It had been only a few days after the warriors from Earthrealm first ventured to Outworld to do battle with Shao Khan's fighters in Mortal Kombat. Liu Kang and Kung Lao were able to secure vital victories in the tournament with the help of Johnny Cage and many others. During a fight against the Princess of Outworld, Kitana, Liu Kang and Kung Lao managed to jar her lost memory from the far reaches of her mind. With her mind freed, Kitana realized the grave mistake that the Earthrealm warriors had made in coming to Outworld. She knew that Shao Khan was going to use the Mortal Kombat tournament to distract the defenders of Earth while he launched some kind of invasion.

She needed proof however, and so she ventured along with Liu Kang to a temple that Shang Tsung frequented. She had the hunch that the overall scheme would have had to been originated from the sorcerer as his youthful appearance had only recently been restored by Shao Khan. Hidden behind the massive Buddhist altar they listened in as Shang Tsung gave instruction to the deadly assassin, Reptile.

Shang Tsung narrowed his eyes at the reptilian assassin, «You understand, yes? Kill as many of the fools as you can at the tournament. They are the only ones that can disrupt this plan...»

«What about the champion...?» Reptile hissed.

Shang Tsung smirked a little, «Leave him to me.» The sorcerer waved his hand and Reptile bowed before running from the temple with inhuman speed. He looked to the altar once more and frowned as he suddenly had a grazing sense of Liu Kang's awesome and powerful aura. He stood motionless for a few moments before shaking his head, believing the feeling was nothing but his mind playing tricks on him. He turned on his heel and held his hands behind his back as he exited the temple.

Liu Kang and Kitana walked out from behind the altar, looking at one another quietly. Liu Kang shook his head with disbelief, «I can't believe they would attempt something as grand and brazen as this.» He tilted his head slightly as Kitana sighed heavily, «What's wrong, Princess?»

«I have been living this lie for so long,» Kitana muttered as she looked down at the hard marble floor of the temple. Her body trembled terribly from both shock and frustration from Shang Tsung's revelation of the plan. «I must correct this...»

Liu Kang looked at the princess with a solemn frown, «Kitana, you were right... This tournament is nothing but a farce.»

Kitana removed her mask, throwing it to the floor as she gritted her teeth. She looked up into Liu Kang's eyes with an intensity that could only be matched by the hottest of flames, «Your realm is in extreme danger... My fath... Shao Khan's treachery knows no bounds.»

Liu Kang reached over and gently took Kitana's slender hand in his own, «I have to warn the others, you should come with me.»

«Liu Kang, I am touched by your concern over my well being but I will do more good trying to subvert Shao Khan's plans from the inside,» Kitana spoke softly. «We must know as much as we can before we can proceed so I can help you make an effective plan of defense.»

Liu Kang stood silent for a moment and released her hand before slowly turning and running towards the door of the temple. As he reached the threshold he stopped and looked over his shoulder at Kitana. «I will be back for you.»

Kitana only smiled, touched by the pure heart of the Earthrealm Mortal Kombat champion. She didn't know what to say but somehow she thought that if any words were spoken it would somehow ruin the moment. Liu Kang gave her a stern but comforting nod before running out of the temple. Kitana looked down at her dark blue mask and frowned, «I am an assassin no more.»

She stomped her foot on the now worthless piece of cloth and ground it against the shiny marble floor, not aware that a pair of familiar eyes had been watching her and Liu Kang since she had regained her memory. Kitana looked to the main altar of the temple as a beautiful female silhouette dropped from the ceiling in front of the massive gold Buddha. Kitana watched curiously as her twin sister Mileena began to walk towards her.

«I've always known you would betray everything we strive for, sister,» Mileena hissed as she drew two sais from a holster on her back. «The punishment for being a traitor is death even for a daughter of Shao Khan!»

Kitana tightened her gloves quietly as the abomination that was Mileena approached. She reached down to her thigh high boots and drew two collapsed steel fans. Her slender fingers gracefully spread the fans, the polished blade tips glistened in the light of a nearby lantern.

Mileena tightened her grip on her sais as she dropped into a low stance, stopping about seven feet away from Kitana. «How do you want to die...? A sliced jugular?» Mileena asked with a cocky laugh.

«Surprise me,» Kitana replied calmly. She shook her head which swayed her long black hair behind her shoulders as she assumed a defensive stance. Mileena had always been faster and she wanted to be able to match her moves as closely as possible.

Mileena suddenly lunged forward with her left sai aiming for Kitana's chest. Kitana reacted quickly and swatted the attack away with one of her fans. She narrowed her eyes and spun her body, swinging the sharp bladed fan toward Mileena's face.

Blood splattered across the marble floor as Kitana looked at Mileena with a frown. Mileena staggered backwards stunned as blood trickled down from a gash across her forehead. Mileena dropped her sais and covered her wound with her hands as she began to scream frantically. Kitana returned to her stance as she waited for the right time to strike. She knew better than to rush a wounded animal.

Mileena shook her head as blood oozed down her face, «You..»

Kitana smirked slightly as she closed one of her fans. «You what, Mileena? I thought you were going to kill me... You're the one bleeding.»

Mileena let out a blood curdling scream before charging full speed at her twin sister. Kitana's eyes went wide as she threw one of her fans at Mileena. The wounded assassin's speed was augmented by her rage and she easily ducked beneath the spinning fan. She roared as she closed with Kitana, swinging her fist towards her jaw with an uppercut.

Kitana let out a week cry as Mileena's fist connected with her jaw, forcing her head to look up toward the ceiling. Mileena wasted no time and grabbed Kitana by her shoulders pulling her forward and using the momentum to shove her knee into her stomach. Kitana's eyes went wide as she involuntarily slumped forward against Mileena's thigh, vomiting onto the floor. Mileena withdrew her knee and pulled Kitana back into an upright position before slamming her forehead against Kitana's with a powerful head butt. Kitana stumbled backwards and fell onto her back, covering her forehead which was now smeared with her sister's blood.

She let out a weak moan as her eyes tried to focus. She rolled onto her stomach and forced herself up onto her hands and knees as she spit out a tiny bit of blood and bile onto the floor. Mileena watched her quietly for a moment before letting out a laugh that quickly rose in both intensity and insanity.

«YOU are nothing compared to me, Kitana!!» Mileena laughed madly.

Kitana shook her head and slowly pulled herself up to her feet. She looked back at Mileena and tightened her grip on her remaining steel fan with a determined look on her face. «I won't allow myself to be beaten by the hideous creation of a washed up sorcerer...»

Mileena promptly stopped laughing and glared at the princess, «You take that back!»

A small smile crept across Kitana's face as she got back into her defensive posture. «You're nothing but an ugly failure... I've always been the favorite,» Kitana said defiantly.

Mileena began to tremble with anger, her fists balling up so tightly that her knuckles popped. «I'm going to kill you,» Mileena growled. «And there won't be enough of you left to identify your body!!»

Mileena suddenly sunk into the floor and vanished. Kitana frowned as she recognized this teleportation technique and dove to the side just as Mileena appeared above her. Mileena dropped onto where Kitana had been, her foot struck the marble floor making it shatter with a loud crash. Kitana knew she had to end this fight now before Mileena was to get another lucky strike on her. She tensed up and dove toward Mileena while shoving her closed fan into her stomach.

Mileena's eyes went wide as she looked down at her mid-section. The shock from being stabbed held the scream that was in her lungs from coming out. Kitana looked at Mileena's face with a grim frown as she quickly opened the fan. The sharpened steel blades on the fan easily tore through Mileena's abdominal muscles, spilling blood and her intestines out from the gaping wound. Mileena finally let out a horrified scream as she watched her intestines splatter on the floor in front of her.

Kitana withdrew her fan and lifted Mileena's chin with her free hand, «You always were a little top heavy... Let me fix that for you, dear Mileena.» Kitana spun in place and used the momentum gained to swipe her fan at Mileena's exposed neck. The blades found their mark and Mileena's head was severed cleanly from her shoulders. Mileena's headless corpse stood upright for a few moments before crumpling at Kitana's feet.

Kitana looked down at Mileena's body quietly for around half a minute, stunned that she was actually able to murder someone that had been so important to her. She regained her sense and walked toward the altar where her second fan had gotten lodged. She removed it and put both of her fans away in her thigh high boots. As she began to head out from the temple she noticed Mileena's sais which were exactly where she had dropped them at the start of the fight. She walked over to them and picked them up from off the ground before tossing them over to Mileena's corpse. The metal weapons clanked as they bounced on the floor before coming to a stop beside Mileena's right leg.

«You were evil but you died bravely. If a warrior should fall their weapons should not be far away,» Kitana said quietly as she left the temple. «Goodbye.»