It's Just Business

"All of these years awaiting your arrival, and you decide to face me now you traitor?" Mileena states as she walks up to the girl. She then proceeds to backhand her. The girl suddenly began to cry, causing Mileena to smile even more.

"I-I just wanna go home!" she plead.

"You fool, this is your home. You're an Outworlder now." Mileena responded. The Tarkatans began to laugh at her cries.

"This has to be a bad dream." She whispered as she closed her eyes. "This can't be real." Mileena then kicks the girl in her shoulder, knocking her on her back.

"Speak up, coward!" Mileena shouted. "You were responsible for Shang Tsung's death seven years ago. It wasn't enough that you deceitfully defeated him in the Earthrealm tournament, but you went as far as to join up with those traitors from the Zaterra to kill him!" Mileena flips her hair and returns to her throne.

"Finish her! Finish her!" The Tarkatans chanted. The Ambassador chose to stay quiet on the matter. Mileena closed her eyes to contemplate on the best punishment for the young woman.

"No." Mileena answered as she sat back down. Everyone was appalled by her answer. "Killing her with my own hands would be an honor that she does not deserve. One of you…mercenaries can finish her off." Mileena commanded. The girl began to panic even more while the Red Dragon Mercs bowed to Mileena.

"As you wish, your highness." Mavado responded. "But before we do, I'd like to discuss our Favor." Mavado stated. Mileena slumps her head on her fist as he stares at Mavado. They continue to stare at each other until Mavado finally gives in and signals one of his mercs to execute the girl.

"Someone…" She whimpered to herself. The Merc stands above her with his electric blades in hand. She looks up to him, trembling in fear. "…help me…"

Before everyone's eyes, a chunk of the merc's head pops open as he's knocked back. A green energy arrow pierced the ground behind him. Everyone was caught off guard by the attack on the mercenary and directed their attention to the direction that the arrow came from. Atop of the chandelier that hung in the left-hand corner of the throne room stood a cloaked figure wielding a green spirit bow.

The figure leaps off of the chandelier towards the middle of the throne room. The figure turns her head towards Mileena and aims her spirit bow towards her. In a split second, she fires the arrow. However, instead of striking Mileena, it strikes an invisible silhouette that stood beside her. This catches Mileena off-guard as well, as she watches the bloodied silhouette fall to the ground.

Upon landing between Mavado and the young Knightwolf, the figure removes her hood. It is revealed to everyone that she was the Earthrealm champion Knightwolf.

"What sorcery is this?!" Mileena shouted.

"As naive as always, empress." Knightwolf responded as she flipped her hair. "If it isn't obvious enough, that isn't me." She stated as she pointed towards the girl.

"You there! What is the meaning of this?" Mileena questioned. Mavado's frowned upon the revelation presented by Knightwolf.

"It's as she says." Mavado confirmed. "The girl we brought you was not Knightwolf. We knew you'd be too ignorant to know that Knightwolf had the ability to steal souls as Anomaly, Shang Tsung, and Shao Kahn did. If we killed this girl before your very eyes, you wouldn't think twice about the fact that the real Knightwolf would just revive using the souls she had inside of her."

"Also, Outworld was never my home. My adoptive kinsmen may have been forced to merge with Outworld, but I was born in Earthrealm by Earthrealmers." Knightwolf confirmed.

Mileena's blood boiled as she learned the truth. Mileena chants a Tarkatan command and the Tarkatans in the room begin to attack the mercs. Though the mercs fought back, they were unable to match the brutality of the Tarkatans and were utterly defeated. Only Mavado stood before everyone alive and unharmed. He realized that fighting them was futile, and decided to give up. The Tarkatans began to close in on him, but are stopped by Mileena.

"Don't kill this one. I have a better punishment in mind for you." Mileena stated as she smiled heavily.

"There are others who'll come for your head, Mileena—including those who're closest to you." Mavado warned. Mileena dismissed his words and signaled the Tarkatans to grab him.

"Treason and deceit are the worst offenses one can commit in Outworld. For your punishment, I shall sentence you to Goro's Lair for eternity." Mileena commanded. One of the Tarkatan's knocks him unconscious and drags him out of Mileena's throne room along with two others whom drag out the body of the dead Locust Clan assassin. Upon shutting the door, Knightwolf turns her attention to Mileena.

"Empress Mileena…" Knightwolf began. However, she was surrounded by multiple Tarkatans whom placed their blades to her neck. Mileena menacingly stares at Knightwolf, but decides to call the Tarkatans off of her.

"You may have prevented this assassination attempt, but that doesn't erase what you've already done." Mileena commented.

"At least you're the one making the calls now. At the end of the day, it's just business." Knightwolf remarked. She turns her attention to the girl on the ground and picks her up to her feet. The girl cleared her face as she stood close to Knighwolf.

"By the way Shaman, who's that girl? She looks exactly like you yet she's not you." Mileena explained. Knightwolf simply looked away remained silent.

"Her name is Aylin. That's all you need to know." Knightwolf responded vaguely. "N-now if you don't mind, we'll be leaving." Knightwolf stated as she walked towards the entrance.

"We're not done here! I still have more questions. How did you know of the assassination attempt? Why did you kill Shang Tsung? What happened to my Father?"

"Your castle is currently under attack by an assault from Kotal K'etz and his rebel army." Knightwolf confirmed.

Mileena attempted to reflect on exact who Kotal K'etz was. However, before she could figure it out, they hear loud yelling behind the door. Knightwolf assumes the worse and proceeds to carry Aylin and dashes for the secret infiltration route she used to enter the throne room. Mileena attempts to give chase, but is distracted by the intruders kicking down her doors. The Tarkatans gather together around Mileena's throne and prepare to defend her while the Ambassador hides behind Mileena's throne in fear.

Entering the throne room were multiple Red Dragon and Osh'Tekk warriors, all of whom charge towards Mileena. She orders the Tarkatans to hold their ground as she rises from her throne. The Tarkatans chant their battle cry and began to face off again the warriors. Though they were outnumbered, they were able to succeed with the help of Mileena.

Mileena grabs one of the Red Dragon mercs and bites off a large chunk of their neck. As another merc hears his allies scream in agony from Mileena's attack, he slices one of the Tarkatans' jaw open and directs his attention to Mileena. As he charged for her, she trains her eyes on his forehead. As he was nearly close to her, she throws her magical Sai at his forehead. As it pieces his skull, he slowly falls to the ground. She commands her Sai back into her hand as she prepared to attack one of the Osh'Tekk warriors. However, she is caught off guard as she is quickly scooped off of the ground. She is then pinned against the wall, only to realize that the one pinning her was a young Vampire.

"If this is the power of the Empress of Outworld, I'm not impressed." The Vampire mocked. Mileena attempts to bite the woman, but the woman simply pushes away from Mileena.

As Mileena began to fall, the Vampire quickly darted towards her legs and grabbed her by the ankle. She takes Mileena on a joyride through the halls of the Castle. With each passing corner, Mileena only saw fighting and death from both sides. They also past by multiple Vampires who release light screeches as they headed for the throne room.

"Where are you taking me you traitor?!" Mileena responded to the best of her ability. However, it was muffled due to the velocity of which they traveled through the halls.

Upon reaching the bedroom of Kitana which overlooked the courtyard, the Vampire crashes through the Balcony doors along with Mileena. From above, Mileena notices the massive battle that was occurring in the courtyard. The vampire decides to find an open area and drops Mileena towards the ground below. Mileena yells in fear as she is dropped several stories below the castle. She is miraculously saved by a few Tarkatans who decide to catch her before she strikes the concrete.

As the Tarkatans stand her back up on her feet, they return to the fight at hand. Mileena looked up towards the vampire who carried her to the battle field, whom simply smiled and waved.

"The name's Ciero, by the way. Don't forget it once you reach the afterlife." The Vampire mocked. With that, she soars away from the courtyard. Mileena balled both of her fist and released a loud cry of anger as the coup d'etat was only just beginning.

End of Chapter 2

I hope you all are enjoying this story so far. As you can see, the war for the throne of Outworld has finally begun. However, unlike the war from the canon games, this war is a bit larger yet a bit shorter. In MKX, it was the new characters and the Osh'Tekk vs Mileena, Reiko, and the Tarkatans with everyone else being neutral parties. However, in this story the forces are gonna be a lot more black and white with the edition of the Vampires, the Red Dragon, Zaterra's Locust Clan, and many other forced races in Outworld siding with Kotal's army while Mileena must rely heavily on the Tarkatans and those she already has a close relationship with.

Although this war is gonna be a lot bigger, it doesn't mean it will be a lot longer. As this will be a 40 chapter story, it doesn't mean there will be 40 chapters of warring for Mileena's throne. Without spoiling anything, I can say that the ending of the war, and this story, will indeed have a satisfying conclusion as well as a satisfying journey towards reaching that conclusion. And for those who enjoyed Redemption, Chan will eventually return in this story and the choices made in Redemption will have both minor and major consequence on the events in this story.

(Upcoming—The Blood Code)