Holy %$# I'm sorry. It's been nearly a freakin' YEAR since I updated this story… I'm so sorry, I just got distracted with all my other stories, and then I kept putting off writing it, I'm sorry…

The boy – as he still didn't know if he should call himself 'Shao', 'Shoto', 'Shawn', or something else – entered the large building and looked around in confusion. The place was called the 'Throne Room', so he figured this would be where leaders came to seek an audience with the leader of this world, or at least somewhere where he could possibly learn more about where he was. Yet, there were no leaders, no warriors, nothing that seemed to signify this as a place of political power. There was a loud, repeating BOOM that honestly irritated him more than anything, as well as some high-pitched sounds that seemed to be playing in some mockery of music. The lights were strange as well, there was no sunlight in this building, but some sort of magic creating lights of many different colours which moved of their own volition, as if souls were dancing about in the air… he couldn't lie, he thought it looked rather pretty. But what was most unusual were the women. The boy didn't know why, but there were more than a few women on stages dancing around what looked like a pole, wearing absolutely nothing.

"Is this a den of sirens?" The boy wondered, cautiously walking forward and then moving to the side to avoid some bar patrons. Somehow, no one had noticed him yet, and as he looked around, he realized he wasn't wearing much compared to the other men in this building. What purpose would a place like this serve? Is this where women kept their captured servants? Was this meant to be enjoyable? Why did it smell so bad?!

"Oh, well hello there…"

The boy stopped and looked around with a raised brow before seeing th woman standing before him. She was… why did she not wear battle armor in the home of royalty? Was reason could this be? Were they all supposed to be armor-less right now? Technically he wasn't wearing armor, but was he supposed to wear less?

"Hello."

"I'm Tasha, what do they call you?"

"Uh… Kahn." The boy answered, stumbling to think of a proper response. Tasha just nodded, figuring she had a first-time visitor, so it made sense he'd be nervous, even if his fashion style was weird…

"So, what are you looking for, Kahn?"

"The leader."

"Sorry, who?"

"The one who rules this place."

"…uh-huh… you mean the manager? That would be me."

"You work here?"

"Yes."

"Hrm, apologies, I didn't mean to keep you from your work." The boy nodded, walking away and leaving a very, very confused dancer watching him go. Maybe due to his young age or lack of experience, the boy didn't realize who he was walking away from. Either way, he noted that Tasha seemed rather pleasant, he'd make note that she may be a potential ally. The boy looked around for a little bit, then saw what looked like a bar. He thought about it, having a few flashes of what bars were, and more importantly, the info he could get here. He made his way over and pulled himself onto the stool. The bartender came by and pushed up his sunglasses.

"What you drinkin'?" He asked.

"Tarkatan Ale."

"…what?"

"You don't have Tarkatan Ale?"

"…we have rum, it's kinda like ale… but I don't know this 'Tarkin' brand you're talking about." The bartender remarked, a bit confused by the boy's looks, age, and clothing.

"Hm, that then." The boy shrugged. The bartender blinked, but decided not to question this. He really didn't care that much, and considering his line of work, he couldn't be bothered to look into this. Setting the glass down, he poured the reddish-brown liquid into the glass, then walked off. The boy looked at the drink, then walked away with glass in hand. Seeing a red can sitting on the counter, he looked at it, something cola? Whatever. He added a bit to his drink, then kept looking around for this place's ruler. Furthermore, if he was in here, that meant he was old enough to drink, and so on and so forth.

Rounding a corner, the boy saw a red chair, and decided to wait a few minutes and see if the leader would identify him or herself. The sounds were… weird, it sounded like screeching, but also music.

"This is the mantra, this is my life you're playing with now til the end of the night. Surrounded by fire the passion ignites, a hit of that heaven and hell, a helluva high~! I'm addicted to the madness…"

"Bizarre." The boy thought. Suddenly, a larger man stormed by, and from the looks of him the boy assumed he would be the leader here. He jumped off his chair, and took a sip of his burning drink – did these humans somehow learn to consume fire? It was… odd… - and followed after the man. He saw Tasha look up from something, and noticeably grow irritated. Betweent he suddenly much louder and more energetic music, the boy could only make out fragments of their conversation.

"-told you that you can't-"

"-don't give a-"

"-the police if you-"

"-what?! No one will listen to-"

"-ickless pri-"

The man was suddenly yelling, and the boy didn't know why. Much of the words he used seemed foreign to him, maybe another culture's langauge? But he also used some terms the boy sort of recognized, and moreover, realized they were nothing more than derogatory terms designed to tear down the woman to something less than human. He felt… irked, honestly. If this woman was working, why did this man speak to her as if she was merely an object? If he was the ruler of this realm, then the boy was disappointed, surely there was someone more suited to rule. Even if that was him. Did this mean he had emotions for the woman known as Tasha? No. No… not at all! But he thought back, to a woman with long hair, and he felt a sense of pride and respect and possibly fear when the briefest of flashes went through his head. He realized why he felt this way. Furthermore, there was no sense in disrespecting someone in a world he didn't understand, especially if she seemed friendly enough that she could be useful later... The man, 'Landstown' or something, he didn't like from the way he seemed to make Tasha recoil in both disgust, and what he could tell was slight fear.

"…ain't doin' your job!"

"…told you, I am, but if you weren't such a bas-"

"Shut it, slu-!"

Slap!

From where he stood, drink in hand, the boy's eyes winded as he saw the man strike the woman with aggression and anger. Everything seemed to go quiet, then the boy let out a low growl.

Maybe it was because she hadn't freaked out when she saw him, or maybe because the boy was encountering old memories of a past life that wasn't his, the boy acted without thinking. In a matter of moments, he had run towards the man, and his hammer had hit the man in the chest, and sent him flying into a wall. If this was the real (or, adult) Shao Kahn, the man probably would've been cleaved in two, and while the boy was much weaker, the attack was still powerful. Not lethal, but both painful, and more importantly, unexpected by all.

"How DARE you strike her!" The boy roared, his voice echoing over the music and breaking of glass from where the man crashed into, and through, the bar.

"What the hell!? WHO ARE YOU!?" The man screamed in shock.

"I… I have no idea!" The boy yelled, leaping further than anyone thought possible, landing on the man and savagely attacking him. He may have had the body of a six-year-old, but his mind seemed to snap to someone else's mind, and he began striking with ferocity and fury no one expected. "HOW DARE YOU STRIKE HER!" He yelled again.

Summoning his hammer again, the man barely had time to roll out of the way before the hammer obliterated a good chunk of the shelving, sending splintered wood, broken bottles and other debris down. However, the boy wasn't done, and swung once more, now seeing the man as… was that Raiden? The man with the thunder powers he had met briefly. That wasn't who this was, but he felt the same kind of visceral hatred and anger for him nonetheless.

The man who the boy was fighting (man, there aren't a lot of names here, are there?) scrambled back, before out of desperation, grabbing his gun which he concealed from the bouncer, and firing it twice. The boy recoiled and yelled in anger and pain, looking to his shoulder, where a bloody hole now appeared. He also felt the odd, wet heat of blood dripping down his face, and realized this mechanically-magical weapon had fired some sort of fire bolt which struck him…

"STAY BACK!" The man screamed, and the boy recoiled. "STAY BACK, MAN! I'LL BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT! YOU HEAR ME!?"

The boy stood his ground, knowing this was most likely a fight he couldn't win… so long as that thing was aimed at him, a direct attack was a bad idea. Furthermore, the time it would take to throw his hammer, let alone summon and throw it, he could be struck multiple times…

"Perhaps he is more of a cunning ruler than I expected…" The boy thought. "If this is where I die, then perhaps I am not as powerful as I would like to believe…"

"You strike an unarmed woman; what kind of cowardly ruler are you?" The boy growled, deciding to try something he thought of.

"Ruler?! What the hell are you going on about!?"

"This place, it is where the rulers of your realm come to meet, is it not?"

"What are you going on about?!" The man cried, and the boy blinked, his demeanour changing to one of confusion.

"…this…this place is called the Throne Room, I came seeking the ruler."

"What drugs are you on!?"

"I'm starting to believe I may have made a mistake." The boy admitted, looking around once more. By now, most of those who were in the building were watching, either afraid in intrigued by what was happening. "Uh, I didn't-" CRACK!

Without warning, the boy was knocked to the ground by someone holding a chair. He smacked into the ground and lay there for a moment, then growled. Meanwhile, the first man was punched in the side of the head.

"Pig." Tasha spat, ripping the gun from his hands.

"Strike me when my back is turned?! You COWARD!" The boy yelled, his eyes inexplicably glowing green, and in an instant his hammer returned. This time, however, the boy seemed to not only have much more control over hit, but he seemed much angrier as he used it. The second attacker cried out in pain as the hammer came down on his foot, possibly shattering it, but at the very least fracturing his foot. The boy jumped off of the head of the hammer and tacked the second attacker to the ground, grabbing him by the hair and slamming his face over and over into the ground. He was in pain, his shoulder was screaming from where he had been shot, but he didn't much care, a bloodlust and rage drove him.

"SEND YOU ARMIES! I'LL FIGHT ALL OF YOU!" The boy roared, picking up the hammer once more and looking around, a crazed energy in his eyes. However, the remainder of the security staff just watched, and no one stepped forward. The boy turned his attention back to the man who started all this, and walked back over, the man trying to scramble away.

"Now you listen to me, and listen well." The boy growled, once again, his mind switching to someone else's. "You will never lay a hand on any of these women again. I only let you live today out of the mercy I have for those who clearly suffer from inferiority complexes, and therefore act out to try and make themselves seem stronger. But if you hurt any of them, ever again, I will find you, and I will kill you." The boy noticed a tattoo, of some sort of black dragon, and scoffed. "Return to your master, and tell him of your defeat."

"Wh..what the hell are you!?"

"I, am Shawn Kahn." The boy said, deciding to use that name for now. The man breathed irradicably, then scrambled to his feet and raced out the door, crashing into Takeda as he and the others entered.

"You think that has to do with our kid?" Takeda flatly asked, looking to the male Shaolin Archer.

"Maybe… and I thought he was you and Jacq's kid." Kung Jin replied.

"I would've passed him off as the orphaned lovechild of Reptile and Goro." Jacqui remarked, then blinked in shock when they saw the inside of the establishment.

The boy looked to the dark-skinned woman he had met earlier. "Are you hurt?"

"Who…what…" Tasha tried to form words, but the bizarreness of everything which had been happening in the last five minutes kept her from properly doing so. "Sorry. Who are you!? What are you?! HOW OLD ARE YOU!?"

"WHAT THE $%& HAPPENED?!" Cassie shouted from the entrance to the club. The boy snapped to attention and looked over, seeing the three women and the boy he had met earlier lookin on in disbelief. By now, someone had shut the music off, and turned the regular lights on.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked again, ignoring their question.

"Y..yeah, I'm fine." The woman nodded. "Thanks, Hon. He's been a real jackal for a long time, but no one's had the spine to take the first swing at him."

"So, he's not the ruler?"

"DON'T IGNORE ME!" Cassie shouted.

"Nah, I'm not sure what you're talking about with the whole 'Ruler' thing, but I'm in charge of this place, and my girls have been dealing with that guy's harassment for some time now. The crew he works with made it hard for us to retaliate, though."

"Have I made things worse? I didn't mean too…"

"No. No, I mean… It's gonna cost a bit to fix all this, but still. Long term, it'll be a while before those idiots think about coming back to this shack." The woman shook her head. "Thank you, for that."

"Hey, hey! Shawn." Kung Jin called, getting the boys attention. 'Shawn' looked over and saw the female archer approaching. "Kid, what happened here?"

"That coward who fled attacked the ruler of this place."

"Could you say that in English?" Takeda asked, sarcastically.

"He hit her." The boy said defensively. "She had done nothing to deserve such treatment." His statement made the Kombat Kids pause for a second, genuinely surprised by his response.

"Wait, could you repeat that?"

"That man struck her, simply because he seemed annoyed with her. He didn't give her a chance to defend herself in Kombat, and he seemed more focused on degrading her. That isn't how a ruler should command respect."

"Were you going to kill him?" Cassie asked.

"I… I don't know." The boy frowned. "On the one hand, I felt like I should challenge him to a fight, and if he lost, his life would be mine to take or spare, correct?"

"No!" Jacqui exclaimed. "That's not how it works!"

"It isn't?" The boy blinked, seeming genuinely bewildered by the statement. "How does it work then?"

"You don't just kill people if you beat them in a fight!"

"…are you sure?"

"Oh, by the Elder Gods…" Cassie grumbled. "This is gonna be a nightmare to explain to the Major."

"Which one are they? The one who uses comedy to hide cowardice? Or the one who shrieks louder than the krakens of the blood lake?" The boy asked. The four spec. forces members blinked, then Cassie burst out laughing. Maybe it was the sincerity in his tone, or how out of nowhere the comment had been, but dang did it get her laughing. "What is so funny?"

"Never mind, we need to go." Kung Jin shook his head. "C'mon, Shawn."

"Shawn?" Jacqui asked as Takeda gave some contact information to Tasha for later.

"Yeah, he isn't Shao Kahn, technically. So, I figured he needed a name. You got something better?"

"Shen." Jacqui shrugged. "I'm calling him that."

"I'm callin' him Shorty." Cassie said, and everyone looked to Takeda.

"…Shoto." Takeda shrugged.