AN: Almost done with this chapter, but it still needs a fair bit of work, so in the meantime, have a sneak peek for what's gonna happen! When the chapter's finished, I'll delete this chapter and upload the full thing.

(Sneak Peek) Chapter 17: Preparations for the End

"Kitana, over here!" she shouted.

Her sister looked at her, a frown clear on her face.

"What did you find, Mileena?"

"All sorts of things! With a little bit of luck, some weapons our size might be among them!"

Kitana beamed. She'd been eager to get her hands on a pair of weapons, but Sindel and Shao Khan had both put their feet down and stated that both Kitana and Mileena were not ready to wield any such weapons right now.

"What are you waiting around for, then? Let's go!"

The two sisters raced across the palace, making sure to keep out of sight of the various servants and guards that were stationed throughout the palace.

Finally, they reached the room Mileena had found.

"Look at all this treasure!" Kitana exclaimed, as her eyes roamed over what seemed like an endless expanse of riches.

Mileena giggled "I knew you'd like it."

As the two walked through the room, Kitana and Mileena couldn't help but take in the splendor around them.

"What sorts of things do you think Father keeps here?" Kitana asked.

Mileena thought for a minute.

"A dragon?"

Kitana snickered.

"A dragon? Mileena, you're so silly. A dragon hasn't been seen in… millennia! Don't you think Father would flaunt such a creature in front of our people if we had one?"

Mileena huffed. "It was just a question."

As the two were walking, a glint of silver metal and blue cloth caught Kitana's eyes. She stopped, turning to see where the light was coming from.

"By the Emperor…" she whispered, awestruck by the beauty of the instrument that had caught her eye.

"Umm…that's a fan. Is that what you want as a weapon?" Mileena asked.

"It's beautiful." Kitana said. Her fists clenched. "I must have it!"

She ran up to grab the fans. However, as she bent to pick up the fans, she bumped into a display pillar. A jar of some kind wobbled before it began to precariously tip over.

Mileena froze. Some sixth sense warned her that whatever that jar was, it was dangerous. She rushed to push Kitana out of the way.

The jar broke, and blinding pain hit Mileena's face.

Mileena woke with a start.

The first thing she noticed was how much pain she was in. Her entire body ached as if she had been through a sparring match with Jade that lasted an entire day.

The second thing she noticed was chains encircling her arms and holding her in the air.

In her hazy vision, she could make out the small golden outlines of the armor of Shao Khan's second-in-command.

"Hmm. You're awake. I will admit, out of all my creations, you have always been the most durable out of all of them." Shang Tsung stated, as if he was talking about the weather.

Creations.

Mileena should have already known at that point. The various bodies that looked exactly like her before she brought up her fears to Kitana should have already given it away that she was never born to be Kitana's sister.

That still didn't help with the crushing emptiness she suddenly felt at hearing the confirmation from the sorcerer.

"T-the memories….you planted them inside my head." Mileena stated, her voice hoarse.

"I did. The Emperor decided that Kitana required his own…personal touch to believe that you were a part of her family all along. Considering the fact you were 'born' the day his order was carried out, you were far more malleable."

Mileena tried to think, but it was incredibly difficult in the haze of pain she found herself in.

"He-he wouldn't be created out of the desire to not see Kitana lonely. Why? Why did he create me?"

Shang Tsung hummed again. He turned around, facing Mileena.

"Well, it is a rather long story, but I shall regale you. Consider it a final gift from your father."

You're not my father.

"Long ago, when Shao Khan conquered Edenia, he found himself rather taken with Edenia's queen, Sindel. He decided he would take her as his own. Sindel agreed, but on one condition, that she would also spare her daughter, Kitana. Shao Khan agreed to her terms, and the two were married."

"However, the Emperor did not trust the woman whom many believed to be the assassin of Edenia's previous king, and so he decided that should Kitana try and rebel against him again, then she would need to die, but not in such a way that could inspire rebellion. That's where you come in, child. You were created to be a clone of Kitana, with protocols implanted into your brain to kill and replace her in case she learned the truth and tried to rebel against the Emperor."

Mileena could only stare at him, incredulous. Perhaps with Kitana's clothes and veil and deliberately raising her voice higher, she could probably get away with looking like her sister, but without those? There was no chance anyone would confuse the two of them! And protocols? If what the sorcerer was saying was the truth, then why didn't she try to notify Shao Khan that Kitana had turned against him?

"If you intended for me to replace Kitana, then why do I have the features of a Tarkatan? Why did I not warn Shao Khan?"

Shang Tsung sighed. "The unfortunate truth of the matter is that, in order to create a perfect clone of Kitana, we would need her corpse to accomplish that, and since the entire point of your creation was to replace her only if she rebelled, we needed to find a different solution. Shao Khan and I tried to splice Kitana's DNA across various species. Outworlders, Shokan, Centurians, Osh-Tekk, Kytinn, Naknadians, and even Tarkatans. Every attempt with these species failed, save for one."

"Tarkatans."

"Yes. For some reason, it seems that the Tarkatan's legendary endurance and strength manifested itself even in their DNA. It bonded with Kitana's DNA, and after a few more failed attempts, you were born, ready to serve Shao Khan should he order Kitana's death. We even took the liberty of implanting false memories in both your heads, so that the ruse would be successful. Even after Sindel's death, the two of you seemed inseparable. For a time, it seemed that our project was worked."

At this, Shang Tsung turned to glare at her.

"The problem was that it worked far too well. Your loyalty to Kitana seemed to supersede that of even our Emperor and overwrote the protocols we put into your head. Thankfully, Skarlet was able to uncover the truth, that Kitana was planning to betray the Emperor and you decided to aid her. With the new enhancements I have given her, she will succeed where you have failed. She will kill and replace Kitana, and usher in a new age for Outworld, while you will be executed for all to see in the Coliseum."

Shang Tsung sighed again.

"It is unfortunate that the entire hybrid project Shao Khan and I worked on will have to be discarded. All because you grew weak and couldn't do what you were told."

At that, Mileena's head hung low. Shang Tsung, believing that her will had been broken by the revelations of her creation, turned away from her, intending to leave the prison.

"You're wrong."

Shang Tsung stopped. He turned to face her.

"I may die in that gaudy arena Khan created, but my experiences? My feelings? They didn't make me weak. You, whose heart is too black to ever experience the love and joy that comes from caring for another person, to look beyond something besides the feeling of power? You are the weak one, Shang Tsung, and I pity you for it."

"Silence!" Shang Tsung roared, backhanding her across the face. Mileena grunted in pain, before smirking at the sorcerer.

"And your lack of strength could probably be tacked onto that list too-"

A blast of green lightning hit her body, forcing a scream out of her. Breathing heavily, her vision began to darken.

"Ah yes, I forgot to mention one last thing, Shao Khan believes that putting you in the arena will force Kitana out of hiding, as well as the…vigilante."

"Izuku…will beat you…" Mileena mumbled, suddenly feeling lethargic.

"We shall see, child." Shang Tsung replied, as Mileena finally fell unconscious.

Kitana's Hideout

Kuai Liang had to admit, if there was one thing that this realm was good at doing, it was throwing surprises his way.

"Are you…Johnny Cage?" Kuai Liang asked, almost in disbelief.

"The one and only!" Johnny replied back.

"Wow. I… really wasn't expecting to see you here, of all places. Name's Kuai Liang." He put out his hand.

Johnny grabbed his hand, shaking it enthusiastically. "Not many people would. You a fan?" Johnny asked, his smile expanding by a few molars.

"Yeah. Your second movie, Ninja Mime? It actually inspired me to take up karate."

"Really? That's…amazing! What style did you learn?"

"Shotokan."

"Nice! I was more of a traditional guy myself when I first started. Later on, I decided to expand to Jeet Kun Do."

As the two Kombatants talked, Kuai Liang spotted a green-haired man sparring with another man in a metal-tipped hat, seemingly wielding a switchblade with its blade turned off.

"Who's that guy?" Kuai Liang asked, pointing at the green-haired man.

Johnny turned around to see what Kuai Liang was pointing at, before sighing.

"That's…Izuku. He's had it pretty rough recently, so go easy on the questions if you start talking to him."

"Noted."

In the distance, Jerrod could be seen talking rather animatedly with Kitana.

"How did this happen?" Kitana asked.

"Ermac was the fusion of thousands of souls Shao Khan was responsible for slaying, bound to his will. It was only thanks to your friend with the sword that I was able to free myself. He severed our connection to Shao Khan, and in the chaos of the souls fighting for control, I emerged victorious."

"And mother? Is she…"

Jerrod sighed. "No, Kitana. I'm sorry, but Shao Khan has not touched Sindel's body since her death. I fear I am the only one of your family to come back from the dead."

"Oh." Kitana said, a small note of disappointment in her voice. She shook her head.

"I'm sorry for sounding disappointed. I am happy beyond words that you're here with me, don't think otherwise-"

"I understand, Kitana. For what it's worth, I wish she was here too."

At this, Jerrod noticed the green haired man speaking animatedly with the one who had freed him. He floated towards the two.

" ...he can't hide forever. If we can ambush him-"

"Then what? If we take down Shao Khan's second-in-command, he might just claim that we're trying to sabotage the tournament-"

"I don't give a shit about the tournament!"

At this, Ermac interrupted the two.

"Midoriya, calm down. He's right. If we are to save Mileena, we must win this tournament. The final matches have been postponed to the end of this week, so that will give us roughly three days to prepare for whatever Shao Khan has in store for us."

At this, Jerrod's body glowed green for a moment.

"I still hold the memories of the various warriors Shao Khan bound to this body, and I will use it to train you as best I can. Mister Cage?"

"Yeah?"

"If what you have told me of your fight with Goro is true, you may have the second-best chance of winning this tournament. You will be my main focus of training in the coming days."

AN: And that's gonna be it for the sneak peek. I hope to have the full thing out by next week at the latest, but I'm not making any guaranteed. Hope you enjoyed what was there!