Author's Note: Hello, so before we start with this story I need to make some things clear. This will be a story about Mileena Kahnum and Zaraki Kenpachi. As weird as that might sound, in my head it works. Mileena is a bloodthirsty tarkatan full of anger, betrayal and revenge for the "traitor" Kotal Kahn and Earthrealm, on the other side we have Zaraki Kenpachi a sadistic person who seeks nothing but fighting strong people, he despises weaklings. His only motivation is to find worthy opponents to surpass and loves the feeling he gets when he puts his life on the edge by fighting a worthy adversary.
Since Zaraki is from an anime called "Bleach" I will not make him have all the powers he has there. Mortal Kombat's universe is fairly realistic so the only power he will have is "Shunpo" which is basically a technique that allows its user to move faster than the eye can follow.
Many people in MK have teleporting abilities so shunpo is similar to that.
If you like to listen to soft music in the background while you read, this is the song I was listening to when I wrote this chapter: Emotional Music - Memories
Enough babbling, lets dive straight into this madness:
CHAPTER 1: Chains and Shackles
Outworld's dungeon, a dark and ruthless prison for the unlucky scum that the emperor Kotal Kahn had shown "mercy" by not executing them. Many of the prisoners were innocent people who's only crime were to talk bad about their fearsome and cruel leader.
At first, when the former empress was taken down people thought it was a good thing, no more family members taken away just so that she could feast on their flesh and blood, no more tarkatan raids on the village just so that she could be entertained, no more pain and suffering, or so they thought. Soon they will realize that the only difference now was, their family members wouldn't be eaten alive, instead they would just rot in prison for minuscule things.
Screams of agony and torture were common in the dungeon, the emperor gained the loyalty of the tarkatans thanks to Baraka who just like everyone else betrayed the former empress. As a reward for their obedience, he would allow them to feast on prisoners. This kept the tarkatans under his rule since they were basically like dogs, feed them and they will follow you. Because of that, innocent people begging for their lives while being eaten alive happened fairly often, filling the dungeon's cold and silent corridors with screeches of tortured souls. The cell rooms were small and made out of stone, with moss growing from each crevice. Chains attached on the walls to keep the more aggressive prisoners at of the inhabitants were civilians but sometimes a tarkatan would rebel or start a fight with another soldier and they would both be punished, beat up and locked inside the dungeon for a few weeks with no food to show them that disobedience would not be tolerated. The floors were stone cold, filled with hay and bones from the many prisoners who died of starvation or killed and devoured by the filth locked in the same cell. With no windows on the walls, most of the cells were in complete darkness, some of them had just a dim light coming from the torches hanging on the corridor walls. The air was gloomy, filled with death caused by the decomposition of corpses. Just being around this air was a challenge in itself to stay alive, let alone hope to escape and seek freedom.
Deep within at the very end, there was a lonely cell with just one prisoner, a female figure who wasn't fazed at all by the loud screams, crying souls and terrors going in these sealed walls. Neither was the smell of death or the limited light, for her inner darkness was far beyond what was going in this dungeon. The plans she had once free from here for those who betrayed her, would make this prison look like a palace in comparison. Kneeling down with her hands up caused by the chained shackles around them. Her face was down, eyes closed, thinking to herself:
"How many days has it been?. No, weeks, months, I don't even know anymore. How dare they treat me like a filthy peasant. I am the true ruler of Outworld not that treacherous Kotal. He even took my name as Kahn, when I get out of here, I will savor every moment of making him feel true pain until I see his worthless life fade away from his very own eyes. Then, I will take back his soul and give it him so that I can rip it to shreds again and again."
She tried to free her hands but it was no use, the shackles were really tight, obstructing the blood flow on her wrists. The lack of food and water made her body weak and even with her normal strength would prove a challenge. In between the clashing sound of the chains moving she could hear footsteps in the long, dark and cold passage of the dungeon. The steps were getting closer and closer. She didn't bother to look who it was as her face was still looking down, the only things going through her mind were different plans and methods on how to get out of here. This was an opportunity she definitely wouldn't miss. The steps stopped and the only noise being made was the key going through the keyhole of the door, unlocking it. Entering the cell and with a familiar voice that sounded more like a beast than a human said:
"Enjoying the life of a prisoner?. Quite the difference from when you were all the way up there on your high horse isn't it?. Looking at everyone down like you were superior to us all. I, along with my soldiers left your side because Kotal told us that your thirst for revenge on Earthrealm will doom all of Outworld. He said that following you will only lead to our extinction. The tarkatans follow you no more."- He said with a bit of mockery in his tone, seeing that he had the upper hand in this situation.
"No one will stand between me and my revenge. First, I will make every single one of you pay with pain and suffering before ending your worthless lives for betraying me, then I will go to war alone and have my revenge. There is nothing anyone can do to stop me, if Outworld prefers to die by my hands instead of fighting with me, then so be it. You weren't going to extinction because of the war I was seeking, you will go extinct because you dared to stop me."
The former empress slowly raised her head and open her eyes to see the naive fool who'd dare speak down to her. Her eyes felt upon Baraka, the leader of the tarkatans and her loyal follower time ago.
Baraka looked at her in the eyes and it was as if his throat was slowly being cut by the ex-leader's long, sharp and deadly fingernails. He suddenly felt his throat dry and was shocked, shocked by the fact that here she was, tied up in chains, starved for weeks, defenseless and yet not only was she looking fearsome and powerful but only with her gaze Baraka felt the need to kneel down before her, apologize and hope that she would show mercy for his stupidity. He gulped and made sure that all of his cockiness was gone, not daring to see what would happen if he mocked the former empress any longer.
Kotal allowed the tarkatans to entertain themselves by beating her up if they wanted to, the only thing he said was "Do not kill her, other than that, do whatever you want with her." After that statement, Baraka thought that this will be the end of her, knowing that the tarkatans would feast on her at the very first rising opportunity. Despite that, none dared to touch her. A few days later Baraka went to ask the tarkatans for an explanation, some said that they don't even want to go near that cell, the braver ones said that five of them went to visit her. They went inside her cell with full intent of making her suffer, however once her gaze fell upon them, everyone was stuck in place, all their confidence gone in a blink of an eye. It felt as if they were like defenseless prey before a hungry beast, like someone was strangling them, with each second going by in her presence they felt more and more fear crawling up on their spines. They couldn't look away, everyone was petrified, waiting for her to say something.
With a low growl that could crumble even the strongest will she said:
"Come closer, I haven't eaten in days. Hope there's more waiting outside, five of you will not suffice my thirst and hunger."
She lowered her head releasing them from her piercing eyes, waiting to see if they were brave enough to make a move. Already planned how to execute them, she was just waiting to hear a single footstep come closer to initiate her attack. Even in her weak state caused by the lack of food, five tarkatans would be easy prey, the single thought of fresh meat inside her stomach excited her.
The tarkatans looked at each other and left the cell without hesitation. Sweating with their bodies still trembling in fear they dare not to go back and wrath the former empress any longer. From that moment forth, no one set foot in her cell.
"They weren't kidding", Baraka thought to himself. Still not being able to move his eyes away from hers, memories of how they've met came to mind.
Baraka, Commander of the tarkatan force was planning attacks on different posts throughout Outworld when one of his scouts called him:
"Commander!, there's a storm coming towards us."
"I see, get everyone to shelter and prepare for it."
"Commander, the tarkatans grow impatient they need meat and water."
"You dare to disobey me?."- He asked while putting his blade close to his throat.
"Get everyone inside before I use your body as meal."
"Yes Commander, as you orde-"
"Huh?. What is it?."
"There something else coming our way besides the storm, it's hard to see with the rain and the dim light Commander but I think it's a human."
"Human?. Humans dare not to come into Outworld without an army, let alone a single one straight ahead into a tarkatan outpost."
Baraka stood there, watching the figure get closer, steadily with each step. It felt as if the storm was under that figure's command, following behind with lighting, rain and roaring thunders, like it was some sort of manifestation of the figure's anger.
Baraka wanted to see who'd dare to face him, he ordered every tarkatan to come out and watch as he was about to give his soldiers something to feast upon. As the figure came closer he could tell it was slender body, that of a woman. She was wearing no armor at all safe for some arm guards and a corset-like vest that only covered her chest with some small shoulder pads, gray leather pants with pink strap falling from the middle, a chain belt and a skull buckle to hold her lower gear in place. She had black, short loose hair covering her face with a pink mask over her mouth.
When she reached the outpost the storm was on top of them, her wet hair and skin somehow made her look even more menacing. The dim vision caused by the night and the heavy raining that was now present made it difficult to keep her on Baraka's field of view. Her eyes were bright orange, shining through all the mess going around, it was those eyes that made Baraka feel uneasy, he didn't know why but felt some sort of respect for this person, no, respect wasn't the word. Fear, that is what Baraka felt as she walked closer into the outpost where Baraka stood. His soldiers started to growl like hungry beasts, like some sort of mechanism to intimidate a prey. To any normal person that's what it looked like but Baraka knew his soldiers better than anyone and those growls weren't intimidating at all, his soldiers were frightened. If you trap an animal into a corner, his defense mechanism would make him growl, bark and show his teeth to intimidate his predator but a cornered prey is still a prey no matter how much it retaliates.
He looked at her, she had bright orange dragon-like eyes, something he never saw before. Not only did they look threatening but they were full of power, determination and blood-lust. Baraka was sure that she could make every soldier here submit to her will just by looking at them the way she was looking at him.
"Who is your leader, worthless beasts?." - She growled while looking at different tarkatans in the mass.
"What is a human doin-."
Cutting him of his question, she threw a sai that found its place nailed in Baraka's right leg, forcing him to kneel down. Before he could grunt or make any noise of pain he felt sharp fingernails dig in his throat. Her grip was extremely strong, enough to draw blood and cut the entrance of air from Baraka, enough to instantly kill him if she wanted.
"Do not mistake me for a miserable Earthrealmer"- She growled, making sure to look straight into Baraka's soul, which was forced to crumble before her stunning eyes.
"Ugh, Who...are you...then?."- He managed to say in between the pain on his throat and lack of air in his lungs.
"I, am the empress of Outworld, your empress." As she finished saying that a huge thunder roared in the background, making it look like it was in cue with her. She released him from her grip and walked away, heading towards the soldiers.
Still coughing, Baraka stood up.
"I WILL EAT YOUR CORPSE."- He yelled, simultaneously retracting his blades out of his forearms and lunging at her.
"I will show you true pain, pathetic dog."- She said with an angry tone before making two sai materialize in her hands. Gripping them with strength, she took her fighting stance.
Running towards her while his blades were cutting the droplets of rain through the air, Baraka saw a pink aura surface around her, an instant later she was gone. Only seconds after, he would realize what had just happen. He'd been struck by a kick to the back of his head. Falling to the ground from the impact, he shook his head trying to get rid of the pain. He got up as quickly as he could turning around, only to see her again for a split second before she disappeared leaving only a pink figure of her with particles dissipating in the storm, combining with the rainwater until they were fully gone. He reacted on instinct and turned around slashing behind him, hoping she'd use the same attack. He guessed right but It wasn't a complete success since she blocked his slashing with her sai. She tried to kick him but Baraka jumped backwards to create some distance.
"What's this?, Those little knives you wear aren't just for show?."- She said in a playful tone while twirling around the sai's in her hands.
"ARGH, You will pay for your mockery!."- He said furiously while crossing his blades.
"There's not much difference between a dog and a dog with two blades"- Her voice returning to a serious and angry tone.
She threw her sai again, this time on the ground next to Baraka. He didn't react at all, seeing it wasn't aimed at him, this will prove to be his mistake when he spotted the pink aura again only to see her a second later appear where she threw her weapon, next to him. He tried to react but it was already too late. She jumped on top of him and started stabbing him repeatedly with her sai, finishing off with a back flip kick to his jaw, sending him to the ground. Mid-air while doing her back flip before landing, she threw her two sai straight into his arms to pin him down.
She was strong, acrobatic and agile but these were things that Baraka couldn't think at the moment caused by the pain in his jaw and the piercing weapons in each of his arms, holding him. Each time he tried to get up the pain would grow stronger, making the sai's dig deeper, after a few attempts he gave up, stopped struggling and braced himself for what was coming, which was most likely death.
The only noise that was left over the outpost after the short battle was the heavy rain making contact with the empresses skin, on the tarkatan soldiers, their armor and their metal blades along with furious thunders in the background. No tarkatan was growling anymore nor making any noise after their leader was defeated, everyone was waiting to see what was going to happen next. Who will be their leader now?, who will they follow?. All of these questions going through their heads, until the empress made her move.
She lowered her mask, showing everyone her tarkatan teeth, even though she had lips like a human, her tarkatan features wouldn't be denied.
"I have come to take you under my command."- She started talking while walking around the post making sure every tarkatan would hear her.
"As empress, I need an army. Follow me and I will make sure that together we shall spill more blood than in your wildest dreams, you will no longer have to worry about food, water or a roof over your head. We will grow stronger, powerful and fearsome. We shall unite all of Outworld under me, then will seek war against the murderers of my father, Earthrealm."
After her speech, she stood there for a few seconds, looking at the tarkatans, waiting for someone to defy or protest. Seeing that no one was brave enough to confront her she started walking towards Baraka.
"These dogs seem to follow you for some reason."- Her tone was neutral and hollow.
Baraka didn't say anything he just stood there, watching her without any will to look away.
"I'm willing to forget that you dared to think yourself worthy enough to attack me today. You can keep your title of leader over these beasts but you will be my subordinate. If that doesn't suit you, I will make them eat you right now and select a new leader to work under me."
She looked at him, waiting for his response.
Baraka just nodded.
"Good"- Her tone carrying a bit of joy. He wasn't a worthy opponent but at least he reacted to her second attack, which meant he was adaptive in battle. She didn't want to train a new soldier from the ground to become the Commander of her army. Why train a new puppy for the hunt when you can use the experienced dog.
With a flick of her hand, the sai's carved into Baraka's arms faded away instantly, leaving only pink particles of the weapons figure combining with the rain before dissipating completely.
Baraka stood up, still in pain but thankful that he gets to live. He knelt down and said:
"I, Commander of the tarkatan army Baraka, pledge my loyalty to you. Empress of Outworld."
Every tarkatan followed him and bowed down to their new leader.
The empress smiled and raised up her mask.
"Let us go men, back to my castle. It looks like you all need some fresh food and water."
Every tarkatan growled like they've just won a war at the exciting thought of fresh meat and water. They all followed the empress through the storm back to her castle.
He snapped out of the trance he was in, back to the dungeon cell in front of her ex-leader. Looking at her in the eyes made him feel the same fear as back then. He remembered his conversation that he had with the new emperor before coming here, making some of his fear go away.
"Go and bring her to me, Baraka" - Said Kotal with authority in his voice.
"Yes emperor but she's far superior at fighting than me. What if she escapes?."
"Do not worry, her body is weak, we didn't feed her for weeks so she will not have the power to teleport away from you. You should be able to deal with her."
"Yes, emperor."
Already feeling nervous caused by his mockery beforehand he said with a neutral tone trying to hide his fear away:
"Kotal Kahn wants you removed from this cell and chained out in the open so everyone can see what will happen if one shall defy the emperor."
"The moment you take another step closer will be the moment your worthless life ends, treacherous dog."- She hissed at him.
Seeing that he was stupid enough to try to move, she stood up from her kneeling position, preparing herself to attack.
As much as Baraka wanted to leave her be and stay away from her wrath, if he went back without her, Kotal would execute him just for the simple fact of hesitating to carry out his orders.
Baraka was on his guard, he tried to take a step forward with care and sure enough, the moment he did that, a roundhouse kick was aiming for his head. He blocked it with both arms, knocking him off-balance. "Where does she get all this strength from?, she was supposed to be weaker without eating for weeks", he thought to himself.
Not wanting to try his luck any longer with the former empress, he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her as hard as he could against the wall.
"Not even a grunt of pain?. You truly are a monste-"
Not wasting anytime she kneed him in the stomach, releasing herself from the grip and kicking him right in the face, sending Baraka flying backwards. He got up after a few seconds, blood dripping from his face, he retracted his blades out and crossing them together, making sparks and sounds of two sharp blades running down each other.
"Tsk."- She scolded herself-. "Truly I have weakened, that kick should have left him unconscious for several hours. No matter, I refuse to die in this filthy place at the hands of this worthless beast," she thought while Baraka was getting ready to strike again. The fact the she had her hands tied up in chains would make it difficult to dodge his blades, she needed to finish this now.
Baraka lunged forward, piercing her through the lower side of her ribs right next to her stomach.
"Ha-ha, gotcha"- He growled at his feat.
"No. I, got you"- She smiled while putting her hands around his neck, starting to strangle him with the chains.
Baraka tried to fight back, he slammed her into the wall again, pierced her numerous times with the blades throughout her whole middle body but nothing seemed to make her falter, the only thing happening was him slowly losing consciousness. He retracted his blades in and tried to remove the chains around his neck to allow some sort of passage for air.
"Release me from the shackles or you will suffocate"- She said while applying even more pressure after finishing her demand.
Baraka complied, his hands went over to his pockets, coming out with a key in his hand. She released him immediately, taking the key and inserting it into the shackle's keyhole.
Finally getting some air, while still dazed from the lack of oxygen in his brain, Baraka tried to make a run for the door, reaching the door handle only to feel a sai impale his hand into the wooden door.
"UGH" - He yelled in pain.
He looked back only to regret it immediately. The former empress was now free of chains and looking at him while playing with a sai in her hand. Those eyes, to say that Baraka was frighten was an understatement.
She threw her sai right into his chest.
"AGH"- Another grunt of pain, the next thing he saw was a pink aura materializing near her, a split second later his vision went blurry caused by a strong grip on his throat.
She teleported where her sai was nailed and dug her nails into his throat. As a last resort he tried to pierce blindly in front of him with the blade of his free hand. It was easily caught by the former empress from the wrist and twisted on itself breaking it with no difficulty whatsoever. She pushed him to the ground, ripping his other hand in half caused by the sai that was impaled between his palm and the door. Her grip on his throat was so strong that he couldn't make any sound at all. His vision was fading away, the only thing clear was a set of bright demon orange eyes staring at him.
"I would love to make you suffer for the sin of betrayal you've committed wretched mongrel, but I don't have the luxury of time at my disposal. Think of this as a reward for all the time you've spent under my command. Fear not, your flesh will help me regain energy so you will be of some use to me in the end."
"Noo-"
She lunged at him, biting and ripping the life out of Baraka. She released her grip allowing him to regain his voice. The pleasant screeches of suffering caused by her ravenous bites all over his body were stimulating. Screams filled the silent dungeon corridors once again.
"Lovely!." - She happily said after feeling the forgotten warmth of blood flow through her inners, the fresh meat filling her stomach. instantly energizing her up.
Tarkatans have a strong metabolism, give them meat and blood and they will heal wounds faster than anything else. She feasted on her former subordinate's body and rested for several hours waiting for her wounds to heal up.
Finally free of shackles she rubbed her wrists to get the blood flowing through her hands again caused by the tightness of the chains.
Licking her teeth and fingers to savor every last drop of blood and meat she said to herself with an angry growl full of revenge:
"Time to take back what's mine!."
To be continued...
This is my first story ever, hope that you guys will be coming along with me on this journey. I apologize if you think it was sloppy written, I will improve with time.
Consider leaving a comment saying you enjoyed reading this chapter and want more, I need to know people are interested in the story before I can keep writing.
