"You called for me, Mileena Kahnum?" Tanya entered the throneroom of the imperial palace of Outworld. She had entered this room many times during the reigns of past rulers, from Shao Kahn to Onaga, but this was the first time she had done so during the reign of Mileena. With Onaga's death and Shao Kahn's survival yet to be proven, Mileena had ascended the throne with Tanya's aid. Until recently, Tanya had reigned over Edenia, as a servant of Onaga, but she had been ousted by the 'rightful queen', Sindel. Mileena, who had been serving under Onaga as well, had been dispatched to Edenia to aid Tanya and helped her escape. Whether out of gratitude for her aid or simply her own scheme to reclaim Edenia, Tanya had then assisted Mileena in claiming the throne of Outworld following Onaga's death at the hands of Shujinko. Since then, Tanya had acted as Mileena's agent, promised aid in reclaiming Edenia as an independent domain under Mileena's rule, once Outworld was stabilised.

"Ah, Tanya," Mileena said upon seeing her, an unmistakable hint of adoration in her tone. Mileena clearly valued Tanya's loyalty above even Baraka's. After all, the tarkatan general was loyal to the throne first and foremost, even if he did clearly have a certain affinity for Mileena. There were even rumours of the two's elicit relationship, though even Tanya didn't know if those rumours held any water.

"I have important matters I wish to discuss with you, Tanya."

"What kind of matters, Empress?"

"Not here. This place is far too open. I will meet you in my chambers later tonight."

This seemed a slightly odd request, but Tanya bowed in respect, regardless, and decided it was best not to think too deeply on it. "As you wish, Empress."

"Do not keep me waiting," the empress said in what Tanya could swear was an attempt at a flirtatious tone.


A wretched, blood-curdling scream filled the palace around the time the two women were set to meet. The voice was undeniably Mileena's. Tanya rushed through the palace halls to investigate, coming across the guards standing around outside Mileena's chamber.

"You!" Tanya exclaimed, pointing to the highest-ranking among them. "Why are you standing around here? What is going on?"

The guard shifted uncomfortably. "The Empress refuses to allow entry to anyone, Milady. She is not under attack, so far as we know, but she..."

Tanya sighed. She shooed the guards away and gently pushed open the door to the chamber herself. The door wasn't locked, so it seemed less that Mileena didn't want anyone to see her, and more that she wanted only a certain someone to. Inside, Mileena was lying on her side, curled up into a ball in the middle of the room. Even in the dim chamber, enough moonlight shone through the window to highlight the large pool of red puddled around Mileena.

"I said I didn't want to be seen," Mileena growled, though with far less energy than one might expect from her.

"It's me, Empress," Tanya replied softly. Mileena's body visibly stiffened at the sound of the voice behind her. After a moment of silent contemplation, she finally replied.

"I said-"

"I am aware, Empress, but I must disobey. I cannot simply ignore your distress, even if you demand I do. Tell me. What is it that has you so upset?"

"...Leave," Mileena replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

Instead of doing as she was bidden, Tanya stepped closer. Despite her insistence, Mileena showed no signs of resistance as Tanya placed a hand on her shoulder and rolled her over onto her back to get a good look at her face.

She almost wished she hadn't.

Mileena preferred to keep her tarkatan mouth hidden from view with a face mask, which allowed her to appear completely indistinguishable from Kitana, outside of colour preference. She had been wearing a slightly transparent veil recently, however, for easier use in intimidation of her enemies.

This was not what disturbed Tanya.

What disturbed her was that Mileena's mouth now featured a pair of lips. Soft, beautiful lips to rival Kitana's. But they were flanked on both sides by jagged, curved tarkatan-like teeth protruding from both of her cheeks. Blood was all over her face, as if the teeth had actually torn through her cheeks. They were still bleeding now, staining both Mileena's attire and Tanya's own. About the only spots on Mileena's face that weren't painted red were the twin streaks running from her eyes down to her lips.

Tanya knew enough basic healing magic to stop the bleeding, but there was nothing she could do for the gaping wounds in the empress' face. She managed to drag Mileena to her feet and carry her into her personal washroom. Tanya sat Mileena down on the edge of her bathtub and filled the sink with water.

Neither woman spoke a word as Tanya wiped away the blood on Mileena's face with a damp rag. Mileena seemed almost catatonic as Tanya wiped her down. She offered to resistance as Tanya pulled open her robe and slid it from her now nude torso. Even as Tanya ran the cold, damp rag over her chest to wipe away the blood, Mileena said and did nothing.

Tanya checked Mileena's lower body as well. While the tight leather pants she had recently taken a liking to protected her legs from the red ooze, there were stylised gaps in the backs of her high-heeled boots, allowing some of the blood to get inside. Sighing, Tanya slipped off Mileena' boots and wiped down her calves and feet. With her body clean, Tanya turned her attention towards Mileena's long, raven hair. Spotting the red tinge it now sported, Tanya let Mileena's hair down from its high ponytail and began to give that a good rise in the sink.

Once she was done, Tanya draped a towel around Mileena's shoulders and guided her back into her room, making sure to steer clear of the puddle in the middle of the room. Tanya sat Mileena down on the foot of the bed and began rummaging through her wardrobe for some fresh clothes. She picked out a silken purple dressing gown and draped it over Mileena's shoulders, taking the towel to dry the empress' hair. Once it was mostly dry, Tanya smoothed out the now bushy hair as best she could with her hands.

"Tanya," Mileena rasped into the silence, causing Tanya to jump.

"Y-Yes, Empress?" she stuttered instinctively.

Mileena said nothing in response. Tanya wasn't sure Mileena had even had anything to say at all. Perhaps, she simply wanted Tanya to speak to stamp out the deafening silence.

"If you're feeling up to it," Tanya said cautiously, "would you like to talk about... whatever happened here?" She stopped her smoothing of Mileena's hair as tears began streaming from her eyes again. "Of course, if you'd rather not, I-"

"I was... I wanted... I have been looking into different kinds of magic in Shang Tsung's old texts." Once she found her words, Mileena presented them at a slow, deliberate pace. "He created me, crafted my form from discarded flesh, so I hoped that there might be some magic that could help me reshape myself."

Given her otherwise perfect duplication of Kitana's body, the tarkatan mouth was the only thing Tanya concluded Mileena might want to change, as she believed it made her ugly. However, given how valuable a weapon those razor-sharp daggers had been for Mileena, Tanya couldn't picture the savage Mileena wanting to remove them.

"I used the red... stone to reshape my face to resemble K-Kitana. I was the perfect mirror image of her until I released the stone's hold and..." Mileena trailed off, but Tanya could piece together what happened next.

"Without the stone holding them back, your teeth twisted out through your cheeks."

Mileena nodded solemnly. It was difficult to watch Mileena, the sexy yet feral clone of Kitana, ever loyal to whatever master she served at the time, looking so... pitiful. This was only amplified by the blank white eyes that both reminded Tanya that Mileena's miserable life had ended before, and reminded Tanya of her own milky-white eyes. Tanya couldn't help but feel sorry for the wretched creature before her.

"Why... did you want to remove your tarkatan teeth?" Tanya asked after a moment of contemplation. "Are they not one of your most valuable tools in kombat?"

Mileena shook her head. "I wasn't... thinking about kombat when I made my decision."

"Then, you wanted to better imitate Kitana?"

Again, she shook her head.

"Then... why?"

Mileena bit her lip, for the first time ever. It was clear that she didn't want to discuss this, but Tanya felt a strange compulsion to discover the truth.

"It's okay, Mileena," Tanya said softly. "You can tell me."

Despite their lack of features, Tanya had spent enough time observing undead white eyes to be able to tell that Mileena's eyes went from looking down, to up into Tanya's eyes, then away again as she contemplated Tanya's words.

"I... wanted to look beautiful... for you..."

Tanya took a step back away from Mileena, whose eyebrows arched in worry.

"You... You did this... for me?"

"I... Yes..."

"I don't... I don't understand."

"I wanted you to... see me the way I see you. You are so beautiful and cunning and I desire more than anything to spend as much time with you as possible. I have felt this way since our time serving Shinnok, but I had thought it merely a feeling of respect towards your mastery of manipulation and embrace of your own sexuality. But, working with you of late has... opened my eyes to the truth. I... I did not want you to avoid me due to my appearance. So, I sought to change m-my..." Again, she trailed off, seemingly on the verge of tears again.

It was strangely touching, to think that Mileena had wanted to appear beautiful for Tanya, specifically. The Edenian placed a hand gently on the remains of her mistress' cheek. She smiled warmly, which made the empress blush.

"Oh, Mileena. You truly are silly."

"Wh... Wha-" Tanya placed a finger over Mileena's lips.

"You needn't have gone so far for me, Mileena. I don't know that I necessarily feel the same as you, but I cannot deny that there is... something there. At first, I had thought it was merely your resemblance to Kitana's renowned beauty, but... seeing you now... I am not so sure Kitana has anything to do with it."

"You... are not repulsed by my teeth?" the empress asked hopefully.

"No. In fact," she leaned in close and whispered into Mileena's ear, causing her hair to stand on end, "there is a certain... hmm, allure to them. Also..." Tanya's face moved around into Mileena's line of sight and her dark lips pressed against Mileena's own.

Mileena had never experienced a kiss before. She had witnessed a number of them in her many hours spent observing the Emperor's enemies; especially Kitana and Liu Kang. But to actually experience one, to feel another's warm breath and feel their pleasurable moan inside her own mouth... It was utterly intoxicating.

"We can do this from now on," Tanya finally concluded with a wry smile after pulling away. "See? It's not all ba-"

Tanya was cut off as Mileena locked lips with Tanya again, hungry for yet more of the taste and the warmth. Tanya, though evidently reluctant to do so, pushed Mileena back gently by the shoulders and placed a finger over her lips.

"Now, now," she playfully chastised. "If we do it too much, it won't be as special. Savour each and every kiss, and look forward to the next. Keep it in mind when you start to feel down. Okay?"

Mileena nodded enthusiastic like an adorable puppy.

Tanya grinned suggestively. She leaned in and whispered into Mileena's ear, "I also find your submissiveness quite enticing."

Mileena shuddered at the hot breath on her ear. "Then, you shall have it," she whispered, her eyes half-lidded. "Inside this chamber, I am yours, body and soul."

Tanya's grin grew wider at the thrill of having the most powerful woman in Outworld proclaim her submission to her. She could probably take advantage of this for her own gain in the future, should she need to. But, for now, she wanted something else from Mileena. She cupped Mileena's chin with one hand to get her attention before tilting Mileena's head downwards.

"Now, let's give those new lips of yours a real test run," Tanya moaned huskily as she slipped her hands into her tight leather pants and slid them down her dark, toned legs, exposing Mileena's next meal.

Mileena licked her lips - she had felt the urge to do so many times, but had always lacked the required facial features to do so - as she stared, utterly entranced by what stood before her. Tanya giggled, watching the animalistic desire build in Mileena, until she could take no more and tackled Tanya backwards onto the bed...


I know you were expecting the conclusion of the Johnny Cage trilogy, but it's based in the new timeline and I figured I should wait until MK11 is out to see what I can use from that. And I was feeling particularly inspired with this one, so I ended up writing it now instead of waiting a month or more to get Johnny's story done. Consider it a celebration of my MKX LGBT video reaching 250K views. Also, what is the proper term for their ship? "Mileenya"? Sounds like Mileena as a catgirl.

You know what would be cool for tarkatans? If their lack of lips was taken into account for their speech. Try saying "Mileena" without your lips touching. The closest is "Nileena".