(SCENE: NEW YORK CITY) (POV: 3RD PERSON)

The big city of New York is under siege.

Chaos.

Fear.

Insanity.

And Carnage.

The Outworld Invasion has brought these four words onto the innocents of the city. Flying monsters destroying buildings, giant beasts attacking the streets & Tarkatans wielding guns from shotguns to assault rifles following behind them, gunning down anyone people they see.

The military & the local local police are trying their best, but they couldn't handle Outworld's onslaught.

Meanwhile, the damage was being surveyed by two members of the police's SWAT Team. "15, 16, 17, 18. Kabal, call it in." Says the brown haired policeman.

"Base, this is Eagle Two. We count 18 bogies. Southbound on Olympic." Kabal says through his walkie talkie. "Roger that, sending men to intercept. Watch your asses out there." Someone says through the walkie talkie.

"Will do, Eagle Two out." Kabal says as he shuts off his walkie talkie. "This cannot be happening." The brown haired officer says in disbelief as he sees the carnage & chaise the Outworlders are causing. "You know, if I knew this was in store for me when the head honchos asked me to join the force as part of my rehabilitation, I would've tell them to sent me in for life." Kabal says.

Suddenly, Reptile appeared on the building as he started climbing up towards the top of the building. "Shit, company." He says as he and Kabal pulled out there pistols and started open firing on him.

However, Reptile's agility & reflexes dodged the bullets as he leaps over them. They took aim, but Reptile created an acidic shield from his breath as it disintegrated any bullet that makes contact with it.

As they ran out of bullets, Reptile knocked Kabal back with his lightning fast tongue while disarming his friend. "Enough of this! It's you and me, freak show!" He yells out as he fights Reptile.

While having any powers, he beats Reptile thanks to his various weapons & equipment. "Spitting? Sticking your tongue out? Bet your mama's real proud." He says as he helps Kabal back up.

"C'mon, we need to get street level. We're too vulnerable up here." He says. "Are you crazy?!?!? And lose the high ground on these freaks?!?!?" Kabal asks in both confusion and shock.

However, when a dragon like Beast flew by them and torched a nearby billboard. This made Kabal changed his mind. "You know what? I take back what I said." He says as he and his friend head down towards the lower level of the building.

When they reached ground level, they saw men running away while occasionally shooting behind them as a giant Outworld monster chasing after them, seemingly unaffected by the bullets.

Once the giant left, Kabal takes notice of some people on the bridge. "Hey Stryker, check them out." He says, causing Stryker to turn towards the bridge as he sees Huika & Herufaia talking to one another.

"What do you think? Friend or foe?" He asks as Stryker takes a good long look at them. "Don't know. Approach with caution, though." He says as the two carefully approach the girls with guns at the ready.

"Excuse me, but what are you two doing here?" Stryker asks with caution as Huika & Herufaia turns towards the two. "We are here to help our siblings & our friends fight against these invaders." Huika says as Tarkatans appeared and charged at the group with extended blades.

But then, Raiden electrocuted them as he levitates down to the group. "Who are you?" Stryker asks, but Raiden couldn't answer as he receives a vision, though it was difficult to decipher it. "You alright?" He asks as a loud roar caught their attention.

They turned to see Johnny Cage & Oscar battling against Motaro. Raiden decides to join them. "Johnny Cage fighting a giant monster? What is this? Time Smashers?" Stryker asks in confusion as he sees Motaro defeating Johnny Cage. He about to finish him, but was stopped when Oscar threw a large stone at him.

Raiden intervene and fired a powerful lightning blast at the stunned Motaro, knocking him out cold. "That guy shot lightning, from his hands. And that other guy threw a large stone slab like it was nothing. How'd they do that?" Kabal asks.

"No idea." Stryker says as a loud roar caught their attention. They turned to see Kintaro approaching them. "Spread out. Give him multiple targets." Stryker orders as he and Kabal distanced each other & took aim at Kintaro.

But before they can open fire, Kintaro spat out a powerful stream of fire at Kabal, burning him to a charred crisped. "Humans, less ugly when they burn." He says as Stryker became angry at this. "Your gonna pay for what you did!" He exclaims in anger as he battles Kintaro.

Kintaro is a strong and highly dangerous opponent, but Stryker was fueled by the anger he was feeling for his friend's incineration and it was this anger that triumphs over Kintaro. "Huh, never knew I had it in me." He says as he rushes to Kabal's aid.

"Kabal! Don't worry! I'll send for medevac!" Stryker exclaims in worry as he pulls out his walkie talkie. "Base! This is Eagle Two!" Stryker calls out into his walkie talkie. "Base here, what's going on?" Someone asked through the walkie talkie.

"Need immediate Medevac to current position! Kabal's down! Third degree burns!" Stryker exclaims, not noticing Ermac behind him. "Medevac unit routing to you. ETA ten minutes." Someone says.

Before Stryker could reply, Ermac lifted him up in the air and threw him down onto the New York Subway. Stryker recovers as Ermac enters the Subway. "The Emperor will have your soul." He says.

"Oh yeah? Well come and take it!" He exclaims as he and Ermac battle. While Ermac holds the advantage in super abilities, Stryker's sheer determination won him the match. "I think I'll be keeping my soul, thank you very much." Stryker taunts.

"We have been searching for you, Kurtis Stryker." Calls out a familiar voice as Stryker got on guard. Near the Subway's entrance, Nightwolf & Kenjian have entered. "Well you two found me! Who are you?!?" Stryker demands to know.

"I am Nightwolf & this is Kenjian. Lord Raiden is gathering Earth's Defenders; you are among them." Nightwolf says, causing Stryker to be confused. "What the hell are you guys talking about?!?" Stryker asks.

"Lord Raiden is the man who helped Johnny Cage & Oscar Luonto against the Centaur Motaro. Now, he's leading the Defenders of Earth against the Outworld Invaders. We mean no disrespect to your governments & police force, but Raiden is our only hope for survival." Kenjian explains as Stryker didn't seem convinced.

"Yeah, well, 'Earthrealm Defender' is about ten steps above my pay grade." Stryker says with skepticism in his voice. "I see you doubt yourself, even after your victories. Come, we'll help you and your friend survive this." Kenjian says as Stryker lowers his weapon and nods his head at this.

When the trio return to Kabal's location, they only found his burned outlines. "Where'd he go? Medevac hasn't arrived yet." Stryker wonders. "Perhaps he has gone to find help." Nightwolf guesses. "Or maybe someone from your side found him." Kenjian guesses as well.

"No, he was too banged up & most of the police force are too far away from our current position. Someone took him while we were too busy." He says as the trio are left wondering on Kabal's whereabouts.

(SCENE CHANGE: SHANG TSUNG'S FLESH PITS)

Meanwhile, in the Flesh Pits of Shang Tsung, the sounds of operating medical equipment & the gasping of a injured man is heard. It's revealed that Kano found Kabal & is treating him of his wounds.

Kano's attention was caught by Kabal waking up. "Easy there, mate. You've had a rough one." Kano says as he appears before Kabal. "Kano?" Kabal asks in confusion as Kano chuckles a bit. "In the flesh." He says as he walks back to his table of medical & operation equipment.

"I was...on fire." Kabal says through his damaged state. "Yeah. Burned to a crisp, you were. Good thing I found ya." He says as Kabal feels his face, shocking him greatly. "I'm hideous." He says with disgust towards himself.

"Shang Tsung's magic healed the rest of you. But your lungs......yeesh." Kano explains while cringing a bit at the mention of his lungs. "Take it off." Kabal says.

"Can't, it's permanent." Kano says, shocking Kabal greatly. "What?!?" Kabal asks in shock. "No mask equals no breathing. Your lungs been damaged by the blaze, so you need the mask to live, unless you fancy being a corpse." Kano explains as Kabal gets up from the operating table. "I'm a freak." He says while getting up from the table.

Kano then picks up a pair of hookswords and approaches Kabal as he hands them to him. "Go on. These babes misses their papa, so give 'em a whirl." Kano says as Kabal shook his head at the swords.

"I swore off those swords after your clan ditched me." Kabal says. "Yeah, you're all proper police now, thanks to that big rehab plan of those White House swines. You should ditch those pigs & join back up with the Black Dragon. We're in the money on this war." Kano says as Kabal feel anger raising inside of him.

"You sold those monsters their firearms?" Kabal asks with slight anger showing as Kano gives a cheeky grin. "Guilty as charge, mate." He says nonchalantly as Kabal's anger reached a breaking point. "This is your fault!" He exclaimed as Kano took offense at this.

"What're you going on about, eh? You're here, ain't ya?" He asked while dropping the hookswords. "I should be dead! And now you're gonna be!" He exclaims in anger as he & Kano fight.

But, unknowingly to Kano, Shang Tsung's magic incidentally gave Kabal super speed that would give  people like The Flash & Tenya Iida a run for their money. This super speed gave Kabal the edge as he bested Kano.

"Now tell me how do I get outta here?" Kabal questions as he picks up the hookswords from the ground. "Not so keen on being dead now, are ya?" Kano mockingly asks as Kabal points one of the swords at Kano's neck. "How do I get outta here?" Kabal repeats again.

"Good luck. No one gets in or out of Outworld without Shao Kahn's say-so." Kano says as Kabal points the sword closer to his neck. "Outworld? Shao Kahn?" Kabal asks.

"Shao Kahn's the big boss around here & he'll be Earthrealm's new Emperor once he conquers it." Kano says as Kabal narrows his eyes at this. "Where is he?" He demands to know as he presses the sword against his neck. "Why bother? You can't get near him without your head rolling around on the floor." Kano mocks as Kabal smirks underneath his mask.

"No. But I'm sure you can." He says.

(SCENE CHANGE: SHAO KAHN'S THRONE ROOM)

Meanwhile, in Shao Kahn's throne room, his invasion force emerges from a portal. "What is this?" Shao Kahn asks in frustration at his retreating invasion force.

While his forces explain the reasoning for their retreat, Kabal & Kano enter the room with Kabal having him at knife point. "That's him? Big guy with the skull?" Kabal asks. "You're a right genius, you are." Kano says with a smirk on his face.

"It's no great matter. I will go to Earthrealm, finish off Raiden's foolish protectors & bring you the head of the brat that nearly killed you." Sindel says as Shao Kahn nods in agreement. "Yes. Shang Tsung!" Shao Kahn says as he calls out to the sorcerer.

"Yes, Emperor?" Shang Tsung asks as he approaches Shao Kahn. "The Empress requires something of you." He says, and in the blink of an eye, Shao Kahn starts siphoning the souls from Shang Tsung.

The sorcerer screams in pain until he faded away into nothingness as Shao Kahn absorbs every last soul from Shang Tsung. "You see that? He's miles out of your league." Kano mockingly says as Kabal knocks him out. "I can take him." Kabal says as he approaches Shao Kahn.

The Emperor was preoccupied with transferring the power to Sindel, so Sektor & the black figure stops Kabal. "No one shall attack the Emperor." Sektor says as he & the black prepares to fight.

Sektor's new cybernetic body augments his own abilities further while the black figure can conjure portals, shadow clones & white balls of strange energy. But this proved futile against Kabal's speed. "And I thought I was a freak." He says.

After winning his battle, Kabal found himself surrounded by Tarkatans & Cyber Lin Kuei robots. "Quan Chi, close the portal!" Shao Kahn orders as Quan Chi did just that.

"Time to go!" Kabal exclaims as he uses his newfound super speed to reach the portal & jumps into it.

(SCENE CHANGE: NEW YORK CITY)

Kabal emerges from the other end of the portal as it closed off behind him. When Kabal got back up, he found himself back in New York City on the very same bridge where Kintaro burned him. "This speed is incredible. Must be due to the Outworld magic." Kabal says to himself, not realizing someone's behind him.

"You are not authorized for portal usage." Says a robotic voice. "Oh yeah? Says who?" Kabal mockingly asks as he turns around to see a blue cyborg of familiar powers. "Sub-Zero. Unit LK52O." Sub-Zero says, introducing himself as Kabal scoffs at this.

"You say that like it means something." Kabal says as he prepares for battle. "It does, as you will soon discover." Sub-Zero says as he does battle against Kabal.

Sub-Zero's cryomency abilities have been enhanced greatly due to his cyberization, boasting new array of ice attacks his human form couldn't muster. Yet even these skills couldn't match Kabal's speed, agility & lucky tricks. "Not so cool as you thought." He says as Kintaro appears.

"Why turn on your comrade, Lin Kuei?" He asks as Kabal scowls at the sight of the Shokan. "I'm not a Lin Kuei. I'm the man you torched! And now it's time for payback!" Kabal exclaims in anger as he attacks Kintaro.

Kintaro fought hard, but his size & slowness proved to be his downfall as Kabal bested the Tigrar Shokan. "That's payback, you overgrown lap cat." He says as Raiden, Oscar, Smoke, Cyrax & Frost appears.

"Sub-Zero!" The three Lin Kuei ninjas exclaimed in concern for their friend as they rushed to his side. "You have great power indeed, Kabal." Raiden says as Kabal recognizes him. "Wait. You're the lightning guy. You helped Stryker." Kabal says as he became concerned for his friend's safety. "Stryker! Is he-" Kabal exclaims, about to ask about his friend when Raiden stopped him. "He is safe. He has joined us in the fight against Shao Kahn. We will welcome your aid also." Raiden says as Oscar approaches the Lin Kuei ninjas.

"He maybe gone, but I will sooner die then abandoned someone when I know we can help them. We should take him with us, see if we can free him from his enslavement." Oscar says as Kabal nods in agreement. "He's right. We gotta help him if we can." Kabal says as he & Oscar grab Sub-Zero's legs while Cyrax & Smoke grab his arms as they make their way back to base.

(Here's chapter 10 done. I decided to fuse both Stryker & Kabal's chapters together. Will do the same for Cyber Sub-Zero & Nightwolf's chapters in the next chapter, with one possible exception.)