A long time ago I had met a beautiful Goddess named Kitana. She met me in secret and she whispered wonderful things into my ear.
"You are the true Kahnum of Outworld."
"All the realms will kneel before you."
"Rise against Onaga, Shao Kahn, and I will give you the heads of the Elder Gods."
Such wonderful threats of romance and yet when I had finally slain Onaga on the night of a blood moon, she began to mobilize an army against me. It was not apparent at the time, but as the years progressed, my champions Shang Tsung, Goro, Reiko, and Baraka all seemed to distance themselves from me. Only Goro stood at my side when Kitana challenged my claim to the throne.
Not once did this Goddess join me in the conquering of the realms, but later, as the tournament to claim Earthrealm neared it's tenth victory, I had learned that Prince Goro of the Shokan were merely the eyes and ears of Kitana.
He betrayed me and aided in the defeat of Shang Tsung by mortal hands. Though not dead, he had disappeared into the cobalt mines until one day his strength would be restored and the tournament would near it's ugly head to grant him the opportunity to seek vengeance against Kung Lao.
That was Shang Tsung's fate, but mine? She had a different plan for me, the true Kahnum of Outworld, and Conquerer of the Realms.
Kitana had challenged me in Mortal Kombat, in my own realm. In front of my own throne. Sheeva, Baraka, Ko'atal, and the traitor Goro all watched on as we battled for supremacy. If it weren't for the fact that Kitana was a Goddess like the pathetic defender of Earthrealm, Lord Liu Kang, then I would have defeated her. If it weren't the aid of her allies, my armies would have defeated her!
Interestingly enough, if it weren't for the compassion that held within her Edenian heart, she would have killed me. Instead, we crashed through the palace, room by room we fought, and struggled for control over one another. In the end, she bested me and as I lay beneath her, and stared into the eyes of a traitor, of my murderer, she gashed my chest with razor sharp fans and nearly spilled my guts.
It takes more than a flesh wound to kill my kind. More than death itself to kill me, Shao Kahn!
She ordered Goro to take me to the donjon tower where I would rot, and had told Outworld that I was dead.
Shao Kahn was no more, and now they were under the rule of Kitana Kahn.
If it weren't for the kinship I had grown with Goro, albeit under the terms of my destruction, I would be dead. What little he cared for me, allowed Shang Tsung to free me from the cells that held all traitors to her crown. This secret, I presume, Goro kept with him, for no soul has found me since that tournament's end.
For that inkling of loyalty, I will spare only one of Goro's arms.
As I explained the story to my newest daughter, her thirst for knowledge and power unlike that of any creature beneath me and before her, I could see our plans made real. This girl, once strong in the art of Blood Magic, would enter the tournament for me, and I would join her, as would my other champions.
Kitana will know them all soon enough, and she will fall.
As the true Kahnum of Outworld, I will take my rightful place on that throne.
"Shao Kahn?" She broke my concentration, but for the best. She needed to be returned to her cell.
"Your hair," I had noticed as we began our training, "is beginning to turn blood red."
She seemed flattered by this and her cheeks turned rose colored. She inspected a few of those red strands that only frosted her hair. Soon her hair would be completely blood red as she consumed more and more blood from the victims we would feed her to grow in her abilities. A father would be so proud.
"Return to your cell, Skarlet." She, unlike some, listened.
This was a way to control her. Her only freedom would be to train and to kill. She would eat bound by chains, and she would sleep in her bondage. This magic, not even known to Shang Tsung, would surprise Kitana and anyone that dared to question my rule over Outworld again. My greatest weapon, Skarlet.
"Excuse me, Master." A pathetic throaty voice scratched at my ears.
With a hard glare down at the creature known as Syzoth, or Reptile to some, I grimaced, and clutched my hammer tight.
"The sorcerer wishes to speak with you."
"Then he may come himself."
"I will get him for you, master."
Syzoth took three cowardly steps back and then turned to flee and fetch my loyal sorcerer. Little did the pathetic whelp know that my sorcerer had brought me a scroll from the beast known as Khameleon several nights ago. I could not read what was written, and I couldn't give a damn too, but my sorcerer knows all languages.
"We are many." Spoken under my breath, both when I held the scroll and heard the words through my translator, and now as he stepped lightly into this dark, one-torch chamber.
These walls were carved beneath a single room hovel in the slums. Beneath it, no one would find us, and the Thieves Guild protected us above the surface. The few that dared venture underground were slain.
"What news of the surface?" He would have found out everything he could before he even dared to enter my presence.
"Kitana Kahn is moving forward with preparations to use the Coliseum for the Tournament. She has sent invites to the Tarkatans, Shokan, Osh-Tekk, and Edenians to fight in the tournament for Edenia and Outworld."
"Pathetic, but that was to be expected of her."
"Word on the wind, master, is that Osh-Tekk will not rise to her call."
This was good news indeed. How had Kitana destroyed such a strong alliance? "Speak to me, Shang Tsung, how much do you know of this new development?"
"I had spoken with Motaro myself before leaving. I had spotted the Osh-Tekk traveling across the hills to infiltrate the keep, no doubt to discover the truth behind the Kytinn attack."
"Has D'Vorah come through on her end?"
"As we speak, the Kytinn have halved the Osh-Tekk forces. Not just at the camp, but in Outworld itself."
"This is good news, Shang Tsung. You have done well to seek her out."
"They have nested deep within my island for centuries, it is about time they paid for it."
There was still the matter of Ko'atal. What convinced him to turn his back on Kitana, or did he? Is he dead? Did Motaro do as instructed? "What of Ko'atal?"
"When I left after getting the scroll from Khameleon, and informing the Centaurs of the Osh-Tekk outside their gates, Motaro took him captive. He assured me that Ko'atal would rot in a stable beneath the ground."
This was very good news. We needed the Centaurs. We needed the Kytinn. D'Vorah would enter the tournament with me, and Skarlet. Together the three of us would begin a new era in Outworld, and a new era of conquering the realms through Mortal Kombat. I would make Kitana eat her words, her promises to me and throw the heads of the Elder Gods at her lover's feet!
"There is, however, other news."
"What else, sorcerer?"
"I do not know what transpires on Earthrealm. I lost my right to be a free-roaming sorcerer after losing to Kung Lao, but my spiders have told me that it is not just the Great Kung Lao who will fight in Mortal Kombat."
"Who do you speak of?"
"Raiden is to enter the tournament."
"The great teacher and partner of Lord Liu Kang? So what if he does? We will crush his skull and feed him to his God!"
"Yes, my master. We will." He bowed slightly, with a pathetic grin that told me he knew more than he had told me of this. I had grown tired of him already and didn't need to hear any more. Raiden was mortal just like Kung Lao, and I was confident in our new army, in my new daughter. However, before the door would close on my golden robed sorcerer, I had one more loose end to tie.
"One more thing."
He turned, his eyes narrow with curiosity and his hands still tucked behind his back.
"What of the girl?"
"Mileena? The first trial failed" A sorcerer spoke only what he meant to. What information I got, were whispers and air through narrow teeth, but it was all I had to know of this girl. "I am building you another with the blood of your new daughter, once she truly begins training. Perhaps she will be a stronger fit."
"She will be, or you will join her in the grave."
"As you wish, my lord."