Cassie's team had been trained thoroughly for years now. There was practically nothing they couldn't handle. Empires, uprisings, betrayals? Not an issue. A crazy cannibal mistake of a mutant trying to kill everyone? They could handle it, no sweat. An Australian jackal selling guns and drugs and drugs and guns (aroo, arro)? No worries. A literal God of DEATH was resurrected through mistakes made by multiple parties leading to the corruption of the Earth's life force sending them into a suicidal ride or die mission where the literal fate of every world hung in the balance, and everyone accepted that they weren't coming back from this mission, knowing death was all but assured due to the inescapable fact that none of them were confident on whether or not they could stop an angry demon god? They got that, heck, they could do it with an arm tied behind their back.

So, if her team was so good at surviving the un-survivable, and beating all the odds to ensure victory every time. What couldn't they handle?

"…A REINCARNATION OF THE MONSTER THAT KILLED HALF OUR FORCES ONTO THE BASE?!"

Well, Sonya Blade's angry verbal beat-downs was high on that list. Actually, come to think of it, Commander Blade in a lot of regards was something they had trouble dealing with. And Cassie knew that better than anyone.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE ELDER GODS AND THE NINE HELLS OF THE NETHERREALM WERE YOU THINKING!?"

"Commander, this was on me, I-" Cassie began, trying to cover for her teammates, even though she actually did the least amount of the mission.

"I don't care!" Sonya shouted, cutting her daughter off. The anger in her voice and eyes was something Cassie had only seen when Shinnok tried to kill her dad. This was the anger of someone who lost everything and was desperately trying to hold onto what she had left. "Just give me a good reason I don't throw you all in the barracks and have the guards shred that monster's brains with machine guns right now!?"

"Because he isn't Shao Kahn!" Kung Jin shouted, throwing his hands up in annoyance. "He's a clone of him, yeah, but he isn't Shao Kahn."

"And that's supposed to make things better?" Sonya demanded.

"Yes! It doesn't mean he's a monster!" Jin retorted.

"Ugh… this was going to be a long day…" Cassie mentally sighed.

Johnny watched his wife on the warpath (as usual) and sighed in annoyance. This really wasn't anyone's fault, Raiden just showed up and went: 'Hey guys! ROAD TRIP!' and dragged their asses back to where all this began. That was then followed by Raiden going: 'Oh, BTDubs, the guy that ruined everyone's lives and killed billions is alive and stuff so… Good luck to your kid on surviving that!' Then they found a kid, who may be the aforementioned monster, and now they were being told that they had to… they had to raise him or something? What were they supposed to do?! Actually, come to think of it, who was watching that Kahn Klone?

In another room, the boy groaned as he pulled himself up and looked around. What had just happened? He was with the warriors, and then that banshee started screaming, and then something hit him.

"Banshee… why do I feel like I like that?" He asked aloud. Shaking his head, he looked around him. He was in a gray room, the walls and floor seemed dirty, and there was a door in one corner. It didn't take him long to figure out where he was. He was currently in a dungeon. He pulled himself up and walked over to the door, the door handle came up to his eye level, he was… well, short. For lack of a better word.

"The warriors that brought me here… what do they want with me? They all seem to know who I am, does that mean I can trust them?" He thought as he tried the door handle, and it was locked. "Unsurprising."

The boy sat down for a few minutes, part of him believed that he'd be let out, that some warriors would come and demand his freedom… but who were those warriors? Actually, scratch that. Who was HE? Seriously. He didn't know if Shao Kahn was him, his father, his brother… and if he was any of those things, what did it make him? He didn't even have a name…

"Well, sitting around here won't help…"

The boy stood up and took a deep breath in. Closing his eyes, he tried to find some sort of hidden strength, some sort of power… and he found something. He felt a warrior's strength begin to flow through him, he felt the strength of a thousand battles flow over him…

CLANG

The boy opened his eyes in shock, looking in front of him at the giant hammer that had materialized out of nowhere. Had he done that?! Awesome! Now he had a way out of here…

"If I go through that door, I will face many kombatants on my path to freedom." He mused. "But if I go through the wall, I flee like a coward from a battle I should be able to win…"

Sonya hadn't finished yelling at Cassie's team when the doors were practically thrown off of their hinges as a young private came running in at speeds even Kabal would be impressed by.

"Commander! He's gone!" She shouted.

"Who?!" Sonya snapped.

"That… that kid that was brought back! He's gone! He somehow broke through the wall in his cell!"

"That's impossible! Those walls are nearly six feet of steel and concrete! Do you know the size of the weapon that would… be…"

She trailed off, and everyone seemed to collectively have the same thought. No one waited for orders, as Cassie and the others were on their feet, gearing up and ready to head out into the desert to find their escaped guest. The issue now, was that he was armed, and there was no telling what kind of horrific acts he could commit with that weapon…

"Ngh… Ngh…"

The boy strained and groaned as he dragged his hammer across the desert dunes. After smashing through his prison wall, he took off with his new tool into the sands that welcomed him. The issue was, his energy died very quickly, and his strength seemed to fade, making carrying this oversized hammer an absolute nightmare.

"Fine. Be that way." He grumbled, leaving the hammer behind and continuing on his way. He looked down at himself, for the first time in his entire life, taking in what he was wearing. It wasn't anything more than tattered cloth and old fabric he had tied around himself that he found back on the island. Everything seemed to be crashing down on him now… his hunger, his confusion, his lack of plan that has most likely really screwed him over… He was going to continue questioning his actions and realizing how bad they were, when a loud rumbling sound caught his attention. This sounded like some sort of beat growling at him- no multiple creatures letting out low growls. He dropped to the ground and crawled forward, trying to see where his opponents were, and saw a line of odd carts moving on their own. All of them seemed to have a green sheet over them, and a dark green and beige design on them. There were also people getting in and out of them, so they were carriages of some sort. But… what kind of carriage looked like THAT? He blinked, watching them move off down a road towards… something. Well, this seemed like as good a plan as any… Taking a number of steps back, the boy focused his strength, and began running. Jumping off of the cliff, he felt himself falling, then landed on the roofs of one of the carriages. Inside, the soldiers looked around in confusion, but all shrugged. When the didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Alright, let's see where this goes…" He thought.

He had no idea how long he sat atop the rooftop, as he had stopped paying attention and just watched the sky. Unlike the seemingly constantly twisting storms of the island, this was a bright blue with clouds giving patches of shade, it was oddly beautiful.

"Hey."

The boy jumped in fright and anger, whirling around and ready for a fight, only to see the female archer from the island standing on the roof behind him. She seemed to notice the boy's apprehension and sat down cross-legged in front of him.

"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you, I just wanna talk." Kung Jin spoke calmly. He noticed the anger on the boy's face slowly change from anger to apprehension. "Look, I don't know what you're going through right now, I just wanna help in any way I can."

"Why?" The boy asked.

"Because you're just a kid." Kung Jin answered. "I don't think you even know your own name, let alone where you came from."

The boy wanted to say something, but hesitated, knowing the archer was right. Maybe… maybe this was an ally? Yes. The archer would be a valuable ally, as she clearly seemed to know this world.

"Okay." The boy nodded, slowly sitting down himself. "Where are we?"

"Well, you just left the Special Forces Desert Command base, we're in Earthrealm right now. I don't know how much of that you understand, or what memories you have."

"…I have no idea what any of those words mean." The boy shrugged. "All the memoires I have are being on the island, and seeing some weird desert place with a lot of people in it."

"Okay, well… look, what do you know?" Kung Jin asked. "And I mean, anything in this case, we've gotta start somewhere."

"…uh…" The boy muttered, looking around him as he went deep into the thought. "I think I have memories of a life that isn't mine. Other than that, I don't know anything. When I was on the island, things seemed familiar, but I never knew why, maybe it's déjà vu, or maybe…" He trailed off and looked down, clearly unsure of what to say.

"So, you know nothing about the Elder Gods? Outworld? The Mortal Kombat Tournament? Do you know anything about who you are? Or who you're supposed to be?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." The boy shook his head once again. Kung Jin listened intently. The way the boy spoke, the way he seemed to be carrying himself, he wasn't about to say that this… Clone? Well, whatever he was, Jin wasn't about to say he was innocent, but he very clearly wasn't lying when he said he didn't know who or where he was. "Elder Gods? When I say that, I feel… better? Like I'm better than them and you. I think my father is Shao Kahn… or is that who I am?"

"So, you don't even know your name. Huh." Kung Jin thought it over. "As for your last remark, I can't say I know exactly who you are, but I can tell you who you look like. Well, I can also tell you about who Lord Raiden thinks you are."

"What was wrong with guy? He seemed really angry for some reason…" The boy muttered. "He grabbed me and seemed to be trying to pull something out of me."

"Well, he believes your clone or reincarnation of Shao Kahn. He was the emperor of Outworld." Kung Jin began, and the boy's eyes widened as she seemed to realize something. "He was also someone who caused a lot of problems, a lot of our friends and family… Never mind. He threatened the realms and killed a lot of people. Not to mention that saying Raiden and him don't like each other would be like saying the Black Dragons love money."

"Who?"

"Never mind."

"And I'm him?" The boy blinked. "I'm this guy that the thunder man fears and hates? I've never even heard of either of them until a few days ago! Am… does this mean I'm gonna have to fight him eventually?"

"We don't know, and I doubt it." Jin admitted, shaking his head. "Raiden can be very aggressive and bull-headed, but I don't think you're the threat he fears you may be. We don't know who or what you are, and I don't think you do either… Shawn."

"What did you call me?" The boy asked, confused.

"Well, you need a name, so I figured 'Shawn' was like 'Shao', so… Shawn Kahn?" Kung Jin asked with a goofy grin. The boy blinked, huh… 'Shawn'… He didn't know if he liked it or not, but still, if it was a title given to him by an ally, perhaps he should accept it. "I'm Kung Jin by the way."

"It's better than nothing." He shrugged, making Jin laugh. "Why are you laughing?"

"You've got a lot to learn." Jin smirked. "Listen, there are some things I need to tell you now, before we do much more. First of all, you can't just smash walls whenever you want."

"Why?"

"Because… because animals can get it and it annoys people." Jin said, unable to hide his smile. "Okay? Can you promise me you won't do that?"

"Okay…"

"Great. Next, you can trust me, and my friends. For your own safety don't wander off on your own. Some people here may not be as calm as me or them, and they will most likely attack you."

"You think I'm intimidated by warriors you have?" The boy rolled his eyes, his sincerity and indifference made Jin laugh harder than before. "Again, what are you laughing about?"

"Eh, don't worry. Someone'll tell you eventually."

The boy seemed to sulk at that remark, looking back out over the side and noticing that the carriage they were on was now in the middle of the desert. He didn't say anything but just jumped off into the sand and began running towards a nearby hill. Kung Jin blinked, then sighed and followed. The now tentatively named 'Shawn Kahn' seemed to be straining while summoning something, with an arm held out to one side. Heck if the Shaolin Archer had a slightly dirtier mind (which he absolutely did, but this was a kid so he didn't) he would assume that Shawn Kahn was currently trying to take a dump.

"Uh, what are you doing?" He called with a raised brow. "If you're trying to summon some sort of portal, I don't think it works that wa-"

Kung Jin cut himself off as he saw the tony boy suddenly call up a massive hammer. He felt his blood run cold as he realized what weapon this was. Shao Kahn's main weapon was his wrath hammer, a weapon that had killed so many… A hammer that crushed empires, slaughtered kings and shed more blood than anything he could think of. However, the boy pushed it over and saw down on it, using the flat length of it as a seat. He seemed to be looking around now in wonder.

"What's that?" He asked, pointing off to the city in the distance.

"That's a city, it's where we live." Kung Jin explained.

"It looks so weird…" He muttered. Maybe Kung Jin asked another question, maybe he didn't, but the boy looked down at the hammer he was sitting on then looked back up. To his shock, the sands were now stained with blood and corpses. He towered over everything, looking around victoriously. He felt the hammer over his shoulder, and his foot on someone's head.

"Do you see it?!" He shouted in a booming voice. "You have lost! Your warriors are broken and scattered." Looking down at the man he was standing on, he added: "If they flee screaming, perhaps I'll let them live."

"You… are… NOTHIN…" The man tried to croak, but in his broken and beaten state, he couldn't finish his sentence. The boy felt horrified as he drove his foot harder into the man's head, laughing mockingly.

"I, am SHAO KAHN! Conqueror of Realms! And you… WILL DIE!"

Wheeling back, the boy felt his body moving as he held the wrath hammer in both hands and brought it down on the man's head. The muscle and bone exploded into a stream of blood and brains, painting the sands an even deeper shade of red. The boy breathed shakily, a rush of feelings overcoming him. There was a prickly feeling of fear and a violent urge of disgust, but both were mixed alongside a sense of accomplishment and pride. That… that felt good… Yes… he felt powerful, he felt like a warrior!

Then in a flash of white, everything disappeared…

Coming back to reality, the boy shook his head, looking around in confusion. He was still seated on the wrath hammer, and the archer was looking at him with concern.

"Are you okay kid?" He asked.

"W..why would I not be?" The boy shook his head.

"You just blanked out, like, completely." Kung Jin stated. "Then you started moving as if you were in some sort of trance, you walked over there, then came back and sat down again."

"I did?" The boy muttered.

"Listen, we should get back to the base." Kung Jun said, rising to his feet and motioning back towards the base, but the boy took a step back.

"I won't be a prisoner again." He growled defiantly. "And you won't take me back there!"

Kung Jin was genuinely caught off guard when the boy ran towards him, holding the wrath hammer… for all of two seconds. The hammer moved slightly, and seemed to dig itself deeper into the sand, causing the boy to accidentally launch himself upwards and landing roughly on his back. Jin was genuinely trying not to laugh now it was clear Shawn was confused and angered, and admittedly he had every right to be. But when the boy jumped up and ran at him, only to get a foot caught in a dune and fall face-first into the sand, he had to laugh, albeit briefly. The boy pulled himself up and growled, shaking the sand off.

"Hey, I'll make you a deal." Kung Jin spoke, getting on one knee and addressing the tiny menace. "Look, you and me go to the city, I'll show you some stuff about this world, I'll help you get more control of your powers, and then you come back with me to the base. But I'll tell you now. You won't be a prisoner."

"What will you show me?" The boy asked, both cautious and curious.

"All sorts of stuff, where Earthrealm warriors train, relax, eat, all that stuff." Kung Jin answered with a genuine smile. This was a HORRIBLE idea that may get him kicked out from the Special Forces, but at the same time, it was clear this kid wasn't the threat Sonya and Raiden seemed to think he was, and if showing him some of the Earthrealm life could keep him from getting worse… well, this was a risk well worth taking.

For the next hour, the remaining members of Special Forces were all over the desert, trying to find Kung Jin and the newcomer, and failing at both. Jacqui was concerned about Kung Jin, although Takeda and Cassie believed he'd be fine (Jin also happened to own Takeda twenty bucks, so if Jin was found in rough shape, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. The issue was that some of the soldiers had reported seeing both Kung Jin and the newcomer hanging around on the rooftop of one of their trucks, but had jumped off and taken off in a random direction. Jacqui was walking along the road looking at the tire treads until she saw two sets of footprints.

"Hey, I think I got something." She said, contacting the others. She began following them until she saw where they were heading, and she wasn't sure how to react to all of it if she was honest. "I think they're heading into the city. And I really, really can't say why…"

Takeda and Cassie looked to one another, genuinely bewildered and uncertain of what to say. Finally, Cassie blew a raspberry in surrender and threw her arms in in acceptance.

"Alright, get the van. Let's roll." She said, shaking her head. "Jin, what the hell are you doing?"

In the nearby city, Kung Jin and Shawn Kahn were walking down the sidewalk, the boy looked around in genuine amazement at everything he was seeing. Jin occasionally pointed things out to him as he ignored the looks people were giving him. It occurred to him now he really didn't know what he wanted to show him, but he was trying to make some sort of connection right now.

"This is where you live?"

"Not exactly, I live far, far away from here. But our base is nearby the city, so sometimes we come here." Kung Jin explained. "Listen, I don't know if you've eaten recently, but there's something you should try."

The boy simply shrugged and nodded, following behind the archer. He took in the new sights and smells, trying to figure out what it all was. There were all sorts of signs for things he didn't know the first thing about, and surprisingly, there didn't seem to be a gathering place for warriors… However, something that did get his attention was a place with 'Throne Room' written above the entrance. It had an odd design, and the words were somehow written in colour… But if this was some sort of Throne Room, perhaps the leader of this place resided there, and he could ask him if he knew anything about his (potential) father. He walked off towards it, due to his silence, the Shaolin Archer didn't seem to notice him break off. When he arrived, there was a large man built like a tank who seemed to be a guard of some sort, but he was currently in an argument with some lankly-looking man over something the boy neither knew nor cared about, so he simply walked by and opened the doors. He felt the wood shake and a loud, repeating booming sound filled his ears, the other thing he noted was the odd lighting in this throne room. Still, he shrugged it off and marched onwards. About a minute later, a vehicle pulled up to where Jin was still walking, and his teammates jumped out and met up with him, their faces made it clear they were both annoyed and confused. Kung Jin bit his lip, knowing this probably was a stupid idea, but he had to have tried to have made a connection before he'd write him off as a monster who must be stopped.

"Okay, Jin what were you-where is he?" Jacqui began, she didn't seem annoyed, almost concerned. But that quickly seemed to change to shock when she realized that he was alone.

"What? He's right behind…" Kung Jin blinked, turning around and expecting to see the small boy, only to realize he was alone. "Craapppp…" He muttered, his eyes widening. He looked around in a panic, trying to see if there was somewhere obvious that the kid would've went too.

"Okay, so this has gone from bad to drowning in the crapper…" Cassie sighed. "Still, we hit rock bottom, things have to get better now, right?" She spoke with a sarcastic but tired tone, and immediately seemed to regret that last remark as the sounds of a fist fight could be heard through the walls of a nearby building. They looked over to where the sounds were coming from, and all recoiled in disgust.

"Oh, c'mon man!" Takeda exclaimed. "You took him to a strip club!?"

A.N. So things are getting weirder and werider… Also, I couldn't think of a better name than 'Shawn Kahn' and I didn't want to simply call him 'The Boy', so if you can think of a better one, let me know!