Hanzo, having realized that Havik was behind the slaughter of the Shirai Ryu in the comics, goes apeshit. He beats Havik down and snaps his neck - but little does he know, Havik snaps his own neck for breakfast. Havik tells him that they're not finished fighting and attacks Hanzo again. He insists that Hanzo is holding back his true fire, that Hanzo isn't letting Scorpion take over. To help speed matters along, he has Shujinko bring Takeda out as his hostage. All of the temple's monks follow them inside. They are also Blood Code'd.
Havik explains that he doesn't want to hurt Takeda, and in fact would be perfectly happy to release Takeda into Hanzo's custody if Hanzo simply obliges Havik and goes Hellfire. Havik believes that Scorpion losing control would result in him allying with Havik against any Gods or other rulers who might try to take over the realms.
"This isn't a choice," Havik says and beats Hanzo down. He knows that if he just keeps pummeling Hanzo, eventually the fire will take over as a self-preservation mechanism, regardless of Hanzo's wishes. Hanzo insists that his willpower will hold out until the very bitter end, giving Havik an excuse to keep beating on him.
As Havik attacks, Scorpion unleashes a bellow of pain and frustration, leading Havik to think that he's won... but then Hanzo has willed the Scorpion part of him down, and looking Takeda right in the eyes with his own human ones, says "You always have a choice." Havik unleashes what looks like a killing blow, a punch so hard that both of Hanzo's lungs collapse. As Takeda rushes to kneel by Hanzo's side and plead for his master to return, Havik gloats that any second now, Scorpion will emerge.
Takeda says that he hopes this does happen, he hopes that Hanzo goes Hellfire and burns them all. With all of his remaining strength, Hanzo tells Takeda to run, but Takeda says that Hanzo himself taught him that Shirai Ryu don't run - they fight. As he pleads with Hanzo to fight, Hanzo simply goes limp in his arms.
Havik appears confused. No Scorpion? Takeda says that there was no Scorpion, only Hanzo, who made his own decisions and was never anyone's slave, not even Quan Chi's, and certainly never Havik's. Havik considers that perhaps Hanzo has been an agent of Chaos all along. Living up to his promise of non-interest in Takeda, Havik tells the boy to leave the monastery now, lest the same fate befall him as did Hanzo. Takeda swears vengeance against Havik and leaves.
On Shang Tsung's island, Kotal's ships have made berth. Johnny, Sonya, Kotal, and D'Vorah have come onto the beach, where they're greeted by Reiko and a vanguard of Red Dragon soldiers. Reiko goads the Cages by saying that if he had a daughter, he would have come days sooner to save her. Kotal demands to know why Reiko insists on provoking Earthrealm, when Kotal is perfectly happy to give him all of his own attention in Outworld. Reiko explains that he's just following in Shao Kahn's footsteps. He wants nothing less than the subjugation of all the realms under his iron boot. He's also happy to return the girls, the only problem is... they no longer wish to leave.
To Johnny and Sonya's horror, Skarlet leads the Blood Code'd Jacqui and Cassie out of the shadows. Jacqui mocks the Cages' pathetically slow rescue attempt, while Cassie promises to kill the Cages in honor of their new god - Reiko.
