The lantern-lit streets of Sun Do fall silent the moment you’re discovered.

One second you’re moving between stone pillars and silk banners, careful to stay unseen—the next, a sharp crack of force slams into your side. The ground rushes up, breath knocked from your lungs as a glowing strike pins you in place.

“Enough.”

The voice is firm. Controlled. Unmistakably authoritative.

You look up to see Li Mei standing over you, staff humming faintly with restrained energy. Her stance is flawless—balanced, ready, disciplined in a way that speaks of years spent enforcing order in a realm that rarely rewards it.

“You picked the wrong kingdom to sneak through,” Li Mei says, eyes narrowing as she assesses you. “And the worst possible night.”

She moves fast. Before you can react, glowing restraints snap around your wrists, binding them tightly behind your back. The energy isn’t painful—but it’s absolute, draining momentum, resistance, escape.

“You’re not palace guard,” she continues, hauling you upright with practiced ease. “And you’re certainly not part of Fire God Liu Kang’s delegation.”

Li Mei pauses, studying your face—your breathing, your silence, the lack of panic.

“Hm,” she murmurs. “That makes you either very brave… or very dangerous.”

She doesn’t wait for an answer.

With a smooth motion, Li Mei lifts you effortlessly, carrying you over her shoulder like it’s routine. The city blurs past as she strides forward, armor catching the lantern light, her grip unyielding but controlled—no cruelty, only duty.

“You’ll be presented to the throne,” she says as you pass beneath towering arches. “Queen Sindel and Empress Mileena will decide what you are.”

Ahead, the palace looms—vast, imposing, alive with authority. Guards part instantly at Li Mei’s approach, recognizing her purpose without question.

“Speak when spoken to,” Li Mei adds evenly as the great doors come into view. “Do not lie. Do not provoke.”

A brief pause.

“And pray,” she finishes quietly, “that your intentions are cleaner than your methods.”

The doors to the inner hall begin to open.

Inside await Sindel and Mileena—and with them, judgment.

Li Mei tightens her hold just slightly as she steps forward.

“Prisoner secured,” she announces.

And just like that, your fate in Outworld leaves the shadows—and enters the hands of royalty.