However, the four women were unable to bask in the glory of their murder of Shao Kahn and the formation of their sisterly alliance for long. Immediately after the four of them had made their pact, the doors to the throne room swung open once again. A tall figure with four arms entered – it was Sheeva.
"WHAT is going on here?!" Her powerful voice boomed and caused the women's ears to ache. Sheeva squared up to Kitana. "I always had my suspicions about you, princess, even though you feigned loyalty to the Emperor so easily. These two were not supposed to be freed from the Pits for several months, and you will pay dearly for disobeying Shao Kahn's orders!"
"Wait, you mean you KNEW about Mileena and Skarlet all along?!" Kitana cried.
"Of course I did", Sheeva replied matter-of-factly. "The Emperor had sworn me to secrecy, and I would rather die than go against his commands"
"Well in that case you've gained immortality", Jade said sarcastically.
"What are you talking about?"
"You mean you haven't noticed yet?" Mileena hissed.
Kitana gasped. "No sister, don't –"
"I guess you could say", Mileena continued, ignoring Kitana's plea entirely, "that he's 'fallen to pieces'" She cackled as Sheeva pushed past them. For a couple of seconds, Sheeva could only stare open-mouthed at the mutilated corpse in front of her. Then, she lifted all four arms into the air and let out a shriek of such a high pitch and intensity that all four women were knocked away, Kitana and Skarlet to one side, Jade and Mileena to the other. Sheeva turned around to fast them, her eyes burning with rage.
"YOU HAVE KILLED THE EMPEROR!"
The four of them tried to rise, but Sheeva screamed again, which caused them to clench their heads in pain.
"YOU HAVE DISHONOURED YOURSELF BEYOND REDEMPTION, AND NOW YOU MUST FACE YOUR PUNISHMENT!"
"I say we kill her too!" Skarlet cried. "We must be prepared to slay anyone who will stand in the way of our new lives!"
"I agree!" Mileena rose quickly. "Let the four-armed freak perish!"
Jade and Kitana realised that they had little other choice, and the four of them nodded to each other, in silent agreement that they would all attack at once. However, as they charged at their foe, Sheeva lifted her right foot high into the air, and shortly before their attack reached her, she stomped into the ground with incredible force.
The women screamed as they were launched high into the air. Sheeva reached out her upper-right hand and caught Mileena with ease. Then straight afterwards she caught Jade with her upper-left hand, Kitana with her lower-left hand and Skarlet with her lower-right hand. Sheeva laughed.
"You Edenians always were easy to conquer" Sheeva's face soon returned to a frown. "Your execution shall commence immediately. Until a more permanent decision can be decided, I shall assume the Emperor's rule on a temporary basis"
"How dare you!" Kitana said. "I am his child – I should be the next ruler!"
"You were NEVER his child", Sheeva responded. "And you will keep silent. I have far more of a claim to his rule than you do. Now, I must go and inform Shao Kahn's other servants about his demise, and if you think I'm going to loosen my grip –"
"Alright, already, we get the damn point!" Mileena moaned.
There was an awkard silence as Sheeva stared down at her. "Sharp-tongued fools like you would be served best by not talking. Though I would like to grant you a somewhat honourable death, even though you don't deserve it, if you insist on saying one more word I might just be forced to smash your head against the wall. So shut it."
No one spoke as Sheeva left the throne room and approached Baraka, who was sharpening his arm blades along with one of his Tarkatan soldiers.
"Baraka! A meeting is required urgently!" she ordered.
"Who told you that you could give me orders, Shokan? Don't you tell me what to do!"
"Save it, Baraka. The Emperor has been murdered by these four", she said, holding out the four women. "We need to discuss how they are to be executed and who is to be Shao Khan's new heir"
"What?!" Baraka was aghast. "But – Mileena was meant to be his heir!"
"Change of plans. She has betrayed us and abetted Shao Kahn's demise – alternatives must be considered now"
Baraka sighed.
"Tell Goro, Motaro and the others to meet me in the throne room in ten minutes – this needs to be resolved now!"
Sure enough, ten minutes later, as Sheeva was waiting idly, Baraka, Goro, Motaro and others who had served the Emperor filled the room, but before any words could be exchanged, everyone stood aghast in front of Shao Khan's mutilated body.
"No… this cannot be…." Motaro said.
"Hold on!" Baraka said. "How do we know that YOU weren't the one who murdered the Emperor, and not the captives in your hands?"
"Look at his body – he has clearly been lacerated by one or more bladed items multiple times. In order for someone to overpower the Emperor, they would have to have tremendous skill in using such a weapon. Now tell me, have you ever seen me use a bladed weapon during my time served here?"
There were faint mumblings amongst the other servants, and after a short pause Baraka replied "That is true – I have only seen you fight with your bare hands"
"Exactly"
"Grrr, I could slice those traitors right here and now!" Baraka screamed, unleashing his blades.
"Stop!" Sektor said. "That is not how we deal with dissenters"
"Right you are, Sektor", Sheeva replied. "The most pressing matter is with regards to arranging the execution of these four"
"We should execute them in the bloodiest, most torturous and least dignified way we can", Motaro interjected, "in Kahn's coliseum, so that all of Outworld will be reminded of the consequences of betraying their superiors"
"It can commence straight after Shao Kahn's funeral", Goro added. "Then we can path the way for a new ruler"
"But given the arrangements that would be necessary", Sheeva pointed out, "the earliest we could possibly have the funeral is tomorrow at sunset. We will need to arrange for the prisoners to be held until that time"
"Hold on", Goro said. "Where is Shang Tsung?"
None of them knew of his whereabouts.
"His skills will be vital to the future of the empire", Sheeva said. "We must search for him"
Before their search could begin, however, a young Tarkatan soldier ran frantically into the throne room, gasping.
"What are you doing here?" Goro shouted. "We're having a meeting"
"I'm – sorry – but – it's – urgent. It's – about – Shang – Tsung"
Sheeva and Goro exchanged concerned glances. "What has happened?" she asked.
"When I was guarding the Flesh Pits, Kitana and Jade overpowered us and allowed Skarlet and Mileena to escape. When I went down there, I found this" From behind his back he pulled out Shang Tsung's severed head. Everyone gasped.
Sheeva glared at Kitana and Jade. "So you two killed Shang Tsung as well as Shao Kahn!"
"Damn right, we killed him", Kitana said. "If you think that – "
"Shut up! Men, this is not good enough. We execute these prisoners tonight!"
"But what about the new ruler?" Motaro asked.
"That will have to wait until after the execution", Sheeva replied. "Baraka, you and the other Tarkatan are to take these four up into the tower, and bring them down to the coliseum at sunset tonight. Guard the tower as though your lives depended on it, because your lives WILL depend on it. Understood?"
Sheeva performed a sleeper hold on all four women to knock them unconscious – Baraka and the other soldier took two of them and headed towards the tower.
"What about the rest of us?" Goro asked. "What should we do?"
"You can get started on the funeral preparations", Sheeva ordered. "If we are diligent, we should have everything ready in time for tonight. I shall join you shortly"
The others walked out of the throne room, some of them carrying Shao Kahn's corpse. Soon enough, Sheeva was completely alone. She sighed deeply.
"I have pledged my life to protecting Shao Kahn, and now, he is gone. What will become of my life now?" She looked out at the bright morning sky. "Surely I should make a life of my own, rather than devoting it to others? How can I be sure that Shao Kahn even cared about me?"
Sheeva punched her upper-left fist into her upper-right hand. "I must remain strong. My honour is at stake, and the execution must occur – failure is NOT an option"
Shortly before sunset, Sheeva, Goro and Kintaro were waiting just outside of the coliseum – all of the appropriate arrangements had been made.
"So it is agreed" Goro said. "I shall announce the news of Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung's death, and you, Sheeva, are to perform the execution itself"
"Aw, no fair, I wanted to kill 'em", Kintaro said, moping.
"Your techniques are too sloppy for such a task", Sheeva said. "I have much more experience in that regard, and thus am better suited to this operation"
Kintaro kicked at the ground and turned his head away from them in disgust. He continued sulking as they entered the arena. Everyone else within the arena bowed as the three of them entered the coliseum. Sheeva assumed her position in front of the four captives, who were kept in chains to prevent escape. Goro stood at the centre of the coliseum and roared loudly to alert all of the spectators to his presence. There was a deathly silence thereafter, from which Goro relayed the bad news.
"People of Outworld" Goro's voice boomed throughout the coliseum. "I am afraid that tragedy has befallen this realm. This morning, four traitors of the empire brutally murdered both the Emperor, Shao Kahn, but also his advisor, Shang Tsung. In order to make an example of those who have robbed him of life, they will be executed in front of all of you" The spectators began cheering, shrieking and squealing with sadistic delight. "Normally betrayals would be punished via more honourable means, but what these women have done is frankly unforgivable. Therefore, Sheeva, who is stood in front of them as we speak, shall rip their skin clean off, and let them die an agonisingly painful death in front of our very eyes. Then, in the coming days, a new tournament shall be declared, and whoever wins shall take over the role of Emperor"
"What?!" Sheeva muttered to herself. "I had never agreed to that – he had never even mentioned it. That selfish bastard wants to gain power through any means necessary…"
"And now, without another moment's delay, Sheeva shall execute these criminals, and then the funeral can commence!"
The crowd cheered even louder than before. "That wasn't part of the agreement either – we were meant to do the funeral first"
"Sheeva", Goro said, "It is time for the execution to commence"
Sheeva sighed, and stepped towards Jade. Her eyes were wide with fear, terrified at the prospect of a humiliating and excruciating death. Sheeva placed all four of her hands onto Jade's chest and stomach. Though Jade could not speak (the four of them had had their mouths bound with cloth to prevent them from biting their executor), her eyes told more than her lips ever could. Sheeva paused.
"Sheeva, what are you doing? Kill them NOW!"
Sheeva turned towards Goro, a burning hatred in her eyes. "NO!" With lightning speed and precision, she moved her heads away from Jade's body and tore off the chains that bound her, followed shortly afterwards by Kitana, Mileena and Skarlet. Instinctively, Kintaro and several Tarkatan soldiers ran towards her, but she knocked them all away with a powerful uppercut.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Goro was livid.
"I pledged allegiance to Shao Kahn alone. Now that he is gone, I serve no one!"
"Retched scum! You dare to throw away any honour you have AND the fate of the Outworld empire just to suit your own selfish needs?"
"When you defend someone like Shao Kahn you lose all right to call anyone else 'selfish'" She turned to the other four. "Hold one of my hands"
"What?!" all four of them said in unison.
As the spectators booed and threw bloody entrails, everyone else charged at the five of them.
"This is no time for arguments – grab my hands quickly!"
While very confused, they realised that this was their only chance of survival. They each grabbed one of Sheeva's hands, and just before a barrage of former allies could attack them, Sheeva used her powers to teleport the five of them away.