(This story occurs after mortal kombat 3 and the voyage of the dawn treader. sort of)

Shang tsung, his ancient body aged and emaciated from lack of souls, pleaded before the emperor of outworld, the mighty shao kahn.

"Master, we have failed to defeat liu kang and the kombatants of earth... they have been joined by new powerful allies.... I fear they shall be upon us at any moment!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE FAILED?! YOU PITIFUL EXCUSE FOR A SORCEROR!!" the voice of the emperor echoed across the battlefield.

"The kombat tomb has been destroyed. sheeva, kano, chameleon and noob saibot have been slain. raiden has awakened queen sindel, and freed her from her magical enslavement"

"ENOUGH! I SHALL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS FAILURE!" boomed shao kahn as he picked up his mighty warhammer. he raised it hard, and smashing it into shang tsung's chest, bones crunching with the impact as the sorceror was thrown fifteen feet in the air.

"Aaaaahahaaaaaahaaaa!!!" screamed shang tsung as he fell. shao kahn showed no mercy as he swung his hammer and struck the sorceror a second time before he even hit the ground. shang tsung's body was flung into a rock that shattered with the impact.

"please, have mercy, oh great shao kahn!" shang tsung pleaded, on his knees.

"MERCY IS FOR THE WEAK! YOU MISERABLE FOOL! YOU HAVE COST ME THE CONQUEST OF EARTH FOR THE LAST TIME!! LET THE KOMBATANTS OF EARTH COME TO ME, EVEN IF I HAVE TO FACE THEM ALONE, THEY WILL ALL FALL BEFORE THE MIGHT OF SHAO KAHN!!!"

suddenly a portal opened behind him and out stepped quan chi, with his enforcers scorpion and tanya behind him. "i see no need for such violence." said the bald demon-sorceror. "there are plenty of other worlds to conquer. a great emperor such as yourself should go and vanquish them, gain their power, then come back and destroy the earth at your leisure."

"YOU DARE ORDER ME? TELL YOUR MASTER SHINNOK THAT SHAO KAHN FEARS NO ONE, NOT EVEN AN ELDER GOD!"

"i merely suggest you conquer a weaker world, as you laid ruin to edenia. i have found such a world, running with great and powerful magics in the form of living trees and rivers, yet populated by mere beasts. destroy these brutes and claim the land as your own, making it into another outworld!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!! SUCH A WHIMSICAL IDEA! YOUR SKILL IN TELLING LIES IS WITHOUT PEER, QUAN CHI! HOW DO YOU THINK I WILL CONQUER THIS WORLD? I DO NOT CARE TO CHALLENGE THEM TO TEN MORE GENERATIONS OF MORTAL KOMBAT!"

"then you will be most pleased, for this is a world upon which we may freely tread without fear of the elder gods, for the magics with which this world was forged were tainted with beings from other worlds, rendering it open for us! now, among the ruined kombat tombs i have uncovered a device that can take us to this world"

"VERY WELL THEN! GATHER THE TARKATAN ARMY, THE EXTERMINATION TEAMS, AND THE FINEST OF MY WARRIORS! WE SHALL MARCH FOR THE TOMBS AT ONCE!"

the horde of tarkatan warriors, fiercely strong mutant creatures with mouths of sharp teeth and arms fused to deadly blades, were led by the fiercest of their kind, the mighty Baraka. they were the shock troops of shao kahn's army. although their ranks had been thinned in their defeat at the hands of the heroes of earth, they were still over a thousand strong.

the extermination teams, various conscripts and slaves from around outworld and the other worlds conquered by shao kahn, made up the bulk of the army. they were broken down, physically and mentally, then trained in the deadly martial arts, till they lived only in loyalty to their emperor.

shao kahn also possessed a number of talented warriors and assassins. there was the deadly reptilian green reptile ninja known as reptile, the purple weather-controlling violet storm ninja known as rain, the orange telekinetic psychic ninja known as ermac, the smokey cloud-emitting gray smoking ninja known as smoke, and some other less original guys like shang tsung, kintaro, motaro, mileena, reiko.

the massive invasion force gathered at the kombat tomb and quan chi revealed the magic teleportation artifact, a curious staff that had several rings mounted upon it. the rings seemed to be made of amber and jade, and glowed with magical energy. the sorceror passed the staff to shao kahn, and the mighty emperor proclaimed.

"TODAY WE SHALL CONQUER A NEW WORLD AND SPILL THE BLOOD OF OUR FOES! WARRIORS OF OUTWORLD, PREPARE FOR MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!!

with that great battlecry, shao kahn activated the device and magic energy enveloped the tomb and the army of outworld was transported into the mysterious land they sought to conquer.

..................................

early at dawn, surrounded by a company of his finest knights, king caspian the tenth returned to Cair Paravel. he had successfully defended the northern realms from an attack by the giants, having slain their leader and driven the survivors away.

one of the men-at-arms said "that's caspian for you, a true fighter and a true king! when we were under attack by the boss giant, he shot out 'is eyes with his bow and slashed 'is ankles before taking off his 'ead!"

the centaur honor guard led the crowd in a cheer "in the name of Aslan, all hail king caspian! all hail king caspian!"

caspian mounted the steps of the castle, waving to his subjects. as he ascended he was greeted by his wife and son. Unfortunately, their joyous reunion was cut short when a talking owl descended into the castle antechamber.

"forgive me my lord, but i bear tidings of dire news."

caspian immediately turned to the wise bird, knowing that only a matter extremely grave would drive an owl to take flight in the middle of the day.

"what is it, master grimfeather?"

"invaders, my lord, from the lantern wastes. they have slaughtered the fauns, and laid have begun to destroy the forest."

"are they calormenes? have they not tasted enough of my narnian steel?"

"nay my lord. they bring a large army, legions of men as well as foul beasts with swords for arms, a warrior with four arms, and a centaur."

"how can this be? a rogue centaur? i must speak with the centaur chief."

fortunately, Glenstorm the centaur chief was still eating breakfast. centaurs take hours to eat because they have both a man-stomach and a horse-stomach. although caspian did not want to interrupt, he had no choice. the fate of narnia was at stake.

"a centaur collaborating with the invaders? this is a bad omen indeed. i must consult the stars tonight, for while men may lie, the stars never do."

caspian thanked the centaur chief, but he decided he could not wait for nightfall. he would have to investigate these invaders himself. the king assembled a raiding party of rangers, talking dogs and dwarves and horsemen to go with him.

by the fourth hour they were ready, and they rode to lantern waste, arriving by nightfall. the hounds were eager, having found the scent of the enemy. the brave narnians crept silently to the edge of the forest that had been cleared by the invaders.

one of the strange man-like beasts was drawing near, his blades dragging on the ground.

"milord, i espy more of those foul creatures upon the hill." said trumpkin, head of the dwarves.

"i see. what are they doing?"

"they... appear to be torturing fauns!"

"i cannot allow this to continue! narnians! in the name of aslan, attack!"

"QUAN CHI! YOU SAID THIS PLACE WAS INHABITED ONLY BY MINDLESS BEASTS! WHAT DO YOU CALL THIS?!" screamed shao kahn as he smashed the head of a tortured faun into pink dust with his massive fists.

"great shao kahn, if the other citizens of this land are as weak as this, you should have no problem conquering it!"

"HMMMM. VERY WELL QUAN CHI. IF YOU DISAPPOINT ME, YOU WILL PAY WITH YOUR LIFE!! REPTILE, SCOUT THE AREA!! RAIN, ERMAC, TAKE A BATTALION, ATTACK THE LANDS AHEAD OF US AND CRUSH ANY RESISTANCE!"

Shao kahn's servants scrambled to obey his orders. The three ninjas and their troops then marched off to complete the emperor's orders.

meanwhile, on the hill, shang tsung and baraka had established an informal torture chamber to extract information from the fauns. after hours of hot irons and cold needles mr tumnus the faun had been reduced to a screaming pile of flesh.

"this worthless maggot will not tell us anything. baraka, finish him!"

the tarkatan leader menacing mouth seemed to smile, and he impaled the faun through the abdomen with one of his blades. then he chopped off both arms and legs with the other blade. the faun only stopped screaming when baraka sliced off his head.

"hahaha excellent baraka! his soul is mine!" exclaimed the jubilant shang tsung as he absorbed the faun's soul, restoring some of his youth. "soon I shall be powerful again! Powerful enough to- "

suddenly they heard a tarkatan scream as he was felled by a volley of arrows fired by deadly dwarven archers.

"are we under attack?! Baraka! Destroy the intruders!"

The deadly tarkatan general called a squad of his mutant troops and personally led the counterattack. One of his soldiers was being torn apart by the furious narnian hounds. Rushing into the battle, Baraka slashed at them, tearing three dogs and the soldier in two. Another hound leapt towards him, jaws eager to bite into his jugular veins. He grabbed the hound by the neck and crushed the life out of it with one hand.

A human voice called the dogs to retreat. Could there be humans in this strange world? Baraka relished the thought of slaying more of the pitiful creatures, like he had done during his short time in earthrealm.

He ordered some of his troopers to sneak up on the enemy while he led a charge. The dwarves, hidden in the forests, fired more arrows at him, but he easily deflected them with his mighty blades. Some of the tarkatans following him were not as skillful, and were slain by the missiles.

Baraka reached one of the trees that was hiding a dwarf. With a single blow he chopped the tree down. As he lost his balance and fell down, the dwarf let out a cry of surprise that was terminated as he was impaled on the waiting blades of a tarkatan below.

Caspian had called the dogs to retreat, but they were too foolhardy and full of desire for combat. As he surveyed the battlefield he could see that the noble animals had almost all been slain by the foul man-beasts. The evil creatures were approaching the tree line, and he knew they were attempting an attack from the flanks.

"Fall back my Narnians! We shall fight again another day!"

The dwarves and men began to retreat, quickly falling through the familiar woods. King Caspian led the rear. Suddenly, two of the man-beasts from the flanking force appeared in front of him and attacked with their arm-blades. He parried their blows with his sword and shield, waiting for an opening in their defenses. After deflecting another flurry of blows, he slashed at one of the enemy's legs, then buried his sword deep in his chest. Unfortunately, the sword became stuck in the attacker's crude mail armor, and Caspian had to abandon his weapon to defend against the other man-beast. Retreating, he tripped and fell over a dead body. The foul beast closed in for the kill, savage teeth glaring in an evil smile. The king reached for his dagger, fearing that it might not be enough to counter the blade-wielding beast. Suddenly the man-beast stopped advancing, felled by the blow of a battle-ax. A man in silvered armor appeared and extended his hand to Caspian, who recognized him at once.

"Lord Drinian, greatest of all my captains, you have come just in time."

The older man wasted no time and began to drag the king from the dense forests. "My lord, let us leave this place at once! The invaders have already attacked Beaversdam, and Cair Paravel may fall next!"