Raiden and Fujin departed to Netherrealm to meet with Noob Saibot so that he may allow them to see Shinnok.

They marched into the gothic cathedral-like temple, seeing Noob waiting for them on his throne. He folded his hands expectantly with a smug smirk growing beneath his mask, "Come for my help, mmm?"

"We seek an audience with Shinnok," Raiden answered, "we need his help."

Noob rested his head against his fist, "Was it not you who sent Shinnok's head to the previous rulers? Why would you need it again?"

Fujin explained, "The Kamidogu have been destroy and as an Elder God only he will know how we may rebuild them."

Noob did not laugh at their plight, he did not even chuckle. Rather he glanced at them with uncaring eyes, "This is my problem, how?"

Raiden answered, "With the Kamidogu destroyed, Armageddon is upon us. If the realms end, you'll be taken with them!"

Again Noob seemed rather careless at their warnings, "You seem to be missing my point, the realms ending isn't my problem, if anything I see it as a benefit."

Both of the gods went towards the doorway until Noob called back to them, "Now hold on a second, I've got one more thing to say to you."

Raiden turned back to the wraith, almost hopeful that he may have had a change of heart, "What?"

"You'll never prevent Armageddon," Noob mocked in a rather taunting tone.

The thunder god ran towards Noob in a fit of rage but Noob sank through the floor in an instant. He rose up again behind Raiden and put him in a chokehold. Fujin tried to come in to assist his friend yet Enenra popped up in front of him and blocked him.

Noob threw Raiden down against the ground, "You've failed Earthrealm!" Just to drive the point home, he snatched Raiden's medallion and smashed it in his hand. Noob released his opponent after that, "If only you had prevented my death at the hands of Scorpion. To think, maybe things would've gone differently if you had done your job."

Raiden growled at him, "You were the one who goaded him into fighting! It's not my fault you became what you are now!"

"But it is," Noob replied, "however I should thank you for that. My life before was meaningless, but now I have purpose."

Raiden tilted his head curiously, "Purpose…?"

Noob paused, "Perhaps I shouldn't tell you, that'd ruin the surprise."

"What surprise?!"

Noob's blank white eyes turned into a crazed wide eyed look, "It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you." Raiden shot a bolt of lightning at him, noting his insanity left him open. The bolt struck, sending Noob into the stone wall of the temple. Raiden approached him and aimed his hand at him, "There won't be any surprises."

Enenra tackled the thunder god to the ground and smashed his head against the floor. Fujin blew Enenra away with the wind. The corrupted Lin Kuei fell onto his back. Noob rose up and laughed, "There are many surprises left! In fact, you've given me a great idea!"

Raiden and Fujin tried attacking him together but suddenly they were teleported out from the corridor and sent outside. Noob waved at them from the doorway just before it shut by itself. Raiden slammed his fists on the twin doors but they refused to budge. He shot a bolt of lightning but they didn't even react. Fujin used the strongest gust of wind he could to try and break the door open but it simply refused.

Not thinking, Raiden teleported back inside. He pointed at Noob, "Saibot! I refuse to be shut out!"

Standing beside Noob was his ever faithful revenants. Noob smirked, "You're outnumbered, my friend."

Electricity surrounded Raiden, "I won't let whatever sinister scheme you're planning go through."

"You just came back from the dead," Noob reminded him, "you don't want to leave your people behind again do you?"

The thunder god knew the smug wraith had a point, "I…I suppose you're right. I'll be on my way, then."

Raiden sucked up his pride for that moment and marched out the doorway. Fujin followed quickly behind, "Are you sure it's a wise idea to just…leave him?"

"There's nothing we can do to him here," Raiden regretfully admitted to his friend, "This is his realm. He's too strong here. It's a shame what happened, while he had his bad side, Bi-Han was still a good man at the end of the day. I could have stopped it…"

"You cannot control fate," Fujin said to him, "if it was destined to be, then it was destined to be."

That's when Raiden got another idea, "Yes, you're right! Armageddon is destined to be! He must win…"

"What?"

Raiden grabbed Fujin by the shoulders, "Shao Kahn! Only he is able to prevent the end times! He must win!"

"Are you insane," Fujin questioned with fear that his mentor had gone insane from the pressure of his task, "was it not Shao Kahn's victory that set off this chain of events in the previous timeline?"

"He's our last chance," Raiden replied, "perhaps there's a chance for him, maybe we can set things right. Shao Kahn was once like me, many years ago…like me."

"You knew him…?"

Raiden continued to explained, "Yes, I did. I don't like to talk about it, though. I always feared that I would become like him and I almost did. He was the guardian of Outworld just as I am guardian Earthrealm. His intentions were good, but…somewhere he went wrong."

Fujin sighed, "It's almost maddening seeing as how you're the last guardian of the realms…at least the last with his sanity intact."

"Not quite, the guardians of Seido and Chaos Realm still live on," Raiden replied, "but their sanity can be called into question."

"You don't mean…?"

"I do," Raiden answered as the two vanished from the Netherrealm. Walking past them was the Cleric of Chaos, Havik.

The Cleric opened the massive double doors to Noob's cathedral with what would be a grin, had he any lips to grin with, "Noob Saibot, just the man I've been looking for!"

Noob greeted his friend with open arms, "Ahh Havik, what brings you to my domain?"

The jovial cleric bowed, "It appears that Seido has a new ally in the form of Triborg. I fear they may interfere with our plans."

"Triborg…I almost wish I could have gotten him on our side first," Noob lamented, "yet he shows signs of being a disloyal dog, unsurprising. He always was, even when he was Sektor. If they become a problem, I'll have the Brotherhood destroy him and all of the Seidan guard without hesitation. We're already busy in Outworld and I'm having one of our agents in Edenia start a coup to remove Kitana from the equation."

"We have no time to wait and see," Havik objected, "Chaos waits for no man!"

Noob turned back to his partner in crime, "And chaos deems that striking the Realm of Order would give them what they want! We can't give Seido the excuse they need to attack us! Think Havik, we already have Earthrealm suspicious of us and seeing as how I killed her beloved, I'm sure Kitana will be after us soon enough. I've already planned for both of them, but we can't have more people who want us dead! Not before it begins."

"Ahhh yes it," Havik remembered, "you're right, how could I forget? Here I am focusing on the small fish while you focus on the greater chaos! How long until it begins?"

Noob was pleased by Havik's turnaround, "I need you to head to the Living Forest to find Blaze. After that, all bets are off. I'll send in a little assistance." Rising up behind Noob like a shadow was an 8-foot tall monster. Four arms rose out from the beast's elongated torso, revealing it to be a resurrected Goro. Conversely he came back wrong. His skin was as black as Noob's, his expression was blank, and a chain came out from his neck. No, he did not have a collar. Rather the chain was lodged into his neck, coming out like a leash. The psychotic revenant handed the leash to his second-in-command, "Now go."

Havik nodded joyously, skipping off with Goro in his command. Noob on the other hand retreated further into his cathedral, entering the hidden chamber where Sareena was. She was still hanging vicariously above the bubbling black ooze. She looked weary, almost sullen in fact. Noob reveled in her misery, "Ahhh I see you're still hanging on. I'll break you yet."

Her hanging head looked up to him, her eyes were a dull pink and her eyelids were half closed. She weakly spoke out, "You underestimate me, Bi-Han. If anything, I'll be the one who saves you."

Noob cupped her chin and placed his hand upon her cheek, "You always were an optimist even in the darkest of times. I see what needs to be done now."

Her fleeting hope was restored, if only for a moment. Maybe she was finally reaching him maybe the Bi-Han she loved was still in there. She smiled warmly, "What?"

He took the chains to her shackles and snapped them with his bare hands, sending her into the ooze, "I'm going to change you the same way you changed me!" Sareena fell into the tar, reaching out her hand and trying to escape. It was pointless, it had already consumed her.

When she walked out, her skin was now a dull gray and her eyes were pure white. Her outfit was mostly the same but now it had the addition of a hood and it was all black, giving it a striking resemblance to Noob's own clothes. The black markings around her eye were now closer to Quan-Chi's and her teeth were sharper. Noob was most pleased by this new form, "And now, you are reborn! No longer a demon, just as I am no longer human. I…we are something more now."

Sareena said nothing, simply smirking at her new form.

We now return to Edenia, the capitol currently under reconstruction. It had been two weeks since Shao Kahn's removal from the throne. The first thing to come down was the massive statue of Shao Kahn that replaced the one of Jerrod. Replacing it was not a statue of Kitana, but a statue of Ermac. A plaque at the sculpture's base read, "This statue commemorates Ermac, the brave warrior who stood up to Shao Kahn and returned Edenia to its rightful ruler."

The palace Shao Kahn once called home remained unchanged, however. Sitting in the throne room was Queen Kitana, who mournfully looked at the empty accompanying throne. If only Liu were still alive. This is all she wanted, to reclaim Edenia for herself but now that she had…she couldn't help but feel a little empty. What could she do? Shao did most of the work when it came to rebuilding, and the people still seemed content.

She placed her cheek against her fist in utter boredom. She sighed, turning to her guardsmen who were still dressed in their Shao Kahn-esque garb. One of them asked, "Is there an issue, my Queen?"

"No," she replied, "but I do have a question. Are you happy?"

"Yes, m'lady," the guard answered, rather confused by the question.

"That's good, that's good. Are there any issues that need to be taken care of?"

"If there were, we'd let you know right away."

Kitana nodded, "Of course you would." Again her mind began to wander. This job seemed so lonesome, it was just her. Liu Kang should've been her king, but life had different plans. Yet that gave her an idea…who was the one who killed her lover? It was Noob Saibot. She had an entire army at her disposal so it was possible she could get avenge the Shaolin warrior. At the same time, this risked wasting her forces. She couldn't let everyone die just for the sake of revenge.

Kitana struggled with her decision. Jade dropped in to greet her friend. With a sort of sixth sense, she could almost tell her Queen was under some form of stress. She asked, "Kitana? What's the matter?"

"It's Liu," Kitana said, "I just wish he could be here by my side."

Jade understood her friend's pain and deeply sympathized with her, "It can be hard to move on, but think about what he'd want you to do. He wouldn't want you to wallow when you have a kingdom to run."

Kitana knew Jade was right. Even if she knew that it was still hard to move on, "Yes, I have a kingdom to run."

"Besides," Jade joked with a knowing smirk on her face, "it seems like you and that Sub-Zero have gotten quite close."

Kitana brushed her mocking off while lightly punching her in the shoulder, "Oh please, he's just been helping me out. We're only about as close as you and Ermac."

Jade blushed slightly beneath her mask, "Right, right. I was just joking anyway." The two of them remained silent after that, almost awkwardly. The silence was broke by Ermac entering the throne room, "We have received word from one of our battalions that there has been a string of murders in one of the small villages to the east of this palace."

The queen, while clearly concerned, kept her cool at this sudden announcement, "What? How many people were killed?"

"Seventeen," Ermac answered, "it took place in the middle of a local marketplace. The murderers were described as being a group of five robed warriors and when they left the walls were covered in a form of graffiti that said 'HAIL SHAO KAHN.'"

Jade had a startling realization, "You don't think this was the work of Shao Kahn, do you?"

"Of course not," Kitana denied, "there's no way. But I do think there might be a sect of loyalists to Shao Kahn's cause in our kingdom. I almost shudder thinking there might be people out there willing to kill in his name."

Ermac agreed, "Just as we used to. But why would they?"

"It's because Shao Kahn made himself to be a hero to the people of this realm," Jade speculated, "even if many don't see him as such since he attempted to kill Ermac, there are surely a few left who do." Their guessing would not last long as an explosion rocked the center of the town, knocking down the Ermac statue in the process.

To their shock, these terrorists surrounded the outside of the building with who appeared to be their leader standing atop the fallen Ermac statue. This leader was clearly a woman dressed in quite the baggy attire. They were almost like robes that were nearly black but showed hints of red. Her face was covered by a hood and skull helmet not dissimilar to Shao Kahn's own. But unlike Kahn's, this mysterious woman's mask completely covered her face. She called Kitana out specifically, "Kitana! You are not worthy of that throne!" Her voice was raspy and aggressive in nature.

Kitana looked out the window, coming face to face with this leader, "I don't know who you think you are but I'm more worthy of this throne than Shao Kahn!"

"That's where you're wrong," the woman said to her, "Shao Kahn rightfully earned this realm and built it back from the ground up! He did more for this realm than you ever had and more than you ever will! I'm here to fix that, now you can't sit around on your throne in peace, the peace you stole!"

Jade and Kitana exchanged glances at the woman's mad ranting, having nothing to say. They were baffled by this insane logic to say the least. The woman took their silence as confirmation of what she said, "I rest my case!" She turned to the now gathering crowd around her, "Look at her, she took the throne when it was not her who even defeated Shao Kahn! Even by a savage's standards, she did not earn it. Answer me this, if it was Ermac who defeated Ermac why is he not in the throne? It was his statue that stood before you all, not of Kitana!"

Ermac intervened by hovering out from the palace's gates, pushing all the terrorists aside, "Because we decided she was more worthy of the throne than us. And we decided that she was more-" yet he paused. He recognized this woman's presence, whoever she may be and asked, "Who are you?"

"My identity is unimportant," the woman sidestepped, "think of me not as an individual, but rather a single part of a collective consciousness! We are the Sons of Shao Kahn!"

Her fellow terrorists raised their fist at that. But Ermac couldn't shake the feeling he knew this woman in the past. However her essence seemed corrupted, something wasn't right. Almost as if necromancy had a role to play in this stranger's origins. It didn't matter, he charged after her. A threat to Edenia was a threat to him. The woman disappeared in a puff of black smoke, drop kicking him from behind before he had a chance to react. Ermac turned around, only to see her gone again.

What he was instead met with were floods of her minions coming in after him. Immediately Ermac got a headache in their presence. Again that ominous feeling overcame him, but this time he couldn't help but feel that these weren't Edenians. They were instead something far worse. This distracted him greatly, allowing the robed revolutionaries to completely overtake him.

Kitana and Jade dropped down to aid him, fending off the forces. Eventually they too vanished in black smoke like their leader, leaving nothing in their wake. Jade ran over to Ermac and helped him keep his footing by allowing him to lean on her. Ermac looked up, "There's more to this than meets the eye. We have encountered that woman before and her army…they're not of this world."

Kitana knew right away who was to blame for this, "It's the Netherrealm's doing! Noob's been planning something and now he's setting the stage. He killed Liu, he took over the Netherrealm, and I'll bet he's trying to destroy Edenia. But who's the woman working for him?"

Jade drew the only conclusion they could, "Tanya!" The group of three charged back into the palace, making their way towards Tanya's chambers. Lo and behold, she was gone. All that was left was jagged writing on the wall that read, "Death to the Queen."

The Queen balled her fist in rage, "I knew I should have imprisoned that traitor!"

All signs pointed to Tanya thus far but Ermac still reserved some doubt. Still it was the only lead they had, so it was all they could go with. They were quick to hang up Wanted posters for the supposed turncoat before she and her terrorists could strike next elsewhere. Troops were dispersed across the land to find her, including Shao Kahn's place of exile.

A few hours later, deep within the Edenian bog, Shao Kahn had no knowledge of what was going on within civilization, nor would he care. All that mattered to him was revenge and nothing more. Reflecting that was his unshaven look. He now had a short beard. Its color was a mix of black and gray. Not only that but he was also growing hair. It grew out from the back of his head rather than nearing the top, since that's where the growths on his forehead ended. It was the same color as his beard. He was in the middle of doing push-ups against the moist and soggy ground as he heard footsteps approaching. Thinking fast, the former king leapt up into the trees and hid amongst the leaves.

When he looked down he saw a group of ten Edenian soldiers marching through the swamp, searching the area. He stroked his beard wondering, "What could they be here for?" His curiosity soon gave way to apathy. If they were in his stomping grounds, they would face his wrath. He snapped a nearby branch from the tree and leapt down with a loud stomp.

The guards slowly turned around, seeing a half-naked man brandishing a stick. They reached for their weapons and slowly raised them. Their fear slowly grew, not knowing who this forest man was. He already looked so different from Shao Kahn that it was impossible for someone to know. Their hands were shaking, the sweat slowly dropped against the ground, and they showed much hesitation. Finally one solder drove his spear at Shao. The savage emperor dropped his branch grabbed the spear by the handle and yanked it out from the soldier's grasp. In as a little as a few seconds, the spear was already driven through the soldier's stomach, leaving him dead.

The other soldiers tried attacking, yet Shao avoided them by heading into the trees again. The soldiers' hearts started pounding. They had no idea around the swamp yet Shao Kahn had the advantage. He was essentially a guerilla soldier, making use of the environment. Not thinking, the soldiers threw their weapons into the trees a futile effort to repel this monster. Most of the weapons fell back to the ground below, yet a sword did not make it back down. The remaining nine heard a thud behind them, finding Shao Kahn's body with the sword seemingly driven into his torso.

They slowly approached, keeping a cautious distance. They went closer to inspect the corpse. One of them took notice that the sword was not in Shao's chest but rather it was between his right arm and his body. It didn't even cut him. The soldier began to panic. The other guards turned to him and one asked, "What's the matter?" They started to feel fear run up their spines as Shao got back up brandishing the sword at them. He only uttered one sentence, "Never come back."

They obliged, retreating in their fright. Shao Kahn too retreated, deeper into the woods. Even with his loss of strength, Shao Kahn gained newfound agility. The Shao Kahn of old would not have been able to traverse in the trees but now things were different. He went towards the pond with both sword and spear in hand. He threw the spear in, pulling out a fish. He continued fishing for at least an hour, returning to his campsite near Orin's cave.

Shao sat alone with a grimace on his face. While he certainly had an advantage in the bog, if he dared to return to the village he would be killed on sight. For now he had to remain in the forest and continue rebuilding his strength. To think, Ermac did this! Ermac! To Shao Ermac owed his life to him and this is how he was repaid? Even if Shao died, he wanted to take Ermac with him.

Yet he suddenly got an idea. He could take that power back from Ermac by force. After all, Ermac just took away his physical strength not Shao's innate magic abilities. Of course, he was the one who gave Ermac his power and he could still take it away. Yet he couldn't just barge in and take his powers. No, rather he had to figure out a plan to sneak into the palace.

His plotting was cut short as the ground shook violently and a bright light came out from Orin's cave. Shao hurried to the cave finding that a young man slowly reaching out from a massive stalagmite. Orin greeted the young man, "Welcome back to the world of the living, Taven…"

And thus concludes our chapter. I know we raised a lot of questions in this chapter such as what is Noob's motivation, who is the leader of Sons of Shao Kahn, is there any time left to prevent Armageddon and the biggest question of all I'm sure you're all asking. "Shao Kahn can grow hair?!" Well in this continuity he can! Considering he's probably a god just like Raiden and Argus, who also have hair, I think he could. The other questions will have to wait to get answers but you'll be surprised at them all when we get there! Until then I'll see you in the next chapter! Hope you enjoyed this one!