AN: No action this time around. Instead, we're gonna go focus on character building!

Chapter 4: Mileena's Fears

Izuku Midoriya kept rewinding and playing forward the footage in front of him.

It was from Raiden's fight with Kratos. More specifically, it was the part where Kratos had blinded the God of Thunder with a flash of light from some kind of object. Noting one of Raiden's weaknesses, Izuku quickly wrote it down. He glanced over the pages he'd written on Raiden.

Raiden - God of Thunder (Outworld Fighter)

Powerful and arrogant, Raiden may be one of, if not the strongest fighter, in the tournament.

Strengths/Abilities

Lightning/Electricity Manipulation: Able to summon from nowhere

Speed: He is as fast as his element itself

Teleport: Can vanish and reappear in an instant. Has used this to bluff out opponents

Flight: Raiden can use his powers to fly into his opponents, almost like an airborne torpedo

Fighting Style: Uses a hybrid style of Nan Chuan and Jujutsu.

Enhanced Strength (?)

Weaknesses

Human: Raiden seems to have the same weaknesses as any regular human. Noticed by his temporary blindness with Kratos. This can possibly extend to other weaknesses as well.

Arrogance/Ego: Believes himself to be superior to all other fighters in the tournament. Should be easy to rile him up.

Recommended Equipment: Flashbangs, sedatives, hallucinogens, mines. Ask friends if they have anything that uses rubber. Might be able to insulate important parts of the body. (This may not work out. We are on an isolated island). Ask Sonya of Jax if they have a spare adrenaline shot they carry around in case of emergency pick-me-up. (Also may not work. They may have only come to this island with the bare essentials.)

Recommended Actions: Target pressure points/nerve bundles, blind eyes, concuss, break bones. Block attacks (he is far too fast to dodge). If possible, try to grapple. Kurogiri/Shigaraki taught me that grabbing the teleporter limits their options. Raiden has the tendency to shout when activating his "Torpedo" ability, so be sure to slide soon as you hear his scream. Taunt him, an angry opponent makes mistakes, and Raiden won't allow a mortal to insult him.

Just as Izuku was planning on writing down some more, he heard a loud knock echo through the room.

Strange. Everyone said they were going to train or walk around this morning, and Izuku was certain that they were still busy doing their own thing. Izuku cautiously closed his notebook, took out his gun and took a look at the cam he'd sneaked on top of the door.

Purple. That was as far as Izuku got before he groaned audibly. He walked up to the door and opened it, seeing the visage of the assassin he'd spared last night.

"What?" He asked the woman, irritated that she'd interrupted his analysis.

The assassin looked away for a few moments, almost embarrassed, before turning back to him.

"I need your help."

Izuku crossed his arms. "And why is it, then, that you came to me?"

The woman stomped her foot. "I don't know! It...it just seems like you were the best option." she said meekly.

Argh. Damn him and his warm heart. Izuku pointed a cautious finger at the woman. "Any funny business, I finish what I was gonna do last time, we clear?"

The woman nodded. Izuku opened the door and let her inside.

As the woman walked into the house, Izuku could hear her scoff. "You humans live like this?" she asked, incredulous.

"Hey, don't blame us for the fact that your boss hated us so much that he gave us this run down shack to live in."

The woman grunted non committedly. After taking another look at her surroundings, the woman made to move down on a rickety chair. Izuku pushed his leather-bound Analysis Chair (Shut up, it sounded cool at the time) at her instead.

"Take this. Might not be a good idea sitting on those ramshackle wooden chairs in your getup."

"Thanks." the woman replied, before sitting on the chair.

The two didn't speak for a while, taking in the absurdity of what was happening at that moment. Izuku broke the silence then by leaning forward.

"Mind telling me why you're here?" Izuku asked.

The woman took a deep breath. "Yesterday, after our fight, a… rival of mine revealed to me something that was rather concerning."

Izuku shrugged. "Ok? And what's so concerning about that."

The woman held her face in her hands. "She told me that I was….wasn't born. She claimed that I I was just some creation, a project of Shang Tsung."

Izuku rubbed his chin in thought. "Ok. That's a pretty big revelation, if that's true, but there's two things I don't understand. One, she was your rival. Are you sure she wasn't lying to you to rile you up?"

"That's the worst part. I wanted to call her out on her lies… but…. I don't think my memories aren't lining up with what has happened. I try to remember when me and Kitana last celebrated her birthday, and I remember our quiet little celebration that we had, when I dragged her off of her training. I'd given her a replica of my sais. Kitana remembers the memory fondly when I ask her about it, but when I asked Jade, she said she had no recollection of Kitana being taken from her training that day at all! And that's not the worst part!"

The woman looked at Izuku, almost in tears.

"If what she said is true, then…." she took a deep breath. "You saw my face yesterday, yes?"

Izuku nodded. "Hard not to forget. It was pretty unique."

The woman took another breath. "When I was young, my father told me that the reason for my features was that me and Kitana were playing around the palace one day, when we broke something we shouldn't have. One of his experiments, my father said. Kitana was in danger, so I pushed her out of the way and took the full hit of the liquid. I remembered blinding pain, before waking up centuries later. My father told me that I had saved Kitana, but in doing so, I had mutated, developing the fangs and eyes I have."

"Alright. What's changed with that story, then, if what your rival said was true?"

The woman trembled. "My sister has always hated the Tarkatans. Kitana views them as abominations, ones that my father shouldn't bother keeping in Outworld. She only tolerates my features because I am her sister. If she finds out that I could possibly be some twisted experiment gone wrong, her memories falsified…..then…."

P.O.V Switch - Mileena

It was too much.

The cold truth laid bare, the facts she had spent almost the entire night agonizing over. Mileena couldn't bring herself to speak it outloud. That her sister, the one she loved more than her life itself, would kill her if she was, by chance, some experiment instead of her blood. Her face fell to her hands, tears threatening to come out.

Her father had always taught her to never show fear, to never cry in the face of the enemy, but she was overwhelmed. She couldn't go to her sister, she couldn't go to Jade. She had no one, no one except this human who might not even help her.

She felt the human's hands clasp reassuringly around her wrists, bringing them down.

"It's alright. Everything's gonna be fine."

Mileena sniffed. "Why? Because you said so?"

He smiled reassuringly, and with his mask off, Mileena was taken aback how radiant the human's smile was.

"Because I am here. And I'm gonna help you figure this out."

Mileena was still for a moment, before nodding gratefully. "Thank you." she muttered, feeling a heat rising in her cheeks.

The human turned to her. "Before we try anything drastic, have you tried talking to your sister about all this?"
Mileena jerked. "Are you deaf? I just told you why I couldn-"

"I'm asking, have. You. Tried. Talking. To her?"

Mileena shook her head. "NO! Kitana's always been intelligent beyond her years! If I gave her enough information, she'd be able to piece everything together, and then she'd kill me!"

The human sighed. "I didn't mean about all this hypothetical stuff you just told me. Look, honest question, what do you feel for your sister? What would you do for her?"

Mileena stilled, looking downwards. "I...I love her, more than my own life itself. I would not hesitate to die for her. My life is hers."

The human nodded. "And are you sure that this is your decision, or something supernatural in nature?"

Mileena shook her head. "No. It is my choice. If I had to sacrifice myself to save her, it will be my choice and my choice alone."

The human pointed to her. "And have you ever told her this?" he asked.

Mileena shook her head again. "No. I...never saw the need to."

The human wagged his finger at her. "And that's exactly what I'm talking about. You should try to tell her the truth. Not just about your hypothetical origins, but everything. How you feel about her, what you would do for her, everything. And if she still wants to kill you, well, then she's the one that's the abomination. And if it reassures you in any way, I can take her down if she tries anything."

Mileena nodded. "Thank you. I'll….I'll try talking to Kitana, then." Mileena got up from the chair.

"Will you help me?" she asked, unsure if the human was truly willing to help her still.

"Already promised, didn't I?"

Mileena chuckled, her tension bleeding out of her. She began to exit the house before she stopped, dead in her tracks.

"Your name….I haven't even learned your name, I've been so-"

"It's Izuku. Izuku Midoriya."

Mileena smiled underneath her mask. "Mileena."

"Hmm. Mileena. It suits you, weirdly enough. Now, about your sister, bring her down to the beach. I tend to take a walk down there every night, so I can be nearby without making myself obvious."

Mileena nodded, before stepping outside and closing the door.

A Few Hours Later

Mileena noticed her sister coming up the stairs to Shang Tsung's throne room. She seemed a bit troubled today. By the look on her face, Mileena was guessing that she hadn't exactly succeeded in carrying out her task to eliminate the other Earthrealm Warrior.

"Mission didn't go well, sister?" Mileena asked Kitana.

Kitana shook her head. "No, it most certainly didn't."

Mileena took her sister down to the beach near the Earthrealm Residence. "Alright. What happened?"

Kitana then went on a ten-minute rant about insufferable monks, how she'd disgraced her father and Mileena, how she was now at that insufferable monk's mercy, etc, etc.

Mileena could only lean back and let Kitana's words wash over her. The only thing she'd been able to pick up from her sister's angry spiel was that she ended up in a situation quite similar to her own last night. The only difference was that, where Izuku had been willing to kill Mileena at first, the monk hadn't, citing that killing an opponent who was already defeated was against his principles.

"And anoth-"

"Sister, as much as I'd love to hear how much you hate that Earthrealm Warrior, there is something I have to tell you."

Kitana was taken aback by how serious her sister sounded now. She crossed her arms. "What's wrong?" she asked, worried about what was happening.

Mileena took a deep breath, before she told Kitana the truth. About everything. Her doubts, her fears, the truth that could be lurking in the surface about her origins. Kitana listened to it all without uttering a single word to interrupt her.

Mileena knelt down in front of Kitana, holding her head down.

"I don't know what's happening, if what I've told you is the truth or an elaborate fiction that my head has conjured, but… I wanted you to know. You deserved to know. You deserved to know that your sister might not even be your sister, but some twist-"

Kitana pushed a finger to Mileena's lips, hidden by her veil.

"Stop."

Mileena froze. Was this it? Was Kitana going to strike her down? Mileena felt herself starting to shake in fear. She didn't want to fight her sister. She wasn't sure if she would be able to. She closed her eyes.

Mileena then felt a pair of arms encircling around her body, embracing her.

"You think I care if you might not be my true sister?"

Mileena gasped, shocked.

"The reason I hate the Tarkatans is because they are cruel and merciless. They do not hold close bonds, as they see it as a weakness. I hate them because they are beasts, with no regards for anyone but themselves. But you have never been like them. Ever since I can remember, you have always stood by my side, never hesitating to help me, to defend me. Even if my memories may have been modified by some external magic, I can see it in your eyes."

Kitana took off her veil, before taking off Mileena's, revealing her large yellow teeth.

"You may not share my face, but you are my sister, and I love you, always."

Mileena hugged her sister back, emotion overwhelming her. As the happy tears poured from her eyes, she could see a man in a green jacket in the distance.

He gave a small salute, two fingers going from his temple, to then point to her, before turning around and walking away.

Meanwhile, In Outworld

Shao Khan straightened in his throne. He didn't know what it was, but something...something with one of his plans had gone wrong.

He growled. He was on the cusp of absorbing Earthrealm into Outworld. The last thing he needed was one of his plans to go awry now.

Meanwhile, in Shang Tsung's Island

Mileena went to the bathroom, feeling rather strange. Her usual energy had dissipated a little bit, making her feel….calmer, in a sense.

As she went to the bathroom, Mileena prepared herself for bed. Taking off her veil, Mileena took her toothbrush…

And gasped in shock.

The usual 9 inch yellowed canine teeth she had were gone, replaced by a set of small white teeth. In place of her few front teeth, they had been replaced by a pair of red lips.

The past events of the last 24 hours proved too much for the woman, as her eyes rolled up to her head and passed out.

AN: And now Mileena has gone from her MK9/MK 2011 face to her MK X Face. She certainly went through a lot in this chapter, didn't she, XD