Nature Calls

                                    

                                          
Chan, Mileena, Kira, and Kobra convene at a restaurant in Kabukicho. It had been a long day for them all. However, their effort—or lack thereof—brought the four of them together again since the battle against Quan Chi 15 years ago. A lot has changed over the years for them all.

                          
"I never thought we would dine with the empress of Outworld," Kira commented.
                          
"This is only as a token of my appreciation to the Earthrealmer," Mileena responded.
                          
"Everyone here is an Earthrealmer," Chan chuckled. Mileena looked away as the others snickered. "So, the two of you left the Shaolin Temple?"
                          
"Without you, Raiden, Lui...Lui Kang, and Kung Lao...we didn't really have much of a choice," Kobra responded.
                          
"What of the other monks at the Temple of Light?"
                          
"The Elders rejected us after learning of what occurred that day. We did catch up to Bo Rai Cho for a while, but after Shang Tsung's murder, he disappeared along with many others."
                          
"He returned to Outworld as a permanent resident," Mileena muttered.
                          
"You know Master Bo Rai Cho?" Kira asked.
                          
"He is a resident of Outworld, Kira. Did you forget?" Kobra said.
                          
"He was in Earthrealm years before the 10th Tournament. It was Li Mei who visited us from Outworld," she confirmed.
                          
"That's a name I haven't heard in a while," Mileena commented. Kira frowned. "Was she also a member of the—"
                          
"What made you two decide to raid the Red Dragon Headquarters alone?" Chan interrupted. Mileena looked away once more muttering to herself.
                          
"It was the perfect opportunity. Believe it or not, a vampire approached us requesting our assistance to raid the place in exchange for transferring their assets to the Black Dragon." Kira stated.
                          
"Nitara..." Mileena whispered.
                          
"Her name was Ciero. Would you know her Empress?" Kobra asked.
                          
"No."
                          
"Besides her, we also had Kenshi leading his son and another young woman into the hideout. Couple that with Tanya and some of the new Black Dragon recruits and you have an unstoppable force."
                          
"Tanya..." Mileena whispered. She stood up from the table. "I shall remain outside until you are ready, Shaolin," Mileena stated as she left the diner.
                          
"Was it something I said?" Kobra asked.
                          
"She's had a long day is all," Chan responded. "Now that she's gone, I want to know what really happened," he demanded. Kira sighed.
                          
"Thanks to Knightwolf, the other Brotherhood recruits were revived using the souls of people from her past, while Eva kept their actual souls using Shinnok's real amulet. Knightwolf was left in charge of the amulet and had to figure the rest out on her own," she explained.
                          
"So, Tesla's spell actually did end after Knightwolf killed her. They lied," Chan stated.
                          
"She mentioned it to us after the Tournament. She brought them to the Temple after the tournament was over, but the monks rejected them...and soon after rejected us for our transgressions. We all had nowhere left to go."
                          
"We went through so many rehabilitation and juvenile justice programs in America, but still struggled to help them all. Old habits started to resurface until I had a run-in with Johnny and Sonya. Kabal rescued me and initiated me in the Black Dragon Clan. When I returned to Kira and the remaining recruits, I gave them the choice of going to the Special Forces Rehab Program or joining the Black Dragon Clan," Kobra stated.