The Earthrealmers and Baraka find themselves imprisoned in a dungeon beneath Shang Tsung’s fake laboratory, where the sorcerer conducts his twisted and grotesque experiments. Kenshi, now permanently blinded, is in constant pain, struggling with both his disability and the physical wounds he’s suffered. Their jailer, Syzoth, visits the group and provides Johnny with medicine to ease Kenshi’s suffering. He reveals that his reason for aiding Shang Tsung is that his own family is being held captive by the sorcerer. Syzoth, a Zaterran and the only one of his kind with the ability to shapeshift, explains that Shang Tsung learned this ability from him.
Shang Tsung then visits the prisoners, declaring that he plans to use them as test subjects for fatal experiments, ensuring there will be no traces left for Liu Kang to follow. Before leaving, Syzoth unleashes a swarm of ravenous Tarkatans, opening the prisoners’ cages so they can be devoured. During the chaos, Johnny Cage and Kenshi are trapped in electrified cages, but Baraka and Kung Lao manage to fight off the Tarkatans and free them. Syzoth tries to stop their escape, but Baraka defeats him. Syzoth pleads for death, hoping Shang Tsung will spare his family, but Baraka chooses to spare him. However, when Shang Tsung returns, he reveals that Syzoth’s family was killed long ago. Before Syzoth can react, Shang Tsung escapes, filling the room with poisonous gas. Unable to open the door, Baraka smashes it, and the group escapes into the wilderness.
They find refuge in the Living Forest, where Johnny marvels at the strange beauty of the trees, which hold the souls of ancestors. Syzoth explains that, unlike the other Zaterrans, his soul isn’t bound to the forest because he is not accepted by “warm-bloods.” He shares his tragic story of being viewed as a freak by his people and exploited by Shang Tsung when he was a huckster. After learning real sorcery, Shang Tsung held Syzoth’s family hostage to force him into helping him develop his shapeshifting powers.
While in the forest, the group encounters Ashrah, who is engaged in a battle with several demons. Mistaking them for demons, she attacks, but after they defeat her, she apologizes. She reveals that she is being pursued by demons sent by Quan Chi, who is also working with Shang Tsung. Ashrah explains that she is a former demoness who, after discovering the beauty of Earthrealm and Outworld, vowed to change her ways and never allow Quan Chi to corrupt those realms. Seeing their goals align, the group decides to help Ashrah in her quest to find and defeat Quan Chi, despite Johnny Cage’s desire to return Kenshi to Earthrealm to heal from his injuries. Ashrah explains that her magical blade not only detects evil but also allows her to shed her demonic traits with every evil being she kills.
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