My name is Lin Mao, and I am a former Tarkatan, tainted by the love of murder.
My father is Baraka, leader of the Tarkatan army and slave to Shao Kahn. My mother was killed shortly after my birth, by a member of the Lin Kuei (which member, I am not sure, which is why I have sworn to destroy them all). My father began teaching me his fighting techniques when I was small, and I became quite good. However, when the war broke out between the realms, he had to assume his position as the leader of the Tarkatans, and fight for Outworld. Thus, not having much time left for his daughter. Hoping to both win the affection of my father and avenge my mother's death, I trained. My hopes were of becoming a part of Shao Kahn's army (my father never thought my skills great enough). After many years of training, my skills were still no match for Kahn's warriors.
I heard of a Shirai Ryu warrior named Scorpion. He, too, sought revenge against the Lin Kuei. I decided I must travel to Netherrealm, and form an allegiance with Scorpion. Together we would have a chance at destroying the Lin Kuei. However, I did not have the status in Outworld to enter the Nexus and travel between the realms. Shao Kahn made no exceptions. At every attempt I made to enter the Nexus, I was attacked by guards and defeated. There was but one way I could reach my destination: I had to die, and I had to die with evil in my heart.
My thirst for revenge left but a speck of corruption on my soul, and I knew I needed more. I attacked many who approached me and, although losing as many battles as I won, they each left another speck of corruption. Still, it wasn't enough. Finally, I did the unthinkable. I attacked one of my own. The blood of one of my fellow Tarkatans was on my hands, and the corruption of murder on my soul. For such terrible treachery, I was sentenced to death. Shao Kahn ordered hundreds of his soldiers to carry out my sentence, among the soldiers was my father. I was bound in the Dungeon of Shao Kahn's palace, and the soldiers took turns beating the life from me.
Though very painful at first, my death was not as terrible as I expected. I blacked out, and awoke shortly afterwards, surrounded by hot lava and the smell of hatred. My plan worked; I was in Netherrealm.
I knew that Scorpion would not accept my request to join him in the quest for revenge, because his heart was full of unbelievable rage. He made allegiance with no one. I searched Netherrealm for a warrior with great skills to teach, and found many. The most helpful of my teachers was Ashrah. She was tainted with evil, but slowly moving toward the side of good once again. I trained with her for many, many years; until she finally thought my powers great enough to approach Scorpion (though his acceptance was doubtful).
"Why have you come here, what do you want from me?" he demanded.
My response: "I have come for your help, Scorpion. We must aid one another in the struggle to destroy the Lin Kuei."
"Why should I trust you? What makes you think you have the power to destroy the Lin Kuei?"
"I have trained for many years. I have received lessons from many great warriors, and with your help as well, I will become stronger. The evil in my soul grows more the longer I remain in this realm, and my thirst for revenge is growing along with the corruption. I have wished to have their blood on my hands my entire life, and I know you have wished the same. Together we can defeat them. Do you accept?"
"I hold alliegance with no one. However, if you could prove your worth, I may consider your request. FIGHT!"
So, the battle commenced.
The battle was long lasting, and extremely difficult, even with my newly attained powers. My head was light, my body drenched in blood. The pain and the knowledge that my quest could possibly end there meant nothing as I stood over Scorpion's body, a sense of accomplishment swelling through my own. I had defeated him.
He rose to his feet, and seemed to ponder for a few moments. "You are very strong, indeed," he said finally, "together, we just may be able to defeat the Lin Kuei at last. I accept your request."
My hardships were not useless, after all. I was one step closer to avenging my mother's death. Scorpion and I trained for many years, each of us helping and teaching the other. We had become quite close, and I felt he was beginning to trust me at last (being the way he is, this was an accomplishment in itself). We acquired many new powers during our training, and our strength increased immensely. We were finally ready to kill.
From Netherrealm (and with Scorpion by my side), I was free to travel through the realms as I pleased (the Kamidogu had already been placed on the altar by an idiot called Shujinko). We traveled to Earthrealm, entered the Lin Kuei Temple by force, and began to quench our thirst for revenge. The attack was sudden, and to our advantage (those poor Lin Kuei didn't know what to think). We fought for hours, and hours; Scorpion, firing Bloody Spears left and right, and conjuring up Hellfire; me, using my newly found (and very strong) power, Flames of Wrath, to my advantage. Their blood was finally on my hands, and I enjoyed every second of this massacre. There were still many left to destroy, however, and we would destroy them. hellfire, spears, flames, blood, anger, hatred, revenge.
I relaxed my body, looked around me; we were surrounded by hundreds of corpses. Scorpion and I were the only left standing. This bloodbath, this massacre, this sense of accomplishment, and murder; it felt good. I threw back my head and let out a malicious and deafening roar. The corruption of my soul was almost complete. I had not much memory left of the life I once knew; what I did remember, I cared nothing for.
Back in the Nexus, we heard a deep rumbling that sounded as if the realms themselves were crumbling at our feet. A loud and ominous voice boomed over us, calling my name.
"Lin Mao! You have betrayed us all: your family, your comrades and your emperor!"
Two figures appeared before us: Shao Kahn, and Baraka. It was my father who spoke then. "Lin Mao..the aim of the Tarkatans is to serve Shao Kahn in the fight to overcome the realms. We - everyone- would receive unbelievable powers by aiding him. Our home would be the center of all the universe. You have betrayed us, Lin Mao. You've killed one of our own, and you have the blood of hundreds of others on your hands. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"You led me to this, father. You never believed I could become a great warrior, you pushed me aside, placing me second behind your precious army. I am my own army now and am, indeed, great. I do not care who I betray."
At this Shao Kahn replied, "That is not the response we were hoping for, I am afraid. You are a threat to our plans, and you must be stopped." He looked at my father, and signaled toward me, "Now, FIGHT!"
So, I killed my father. Not a speck, but a mountain of evil rose in my heart. The corruption was finally complete.
"So much treachery and deceit," Shao Kahn said, leaning over my father's corpse, "I had you killed once, I can have you killed again."
"Yes, this is true. But dying didn't stop me." He was now much closer to me; so close I could feel his breath on my face.
"Yes, and I have something different in mind for you this time, Lin Mao. You will spend eternity in my dungeon in Netherrealm. This, I assure you, is much worse than death."
He vanished. Along with my newly found powers and strength, I was also quite ignorant. I didn't believe a word the emperor had said to me. I returned to Netherrealm; Scorpion followed.
When we arrived, the guards were waiting for me. After much battling, I was defeated and sent to the dungeon of which Kahn spoke. There were many demons, monsters and murderers like myself. It was much worse than the death that I remembered, but I would never admit such; not even to myself. I was beaten, cursed, and mocked. This was, quite literally, Hell. However, such treatment only increased the anger and hatred inside me. Eventually, I destroyed all the monsters, and escaped the dungeon, fleeing back to Earthrealm. I lived many years disguised as a human; gaining peoples' trust, then betraying and murdering them. I killed many, and the lust for murder only grew. Kahn knew of my actions, and sought to "destroy" me once again. But I was too good even for him. He and his armies searched for me, but could not find me. If luck was on their side, and they caught up with me, they could not defeat me. My strength grew more, and I was more dangerous than even I could understand. The humans knew of me, feared me, hid from me. This only made me angrier. I killed more often and more viciously. I became harder to track, and harder to defeat. I needed to be destroyed, but even Kahn knew that could not be done. I was unstoppable. Finally, a familiar face caught up with me.
I was confused. He must be here to destroy me, just as the others, I thought. "You can try, Scorpion, but you, too, will fail. I cannot be defeated."
He laughed. "I am not here to fight you, Lin Mao. I am here to ask of your assistance. I believe my request will appeal to you, as well."
His plans were to ambush Kahn's armies, destroy them. Then, we would destroy Shao Kahn himself, and take over Outworld, becoming Emperor and Empress ourselves. This appealed to me, indeed. Unstoppable, unbelievable power; yes, that is exactly what we would do. I, Lin Mao, would become Empress of Outworld, and Shao Kahn could do nothing to stop me.