The film starts off (supposedly) by continuing from the end of the first film. The evil emperor Shao Kahn illegally opens a portal from Outworld to the Earthrealm and has reclaimed his Queen, Sindel, who is alsoKitana's long-dead mother. With the portal open, Earthrealm is in danger of being absorbed into Outworld within seven days, a fate whichLiu Kang and the others must fight to prevent. Shao Kahn grabs Sonya Blade and holds her hostage to force Raiden into recognizing his claim on Earth, which Rayden returns by holding Kahn's generals hostage to force him to relinquish his control. Johnny Cage attempts to rescue her, only to be intercepted and killed, which forces Rayden and his friends underground to regroup. With very little time to stop the merging, Rayden suggests that they split up; Sonya, Liu Kang, and Kitana are to search for allies to the cause, while Rayden will go ask the Elder Gods why Shao Kahn was allowed to break the rules of Mortal Kombat.
Sonya immediately heads to her headquarters and recruits her old partner, Jax, who had fitted himself with external robotic prosthetics for his arms to enhance his strength. Before they can leave, they are ambushed by a cyborg named Cyrax, along with some of Shao Kahn's warriors (they are armed with maces, swords, and clubs). After defeating them, Sonya notices a dragon symbol peeling itself off of Cyrax's shoulder before vanishing. Cyrax then enters self-destruct mode and Jax and Sonya escape just before the headquarters complex is destroyed. Meanwhile, Kitana and Liu Kang search for a Native American shaman named Nightwolf, who they have been told knows how to defeat Shao Kahn. On the way to meet up with Nightwolf, however, they are confronted by a cyborg similar to the one that attacked Sonya and Jax, this one named Smoke, as well as more of Kahn's fighters. They defeat him with the aid of Sub-Zero, the younger brother of the Sub-Zero Liu Kang had defeated in the previous tournament, who explains that the cyborgs were captured and reprogrammed by Kahn to search after them, instead of him like his clan wanted. As a sign of good faith, Sub-Zero aids the two warriors further by forming an ice bridge over a large chasm, but before Kitana and Liu Kang can cross over, Scorpionappears and attacks Sub-Zero. The attack on Sub-Zero is merely a diversion so that Scorpion can kidnap Kitana. Knowing that Liu Kang is not yet strong enough to face Shao Kahn, Sub-Zero exhorts Liu Kang to continue on to Nightwolf before pursuing Scorpion and Kitana.
Rayden meets with the Elder Gods and is allowed to ask them three questions. He asks why Shao Kahn was allowed to break tournament rules and force his way into Earthrealm, and how Shao Kahn can be stopped. The answers he receives are sparse and ambiguous; one of the Elder Gods, named Shinnok, says that reuniting Kitana with her mother, Sindel, is the key to breaking Shao Kahn's hold on Earthrealm, but another insists that the defeat of Shao Kahn himself is what is needed. Rayden is then asked by the Elder Gods about his feelings and obligations towards the mortals, and what he would be willing to do to ensure their survival.
Liu Kang manages to find Nightwolf, who teaches him about the power of the Animality (a form of shapeshifting which helps to utilize a person's strengths and abilities), which is essential if he is to defeat Shao Kahn. To achieve the mindset needed to acquire this power, Liu Kang must pass three tests. The first is a trial of his self-esteem and focus. The second comes in the form of temptation, which manifests itself in the form of Jade, who attempts to seduce Liu Kang and make him forget about Kitana. Liu Kang resists Jade's advances, which impresses her. She offers her assistance in fighting Shao Kahn. Liu Kang accepts Jade's offer and takes her with him to the Elder Gods' temple, where he and his friends are to meet Rayden.
Sonya and Jax also head to the temple, only to be confronted by Mileena, who Sonya initially mistakes for Kitana, and an unearthly creature. Jax makes short work of the creature, and Sonya beats Mileena after a brawl in a mud puddle. Mileena is shown to have the same dragon tattoo that Cyrax had, and hers, like Cyrax's, disappears after Sonya's victory over her. At the temple, Earth's warriors reunite with a newly-shorn Rayden, who they are shocked to discover has sacrificed his immortality to freely fight alongside the Earth Warriors. Together, they head for Outworld to rescue Kitana and reunite her with Sindel.
With Jade's help, Liu Kang sneaks into Shao Kahn's castle and rescues Kitana, fending off a quartet of Tarkatansoldiers, (led by Baraka), and killing Sindel's former bodyguard, the Shokan woman Sheeva, during their escape. Rayden, Jax, and Sonya find Sindel and reunite her with Kitana. Unfortunately, Sindel remains under Shao Kahn's control, and she escapes while a trio of Reptile-like Raptor warriors ambush the heroes. Jade also steals away, having revealed herself to be a mole sent by Shao Kahn to disrupt the Earth warriors' plans (though Shao Kahn later has her killed for her alleged incompetence). The Raptor ninjas are defeated but not before Rayden is injured, revealing the same dragon tattoo found on Cyrax and Mileena. The tattoo is revealed to be a family crest which allows Rayden and his family safe passage through interdimensional portals. The tattoos on Cyrax and Mileena were only temporary, which explains their disppearance when the two were defeated. Rayden then makes the shocking revelation that Shao Kahn is his brother, and that Elder God Shinnok is their father. He realizes that Shinnok had lied to him about reuniting Kitana and Sindel in order to keep him from pursuing Shao Kahn. With renewed purpose, Rayden and the rest of Earth's warriors make their way to the final showdown with Shao Kahn and his generals.
Liu Kang and his friends openly challenge Shao Kahn and his allies, only to be interrupted by Shinnok, who demands that Rayden submit to him and restore their broken family, at the expense of his mortal friends. Rayden flatly refuses, and is killed by an energy blast from Shao Kahn. With Rayden now gone, Shinnok prepares to wipe out Earth's warriors and complete the merger of Earthrealm and Outworld, but the other two Elder Gods appear, having uncovered Shinnok's treachery. They declare that the fate of Earth shall be decided through lawfully agreed means; in other words, through Mortal Kombat.
In the final battle, Jax takes on the Centaur Motaro, Sonya fights the ninja Ermac, Kitana squares off against Sindel, and Liu Kang faces Shao Kahn. Things begin to look bleak for the Earth warriors; Shao Kahn and Sindel simply overwhelm Liu Kang and Kitana, Motaro tears off one of Jax's cybernetic prosthetics, and Ermac double-teams Sonya with his shadowy counterpart, Noob Saibot. Suddenly, Jax rids himself of his prosthetics and gains the inner strength and confidence to beat Motaro naturally. Sonya, for the first time in her life, shouts for help, which Jax is more than willing to give. Sonya, with Jax's help, is then able to take out the two ninjas. Kitana manages to fake out Sindel and subdues her. Liu Kang manages to tap into his Animality but he is barely able to hold his own against Shao Kahn's own Animality. Shao Kahn begins to gloat and taunts Liu Kang, unwittingly making him angrier and releasing the Earth warrior enough to give him a second wind. Liu Kang defeats the Outworld Emperor once and for all, and Shinnok is banished to the Netherealm by the other Elder Gods.
Earthrealm reverts to what it was before the Outworld invasion, and Shao Kahn's hold over Sindel is finally broken, allowing her to reunite with her daughter. Rayden, however, remains dead. Dead, that is, until the other Elder Gods revive him, and bestow upon him his father's former position as an Elder God. Before he leaves to join the other Elder Gods, Rayden tells his friends that they must "be there for one another, you're a family now" and leaves to join the elder gods by saying "I will be watching you, so stay out of trouble" and the earth heroes walk away glorious and happy.
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