Disclaimer: I do not own Mortal Kombat or any of its characters. All rights belong to Ed Boon, Nether Realm Studios, and Warner Bros.
Outworld, Living Forest...
Kitana, after her talk with Raiden, treks through the treacherous Living Forest of Outworld heading back towards Shao Kahn's palace to enter the Flesh Pits. As she reaches the end of the forest, she feels a presence watching her. Knowing who it is, she calls them out. "Come out, Jade. I know you're following me. Again." She calls out with a frustrated tone.
Jade then walks out from behind one of the living trees and walks in front of Kitana. "Following you still, actually." She tells her with an almost humorous tone. "I know where you're going, Kitana. And I... am ordered to prevent you from going there." She continues reluctantly as Kitana walks up closer to her.
"And why is that?" She asks with curious expression, which causes Jade to raise her hands in a calming manner.
"I'm afraid I do not know. I am, unfortunately, not in a position to question the emperor's demands." Jade answers sadly. "Kitana, please. Do not go to the Flesh Pits. Turn back" She continues pleadingly as she looks at Kitana with a sad expression.
But the princess shakes her head before looking at Jade with a sad expression of her own. "I can't do that, Jade. Not now. The path might lead me to the truth. I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to stop me." She says as she shifts into her fighting stance. "Now, get out of my way, or I'll just go through you. I'd rather not do that, but if I must, then I will." She tells her while she waits for her friend to make her decision.
Jade wasn't entirely sure what to do. If she lets Kitana go to the Flesh Pits, she could be severely punished for disobeying Shao Kahn, and she is already in a bad position with him from her hesitation earlier during the tournament. If Jade tries to stop her, then they'll just end up hurting each other when it's not needed.
Sighing deeply, Jade makes a decision that will either benefit both of them, or lead them to their doom. "I won't get in your way, Kitana, but I won't let you go to the pits by yourself." She says to Kitana, who looks at her with confusion. "I'm going with you." She clarifies, which causes Kitana to now look at her with shock.
"What? No, no. This is my path, I must do this alone, just as Kurai did all his life." She says, shaking her head and refusing Jade's offer to come with her.
As Kitana walked past Jade, she turns grabs her friends arm and looks at her seriously. "But don't you think that Kurai would've liked to have a friend by his side, instead of doing everything by himself for so long? If I were in his position, Kitana, I know I certainly would have. Being along in a realm that wasn't my own for so many years, never knowing if my friends or my family were alive or dead. Kurai didn't exactly have much of a choice with his path, because it was forced upon him, but you do have a choice." She tells her earnestly, which made Kitana think a little more about her path.
Should she go alone like her brother was forced to? Or does she allow Jade to accompany her so they can both find the truth?
Calmly placing her hand on Jade's, Kitana gently pushes her hand away from her with a sincere look. "Alright, Jade, alright. I still don't like it, but you can come with me. Maybe we can both find our paths together this way." She calmly says to her friend, who smiles underneath her mask and nods before they both start walking together out of the forest.
But before they even exit, Kitana subtly slows down behind Jade then quickly strikes her head from behind, sending her face first into the ground and knocking her unconscious. Sighing softly, Kitana walks up beside Jade. "I'm sorry, Jade, truly. But if I am to be caught and punished, I don't want you to suffer with me. I have a choice, like you said, and I choose to walk this path alone. I hope you can forgive me when you wake up." She says sadly before she picks up Jade's unconscious form then turns her over gently on her back before walking again towards the palace and finally out of the forest.
Moments later, Shao Kahn's Palace, Lower Levels...
Kitana walks down a winding staircase to the lower levels of the palace that leads to Shang Tsung's Flesh Pits. As she walks through the entrance, she sees many mutilated bodies scattered all across the room. On the floor, hanging on bloodied hooks chained to the ceiling, and many more.
Doing her best to ignore the gruesome sight, she walks deeper into the Flesh Pits and eventually comes across multiple large, transparent water tanks that are all currently holding what looks to be Tarkatan females wrapped in very little bandages. The only distinguishable difference, from normal female Tarkatan features, is that they all have long, jet black hair. Tarkatans, especially female Tarkatans, normally don't have long dark hair. They tend to keep their hair short in a braid, and the color is more often bright colored than dark.
She looks all around her to find many more of the tanks, which holds more of the unidentified Tarkatan females. Many of them looked dead. Others looked like they had unnatural deformities. Mutations. "What in the name of... Who are they? What is all this?" She whispers in frightened shock as she continues to examine the surrounding area of the Flesh Pits.
Walking up to one of the tanks closest to her, which holds another one of the Tarkatan females, she sees that this one had short black hair, tan skin, and just like all the others, large Tarkatan teeth, which is one of the most recognizable features of a Tarkatan. Besides the arm blades.
Looking beyond the translucent tank, Kitana can now see that one of these Tarkatan females is out of its tank and is now lying down on a bloodied wooden table. Walking past the tank and up to the unconscious woman, Kitana notices one slight difference compared to the one she just saw in the tank. This woman, while having short dark hair, tan skin, and the large Tarkatan teeth, she also has pink eyeshadow over her eyes.
Which is odd because Tarkatan females have never cared much for make up or making themselves look more attractive for their male counterparts. What attracts Tarkatans the most is their prowess in battle and the type of warpaint they use. That's a Tarkatans version of makeup.
But only pink eyeshadow? That's what Kitana finds strange about this woman. But upon closer inspection, Kitana begins to notice some striking similarities between her and this unconscious woman. Black hair, tan skin, even her facial features look similar to Kitana's besides the large teeth.
"She looks... just like me. But... that's... that's impossible." She quietly says with an incredulous tone as she continues to examine the unconscious woman's body. Everything looked similar to Kitana herself as she looks back up at the woman's face before jumping back in shock.
The woman, whoever she is, was now awake and staring straight at Kitana with amber yellow colored eyes. After a moment, the woman smiles, at least to Kitana it looks like a smile. She couldn't hardly tell with the woman's Tarkatan features. "Sister!" She says giddily before sitting up and hopping off the table.
Kitana backs away slowly as the unidentified woman walks up and examines Kitana closely. "So pretty, so fair! So sad and alone!" She says with an excited tone before opening her arms to Kitana. "Come. Let us be a family!" She continues as Kitana glares at the woman.
"You are not my family. You are a monstrosity!" She shouts, which seems to visibly hurt the woman for a moment before glaring at her with a snarl.
Kitana vs. Unknown Kitana Clone...
The clone woman rushes Kitana for the insult, snarling and baring her fangs while trying to bite her. Kitana gracefully dodges each attempt to have any part of her ripped off before she spin kicks the woman in the face, knocking her down to the floor.
Wiping the blood away, the clone growls before standing back up and pounces towards Kitana, hoping to surprise her and catch her off guard. Kitana is slightly shocked by the clone's athleticism, but manages to roll out of the way as the clone lands back on the floor.
She turns her head and roars at Kitana out of frustration as she leaps into the air and tries to land on her to rip her face to shreds, but Kitana continues to dodge and roll out of the way.
The clone growls frustratingly and roars, but is swiftly silenced as Kitana uppercuts her then kicks her in the abdomen, sending her stumbling backwards. With the air knocking out of her, the Kitana clone looks up at the princess, who rushes towards her before leaping into the air with a knee to her face, stunning her before sweeping her legs out from under her.
The clone tries to get back up, but Kitana quickly walks up to her then kicks her hard in the face, knocking her out.
KITANA WINS! FLAWLESS VICTORY!
Kitana sighs deeply while looking down at her clone. "Farewell, sister!" She declares coldly and prepares to strike the woman down but stops when she sees Shang Tsung walking towards her.
"Kitana, that is no way to treat your sibling. Would you treat Kurai this way?" He says to her with a mocking tone, but she only glares dangerously at the sorcerer.
"Despicable swine! Do you think Shao Kahn, my father, will stand for this... these... abominations you've created here?!" She shouts at him angrily while pointing at the tanks and the unconscious clone.
Shang Tsung scoffs with a grin. "I am merely perfecting you, princess. As difficult as that might be." He tells her mockingly as he continues to grin.
Having already heard enough, Kitana's patience wears out and her anger boils over. "Silence! I will drag you before Shao Kahn, kicking and screaming by your pointed beard!"
Kitana vs. Shang Tsung...
Shang Tsung runs towards Kitana, looking to punch her, but Kitana dodges the punch and counters with an uppercut before kicking the sorcerer in the stomach hard. Stumbling back, Shang Tsung glares at Kitana before launching a fireball at her, but Kitana brings out her bladed fans and spins them both quickly, which catches the fire ball before she redirects it back at the sorcerer.
Shocked at the action, Shang Tsung quickly ducks under his own fireball before taking off towards Kitana as the fireball hits one of the tanks, which causes the glass to break as water and one of the Kitana clones to fall out of the tank and crash to the floor.
While dashing towards Kitana, Shang Tsung slides between her legs before standing back up behind her, but she elbows him in the face, which causes him to elbow her in the back of the head, sending her stumbling forward. She looks back at him with a furious glare as he charges towards her before she side kicks him in his stomach then kicks him in the jaw with a spinning heel kick, which sends him to the floor.
Groaning painfully, he gets back up slowly and turns his head to look at the princess, but she is already on top of him with ferocious punch to the face, which sends him back down to the floor with a painful shout. She then grabs the back of his head to lift him back up before she palms his throat, which causes him to gasp and grasp his throat in pain before coughing.
She then knees him in the gut, which causes him to double over from the lack of oxygen in his body. He desperately elbows her in the belly, knocking the wind out of her before stumbling forward to give himself a moment to catch his breath.
However, Kitana regains her breath quicker than he does and angrily stomps towards him before kicking him roughly in the back, sending him face first to the floor and into a pile of rotted, bloody carcasses of the failed Kitana clones. Pulling his face out quickly and coughing from the disgusting taste in his mouth while a putrid stench fills his nostrils, Shang Tsung stands up in a slight panic before turning around to see Kitana's fist coming towards him before the hit lands.
Briefly dazed, Shang Tsung shakes his head to regain his senses, but Kitana punches him in the belly then uppercuts him before kicking him in the jaw with a spinning heel kick, which knocks him down roughly to the floor. The Outworld sorcerer coughs roughly with the taste of rotting corpses in his mouth before looking up at Kitana as she walks towards him.
Just like the clone, Kitana stomps towards Shang Tsung before kicking him hard in the face, rendering him unconscious as blood begins to flow out from his mouth.
KITANA WINS!
Kitana lifts up Shang Tsung's head and slaps him hard across the face, which wakes him up as he sputters and stumbles with his words. Kitana grabs his face roughly before forcing him to look at her. "Get up, sorcerer. You will stand before my father and confess your heinous deeds." She says to him furiously before shoving him towards the exit of the pits. Shang Tsung says nothing but grins sinisterly.
Minutes later, Shao Kahn's Throne Room...
After being summoned to his throne room by Kitana, Shao Kahn sits on his throne with a deep exasperated sigh. He looks up when he hears the throne room doors open and sees Kitana walking in with two Tarkatan warriors behind her while they were holding Shang Tsung by his arms. "Kitana, what is so important that you have summoned me here to my own throne room, when I have yet to decide a proper punishment for Silva's betrayal? And why do you have Shang Tsung in custody? What is the meaning of this?" He asks her impatiently as she bows respectfully while the two Tarkatan warriors shove Shang Tsung to his knees on the floor.
"I apologize for pulling you away from such important matters, father, but I would not disturb you if this matter were not of utmost importance. I felt that you should know of what Shang Tsung has been doing as of late." Kitana says to him respectfully as Shao Kahn rises from his throne and walks towards them.
"This conjurer has created horrid replicas of me crossbred with Tarkatan blood. One of them was alive and attacked me!" She explains while gesturing to the kneeling sorcerer, who only continues to grin as Shao Kahn walks up to them. He looks at Kitana briefly before looking at Shang Tsung.
He grins. "Well done, sorcerer." He says to him, which causes Shang Tsung to nod before standing up.
Kitana looks at them both with shock, more so at Shao Kahn than Shang Tsung. "You... You know? And you approve?! How could you?! My own father!" She shouts angrily, which only angers Shao Kahn at her tone.
"I am your emperor!" He growls, which causes her to back away in fear. "Your father was a weakling Edenian king, Kitana. I annihilated him while merging Edenia with Outworld and took his queen, your mother, as my wife." He tells her sinisterly as he takes another step forward, causing her to back further away.
"If only I had not allowed Sindel to convince me of your worth." He continues coldly before looking over at Shang Tsung. "But now I have a true daughter I can call my own! One I can be proud of! And soon, I will convince Kurai to join me and his new sister to help me conquer the realms." He declares as Shang Tsung grins and nods his head.
Shaking her head in disbelief at this revelation, Kitana stares at both men incredulously. "Raiden was right. And Kurai has the right idea. My place isn't with you, Shao Kahn. It's with my brother. And I was too foolish to understand that... until now." She says to him rebelliously as he looks over at her with a glare.
He then looks over at the two Tarkatan warriors. "Take her up to the tower. I will soon make an example of her." He says, ordering them to grab Kitana and take her up to the Prison Tower. As they grab her and take her out of the throne room, Shao Kahn looks over at Shang Tsung. "Return to the Flesh Pits, sorcerer. Bring me my daughter... Mileena. But first, I have some business to take care of." He says before turning away from the sorcerer and walks out of the throne room.
Shang Tsung smiles and nods his head. "Right away, my Lord." He says before walking out of the throne room to retrieve Mileena and deliver her to her father.
While Kitana is being dragged out of the throne room, Jade stood in the shadows and watched as the two Tarkatan warriors took her away. "Damn it, Kitana. You say Kurai is stubborn, but you are even more so than he is. Regardless, I still failed you. Now, I will have to make amends." She says quietly before she begins to follow them to the Prison Tower.
Meanwhile, Shao Kahn's Palace Dungeons...
Inside one of the cells, Silva sits in the middle of one of the holding cells where many prisoners, traitors, and blasphemers have waited for their inevitable demise at the hands of Shao Kahn himself or some other gruesome creatures that would do much worse than the emperor would. Even with his twisted and demented imagination.
Silva lifts his head up when he hears the sound of keys jangling around as his cell opens. He looks up to see a large looming figure walk over to him with steady thudding footsteps. Even though he can't see who it is, he knows full well who is in the room with him just from seeing the shape of the helmet.
"Well, well, if it isn't the-"
WHAM!
"Silence!" Shao Kahn shouts after kicking Silva in the face. He then kneels down and gets a little closer to him. "I would say that you've stung me, Percival, but I've only known you a few days. So, it does not bother me one bit of what I have planned for you." He says to him with a twisted grin before standing up and looking at one of the the dungeon guards.
"Take this piece of filth to the Dead Pool. Hang him from one of the chains and lower him into the acid. Let's see how much of a big talker he'll be when he loses more than just his legs." He says ordering the dungeon guard, who nods and leaves to retrieve another guard in order to pick up Silva and take him to the Dead Pool.
"You can't do this to me, Shao Kahn. We had a deal! I was to replace Han as the Grandmaster of the Dark Wu Shi Temple!" He shouts at the emperor, who snaps his gaze at Silva with an enraged glare.
"I can do whatever I wish, Silva! I am the emperor! And you're right, we HAD a deal! But you broke our deal before we even had a chance to carry out our plan! In doing so, you've ruined your chances of leading your precious Dark Wu Shi Temple! I'll sooner allow Kurai to lead that temple the moment he joins me!" He shouts furiously at the crippled man before leaning down close to him in an intimidating manner. "But you, Silva, you are nothing but a sorry excuse of a man who can't do anything on his own, unless of course, he is given a handout just to give himself an edge." He says mockingly with a chuckle, which causes Silva to glare at him furiously.
"You can't do this to me, Shao Kahn. You can't. This is NOT how I'm going to die." He tells the emperor defiantly, which only causes Shao Kahn to chuckle more.
"Oh, yes it is, Silva. Because I say so." He says sinisterly and stands back up straight just as the dungeon guard returns with a second guard, which causes him to smile. "Right on time." He says as the guards walk up to Silva and grab him roughly while he tries to struggle and shouts vulgarities at both men.
Shao Kahn merely stands to the side and chuckles sadistically as the guards pick Silva up and drag him out of the room as he continues screaming and shouting for someone, anyone, to help him, but no one listens.
As Silva is being dragged to the Dead Pool, Shao Kahn walks up the step's leading out of the dungeons and back up to the main levels of the palace with a determined expression. "Now that Silva will soon be taken care of, I can now focus the rest of my attention back on Kurai. But without that Earthrealmer, Drake Lee, I've lost my leverage." He thinks to himself before suddenly stopping in his tracks.
Thinking for a moment, a wide sinister grin spreads across his face as he begins to chuckle darkly. "Kitana. I may have lost Drake Lee, but I now have his sister at my mercy. If I play this right, Kurai will soon join me and all the realms will soon bow down to Shao Kahn."