Quan Chi screams for mercy as the vengeful specter Scorpion lashes out at him for crimes against the ninja's clan, a fitting punishment for the evil sorcerer. In a moment of cunning desperation, Quan Chi enlists the aid of two of the Netherrealm's denizens to destroy Scorpion while he makes his escape back into Outworld. Being already dead, all two assassins could do was delay Scorpion at best  but it was not enough to allow Quan Chi  to escape. As he was running away from his tormentor, Quan Chi uncovered a mysterious artifact that allowed him to open portals leading to the different realms and with this, he escaped into Outworld and swiftly sought out the only being who matched with his hunger for ultimate power, the shape-shifting Shang Tsung. Quan Chi told Shang Tsung of the magic artifact which would enable them to not only harness the countless souls vanquished in past tournaments but to bring life to the legendary Dragon King's army of undead soldiers and eventually take over all the realms.

Together the two sorcerers crossed the portal into Earthrealm and visited the Temple of Light where the tournament champion Liu Kang spent most of his days. Caught off-guard and clearly outnumbered  and outflanked, the two sorcerers finally succeeded in doing what neither of them could accomplish alone. Liu Kang is dead. News quickly reached the thunder god Raiden who immediately gave up his immortality to return back to Outworld and amass a small group of renegades to prevent the deadly alliance from ever being created and preserve the peace for all the known realms. With the realms' futures hanging in the balance, who will stand victorious?