and is now at their mercy. He asks if they can give him sanctuary, and says he can offer them this in trade.

He pulls out the Gem of Tetsurri, which he says is not a weapon, but a gift. Everyone looks at the gem, briefly getting a strange red glow in their eyes. Sonya goes to take the gem, but Kitana stops her and says something is strange. She tells the boy they can't accept this. He says that's a pity, but no matter.

He tells them that the offering has been received, so he puts the gem away and runs off. He heads straight through the portal, which closes up behind him. Sonya wonders what that was all about. Kitana says there was something eerily familiar about that boy. The team go back to their jets and return to base.

When they return, Stryker starts criticizing Sub-Zero for flying too fast. Sub-Zero tells him he's sorely testing his patience. Nightwolf asks what's wrong with them, but Kitana says why ask her, she's not their keeper. Sonya says Kitana never gets involved, she just stands back all the time, judging them.

Liu tells her to lay off. Sonya says that's right, no one can mess with Liu's woman, if he ever admits it. Nightwolf asks if he's missing something here. Rayden then teleports in and tells them that if they can't play nice he'll have to separate them. Jax thinks he should separate Sonya from her mouth. Sonya asks blubber butt if that's right. Sonya asks everyone if they knew that Jax was the fattest kid in school.

She and Jax are about to fight each other, but Kitana tells them to stop it. She asks if they don't see what is happening, ever since that gem was present, things have been strange between them. Rayden asks about the gem. Liu says that a boy came through the portal in the jungle, who tried to give them this red jewel. Rayden says it must be the Gem of Tetsurri. He'd heard of it, but always assumed it was a myth. He explains it's not really a gem at all, but an ancient crystallized heart.

Jax says to let him guess: the gem belong to some guy named Tetsurri. Rayden says Tetsurri was an evil lord of an eternally damned realm called Zaterra. The gem is a demon stone with enormous power, power to darken the soul and set brother against brother. It would take an extraordinary sorcerer to unleash its power. Kitana then realizes that's why the boy looked so familiar to her: he was the sorcerer Quan Chi.

Rayden says Quan Chi is a free roaming sorcerer with venomous powers. But right now they need to deal with the gem. If they think they've been acting weird, they ain't seen nothing yet. The gem's effects will keep getting worse, and by tomorrow their souls will be so dark they'll be trying to kill each other. Nightwolf says there must be something they can do. Rayden tells them they have one shot: Quan Chi must get rid of the gem before its dark power begins to destroy him. He'll have to take it back to where he got it: Zaterra. They'll have to go there after him and destroy that gem. The team head to their jets, but Stryker and Sub-Zero get into an argument over who will be driving.

Rayden tells them to try and fight this darkness, they must reach deep into their souls and find the honor they feel for one another, otherwise they're finished. Zaterra is a realm like none they've ever seen, with strange forces and hidden dangers. He tells Nightwolf to go with them, as he wasn't exposed to the gem, meaning he can keep a clear head. Sonya asks Jax if he's coming or not, but he says he's riding with Nightwolf.

Rayden opens up a portal, which the dragon jets fly through. The team soon arrives in Zaterra. Stryker tries to give out orders on where they should go, but Liu tells him to save his solider garbage -they don't take orders from him. Nightwolf tells them to stop it, it's the gem that's doing this.

Nightwolf says to land the jets, he wants to give Kiva a chance to sniff around. The team lands, but once they're out of the jets, Jax starts complaining he's sick of following Kiva around. Sonya asks blubber but if he's got a better idea. Jax is about to yell at her, but Kiva then starts growling. Nightwolf says Kiva has found something at that crag.

Nightwolf says he and Kiva are going to go ahead and do a little scouting. He tells everyone else to hang loose here and try to stop fighting. Jax thinks this is great, they get to sit on their butts whilst Nightwolf plays scout. Liu tells him to shut up, as all he ever does is bellyache. They are about to fight each other, but then several crystals burst out of the ground and surround the team.

The crystals break apart, revealing a crystal warrior hidden inside each one. The team start fighting these warriors, who shatter apart when hit. Stryker accidentally bumps into Liu, knocking him down. Liu tells him to watch it, but Stryker says he's fighting three here -can't Liu handle one?

Sonya gets kicked by one of the warriors, whilst results in her crashing into Sub-Zero. Jax jump kicks the warrior and asks where Sonya and Sub-Zero learnt how to fight -watching kung fu theatre? Meanwhile, Kiva howls at something, as Nightwolf realizes they've found what they were looking for.

The team have defeated the crystal warriors, but resume arguing among themselves. Sonya warns Kitana they if she isn't going to fight, she should at least stay out of her way. Jax thinks that's fresh, coming from a loser who got her partner killed. Nightwolf tells everyone to come over here. He shows them the Sphere of Tetsurri, something Rayden had described to him. He says that is where they'll find the gem.

The team arrive at the sphere and find the gem. Stryker says he'll smash the blasted thing so they can get out of here, but when he tries, it emits purple flames which blast him back. Quan Chi then appears on the crystals above, saying perhaps this isn't quite so simple a matter. He says he is but a poor sorcerer, who greatly admires their determination.

But unfortunately, it is written that only the strongest and most skilled warrior among them can destroy the Gem of Tetsurri. He asks which one of them shall that be? Sonya says that it looks like it's her job once again to save their sorry butts. Jax stops her and asks what she means, but she starts fighting him. Sub-Zero approaches the gem, but Stryker gets in the way and asks if he plans on betraying this clan like he did his last one.

Sub-Zero says he warned him, and starts fighting him. Nightwolf tells everyone to stop, but they don't listen. Kitana gets to the gem, but before she can do anything with it, she gets blasted in the back by Sonya. Sonya says she may not be some high and mighty little Princess, but she wasn't banished from her realm.

Kitana calls her a fool and starts fighting her. Most of the team are fighting each other, which Quan Chi finds amusing. Nightwolf tells everyone to stop it, and to try and remember what Rayden had said: find the honor and fight the darkness.

The team continue to fight each other, but Quan Chi realizes that Nightwolf hasn't been exposed to the gem. He enters the cave and blasts Kiva out of the way, then starts fighting Nightwolf himself.

He throws his snake staff, which starts to attack Nightwolf. The team are too busy fighting each other to care, but Nightwolf tells them to fight the darkness. His words manage to get through to Kitana, who snaps out of it and kicks the snake staff. The snake is sent flying across the room, where it hits a wall and shatters into pieces.

The team stop fighting and see Quan Chi. Jax asks him if he's going somewhere, but he responds by creating another energy sphere. Nightwolf runs off towards the gem, but Quan Chi uses the energy sphere on himself. He transforms into a giant snake and starts attacking Nightwolf.

The rest of the team start attacking Quan Chi. Nightwolf hits him with an energy arrow, causing him to revert to his original form. With Quan Chi out of the way, Nightwolf summons an axe and uses it to strike the Gem of Tetsurri, which shatters.

When Quan Chi sees this, he screams out and then disappears in a plume of smoke. As the cave collapses, the team head back to their jets and return to the Earthrealm, where Rayden congratulates them on overcoming the darkest regions of their souls merely by finding their connections to each other.

Kitana says they've learned there is nothing they cannot accomplish when they honor each other and work as one. Rayden says with luck, it won't take more than a month or so to get all the apologies out, as they were brutal to each other. Sonya says Rayden is right about that. Jax says he knows Sonya didn't mean it about that blubber butt thing and she'll never say it again. Sonya says right -unless she really needs to humiliate him.