From Mortal To Divinity

Shang Tsung's Island, Outworld

Five Days Before the Beginning of MK9

My arrival to the Mortal Kombat universe is silent and with nothing to alert anyone of my entrance. I simply appear at the docks of Shang Tsung's island while it is deserted at night, and according to ROB I have five days before the Mortal Kombat tournament begins. Plenty of time for me to infiltrate Shao Khan's faction and to set up my preparations. After all, picking Shao Khan's faction did not automatically make me a member of it, but simply made it easier for them to notice and invite me. The rest of the work is up to me.

Observing my surroundings, I realise how out of place my atlantean armor looks in a setting where the style is predominantly asian, especially since I am meant to be Edenian, one of the many powerful races that Shao Khan has subjugated through the Mortal Kombat tournament. Without a second thought I change my rune suit to resemble the Royal Fire Nation armor, the same armor that Azula loves to wear, while adding my own personal touch to it. Unlike Azula's, my bracers have three fins on them, exactly like Batman's. In addition, I take the liberty of adding a hood to it as an homage to my time as her teacher and personal guard.

Satisfied with my armor, I pull my long white hair into a top-knot, a style I have grown to love ever since my time as a fire nation soldier. Having done that, I take a knee on the ground before inscribing a runic array on it. Without my divine powers, I cannot use any of my traditional forms of sensing such as my seismic sense. This is where the array comes in. It performs a structural grasp that only gives me the locations of important places on the island. Places such as the Flesh Pits, The Courtyard, Shang Tsung's Throne Room, etc… My desired location however is none of the above, rather it is Goro's Lair.

Once the runic array finishes performing its purpose, I erase all traces of it before standing up and making my way to Goro's Lair, home to Goro, prince of the Shokan and champion of Outworld.

Using a mixture of Biotics and runes I completely erase my presence, allowing me to make my way to the lair without being seen, heard, smelled, or felt by the myriads of inhabitants on the island, many of which seem to be here for the tournament. I have yet to see any of Earthrealm's fighters however.

Goro's Lair is a stage with stone walls and several dark passageways; human bones are scattered on the floor, skeletons hang from a few shackles at the center of the arena, and the ceiling is riddled with sharp spikes, no doubt to be used as fatalities. The lair is also made up of several rooms and dungeons that house vicious Onis, showcased near the entrance of the lair is a statue of Goro along with a caged door leading directly into his lair. Near the back of the biggest room, Shokan prince can be seen sitting in his own throne, watching a battle in amus.e.m.e.nt while a very dim light enters his lair above him, and dead or near dead chained bodies hang on the wall.

Before walking in, I deactivate my runes and biotics, and saunter into the lair as if I owned the place. The first person, or rather Shokan, to notice me is none other than Kintaro, the only notable Shokan other than Sheeva and Goro. Unlike Goro and Sheeva, Kintaro has tiger striped markings all over his body as well as sharp fangs, claws and feline-like feet, denoting him to be of the lower-class Tigrar clan as opposed to the elite-class Draco clan that Sheeva and Goro haile from.

"Human…" growls Kintaro before he pauses and sniffs me, causing me to sneer in disgust. "Not human. Edenian. What is an Edenian doing here?" he asks with a bark, drawing the attention of the other Shokans, Goro included.

"That is none of your business, vermin." I reply as I continue to make my way inside.

Unhappy with my dismissal of him, Kontaro grabs my shoulder with one of his four arms and attempts to pull me to him. Unfortunately for him not only did I expect such a reaction, but it's also what I want. Grabbing the offending appendage, I use it to lift him in the air before slamming in on the ground in front of me, knocking the air from his lungs. Without wasting a second, I turn his arm in three hundred sixty degrees, completely breaking every bone in it, before ripping it off from his shoulder sockets, causing him to howl in pain and completely silencing the other Shokans. Before anyone can react, I summon the crimson Power of Destruction and completely vaporise the arm. Despite all of this his first health bar only goes down by a quarter.

"Edenian!" roars Goro as he stands from his throne and begins to make his way to me. "What do you want?!" he demands.

"I heard that not only are the Shokan's brutal and great warriors, but also that their prince is the champion of Outworld. As a participant of the Tournament this year I naturally needed to see for myself." I explain while placing a foot over Kintaro's face and continuously burn him with my firebending while ignoring his howls of pain.

"Tell me, puny Edenian, how impressed are you?" he asks as he puffs out his chest in pride while his fellow Shokans egg him on.

"Not very." I answer honestly. "I came to see Outworld's greatest warriors, what I find instead is a collocation of brutes that I can easily crush beneath my heel." I say just as I crush Kintaro's skull beneath my foot when his health bar reaches zero, silencing the Shokans and enraging Goro.

"I WILL FEAST ON YOUR BONES!" exclaims Goro before he rushes me with an enraged roar.

With a smirk on my face I launch myself at him while creating two daggers of fire in my fists, a move I shamelessly stole from Zuko. Once I am within Goro's reach, the Shokan launches a punch towards me which I easily dodge by sliding in between his legs and retaliate by slicing his achilles tendons with my daggers. With a surprised yelp mixed with a pained roar, the prince of the Shokans loses his footing and falls forwards. Being the warrior that he is however, Goro uses his arms to recover and bring himself back standing.

Before he can make anything of his recovery I use my firebending to send lightning hurtling towards him and striking him in the chest, causing him to once again roar in pain. Rather than stop after a single lightning strike, I turn it into a continuous attack that continuously reduces his health and makes him scream louder than ever before. His screams are so loud that they shake the cavern and can no doubt be throughout the island, and will most likely attract Shang Tsung's attention.

As predicted the sorcerer teleports into the lair just as Goro's health reaches the last ten percent.

"Enough!" orders Shang Tsung, a decrepit old man a few inches shorter than me. His skin is pale with long, balding white hair, a beard and mustache, with dangling thin fingers and long fingernails. He wears a black kimono shirt with a golden accent, black pants, and black boots with a golden X decoration at the top. Above his kimono shirt, he wore a crimson vest-like robe, with a large golden trim at the edge of the robe and at the cuffs; black and gold decorations on the front of the robe, the robe has a long, single strip which falls down to around his boots; two, thin strips of black fabric protruding from the top of the pants; and a belt, with the middle colored black, the rest gold and a jade stone in the middle.

Obeying his order, I cease my assault on Goro just as his health bar reaches the last five percent.

"Identify yourself warrior, and give one good reason why I should not toss you into the Flesh Pits for jeopardising Outworld's standing in the Mortal Kombat tournament." he says as he slowly floats towards me while the Shokans retrieve their unconscious prince.

"I am Malphas, and I have come here to represent Outworld in the Mortal Kombat tournament as its champion. As such I sought to prove myself by defeating the current champion, Goro." I explain.

"And prove yourself you did." comments Shang Tsung as he observes Goro and I. "Not only have you defeated him, but you have done so while coming unscathed. Truly an impressive feat." he observes.

"It was nothing." I answer honestly.

"Yes I can tell. Come, I believe that Emperor Shao Khan will be interested in meeting you." he says before grabbing my shoulder and teleporting us out of Goro's lair.

The first thing I notice upon our arrival in Shao Khan's throne room is the fact that it is unnecessarily dark here, with the only sources of light being being four green flames that come out of the eye sockets of two massive skulls that each sit on the sides of the throne itself, giving the room a very sinister feel to it. On the massive throne is none other than Shao Khan himself who seems to be listening to a report from Kitana while Jade stands a step behind the Edinian princess like a guard. Having finished her report, Kitana bows and stands to the right of Shoa Khan as the Conqueror turns to face Shang Tsung and I.

"Sorcerer, what is your purpose in coming here? I do not recall summoning you." says Shao Khan.

"Pardon me Emperor, however an event has occurred that I believe should be brought to your attention." replies Shang Tsung with a bow.

"What is it?" questions Shao Khan.

"Earlier this night Goro faced an unknown warrior and was soundly defeated. Had I not arrived in time the prince would be dead as opposed to his current condition." he explains, shocking Jade and Kitana. "Normally I would punish the warrior for endangering Outworld's placement in the tournament, however he claims to be interested in taking Goro's place as champion in the tournament and considering the Shokan's current condition I do not believe that he will be healed in time for the tournament."

"Is this the warrior?" asks Shao Khan as he points to me.

"I am." I reply as I step forward and bow, an action that I have not completed in centuries and only perform now since the stage has not been set yet. To kill Shao Khan now would not only plunge Outworld into a civil war, but would require me to conquer the realm myself, an action that is too troublesome for me to want to do when on vacation.

"An Edenian, how interesting." observes Shao Khan, once again shocking Jade and Kitana while increasing their interest towards me. After all, Edenians in Shao Khan's court are rare and those who would actively come to serve the Khan are even rarer. Not to mention that at this point in time she knows nothing of her status as the princess of Edenia nor the fate of her mother and true father at Shao Khan's hands. "Tell me Edenian, why do you wish to serve and what is your magical ability."

"I came for one purpose, to seek glory as a citizen of Outworld. As for my magical ability…" I reply as I launch a beam of destruction from my eyes and vaporise one of the skulls by his throne. "... I call it the Power of Destruction." I say as Shao Khan observes dust remains of the skull for a few seconds before he bellows out in laughter.

"Marvelous!" exclaims the Khan as he slowly stops laughing. "From henceforth not only will you be Outworld's champion, but you shall join my court. Bring me success and I shall reward you properly. Should you fail however, there will be even less of you that remains compared to this skull." he says ominously while pointing at the dust remains of the skull. "Daughter, show him to his quarters"

"Yes father." answers Kitana as she bows to her father before walking towards me with Jade following her close behind. "Follow." she says as she makes her way out of the throne room.

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AN: Here's the chapter. As usual tell me what you guys think. Also I'm still accepting votes until tomorrow.