#damashi

[fishyfishcake]

You tell them shujinko!!!

[laismoura-art]

Come bearing more MK1 concept art stuff to be added to my AU! ✨️

The addition of the day will be none other than the could-be-better plot twist herself: Damashi!⏳️

This woman is just so entertaining to me!

Like, she looks and sounds just like Kronika, and we spend a good chunck of the Story Mode thinking, "Oh shit, Kronika is back!" But then Liu and Geras finally get to take a good look at her, and their reactions are just?? Peak???

"Could this be Kronika?" What do you mean, "Could this be Kronika?" That's literally Kronika!

"That would be impossible. Kronika has been destroyed." Yeah, but this person literally looks like her, sounds like her, and messes with the Hourglass just like her! You sure you wanna throw the word "impossible" this soon??

Idk, I just think it's hilarious that they ruled her out almost IMMEDIATELY, lmao! I wonder if they saw someone else when they looked at her or something cause the way they looked at this Kronika looking woman and went "nah, ain't no way that's her" is actually hilarious!

They were right, sure, but still, lol!

°.✦⏳️

Anyways! Here's how I'll be adding her to my Umgadi Girls AU:

Damashi will be a Prophetess and part of the Edenian Royal Court!

Prophets are very well regarded in Outworld, borderline worshipped. After all, it was thanks to Prophetess Delia that they all survived the Dark Hordes!

They are also a very rare kind. It is believed that there can only be one prophet at a time. Some theories say they reincarnate!

Damashi was born in Jade's Desert and was brought to Sun Do after her first foresight and has been living there ever since, partly due to her kind's rarity and value, but also because the foresight in question was of Mileena's death, which understandably made Jerrod and Sindel want to keep her even closer!

Questions you must be having now:

Did Mileena die? Yes. The Mileena we know is a clone of the original who was made by the Royal Sorcerer, Shang Tsung, with Tarkatan blood!

Is Damashi Titan Shang Tsung? No. Just... no.

Is Damashi Kronika?? Hmm, technically!

Multiversal rule: Some events and people are bound to happen and exist one way or another, and there's nothing one can do about it, no matter how powerful (which is what drove Kronika mad to begin with)!

So, yes, Damashi is Kronika, but she's not aware of that, nor that her foresight comes actually from her weakened but still present connection to the Hourglass!

Does Liu Kang know about this?? Oh, he sure does!

Since Cetrion and Shinnok both returned, he suspected there would be a chance Kronika would, too.

He was very wary when he first saw Damashi, and his concerns only grew when he learned she was, in fact, Kronika. But much like her former children, she didn't know who she once was, and Liu decided that for as long as she remained that way, they would be fine!

What about Cetrion, Shinnok, and Geras?

Cetrion remembers being traumatised by her mom, but she doesn't really remember who that mom is, so she doesn't have anything against Damashi per se. She does feel uneasy around the prophetess, but she can't quite tell why. She avoids her at any cost, though!

Shinnok exists only as darkness itself sooooo hard to tell?

Geras knows, doesn't trust her, but trusts Liu Kang and supports whatever decision.

Is Damashi evil? Hmm, undecided! We'll see!

°.✦⏳️

Bonus:

A line I wrote for Harumi and had to share:

Harumi: The mysterious Prophetess Damashi (does she know her name literally means ‘deceive’? Not a great name for a Prophetess, if you ask me, but I guess there was no way her parents could prophesy she would be a prophetess, was there?)

Because I NEEDED a goddamn Japanese character to point that out!

Actually, "Deceive" is a great name for a prophetess, keeps you wondering...👀

Anyways, thanks for reading!⏳️💜

[mids-writing-blog]

Mortal Kombat: Enenra's Shadow part 2

Chapter 5: Betrayal and redemption

Before they could start arguing, out from behind a tree appeared a portal, out of it stepped Damashi, dressed sharply as usual as he looked down at Viktor.

DAMASHI: And who's the one who defeated the target?

Smirking beneath her mask, Breeze stepped forward.

DAMASHI (smiling maliciously): Masterfully done, Breeze. Now, to discuss your payments.

He responded, stepping back into the portal. Jay paused, their jaw clenched slightly as Damashi vanished back into the portal. Breeze, holding her head a little higher, gave the others a small, cocky glance before stepping through. Jay took one last look at Viktor—still unconscious, breathing shallow, a small line of blood tracing down from his temple—and followed them in, their gut twisting. Back inside the strange space of Damashi’s lair, the air grew colder, heavier as Nitara leaned against a wall while the other mercs stood. Viktor’s body was laid on a stone altar, surrounded by ghostly glyphs, glowing faintly.

DAMASHI (to the mercs): You’ve earned your reward, of course... but first—he and his demon must be prepared for the ritual. There’s... more use in him yet.

BREEZE: Oh? 

She asked, tilting her head. 

BREEZE (curiously): what kind of ritual?

Damashi smirked menacingly, his earrings dangling in the ear.

DAMASHI: Havik, bring him to this wall.

Havik, albeit reluctantly, placed Viktor's barely alive body against the wall, magic chains wrapping around his arms. Viktor then woke up slowly looking around in total shock.

DAMASHI: I shall separate the demon from this Earthrealmer. It will take some time and it will be extremely painful, but it will work.

Viktor shook vigorously, trying to break the chains with the little strength he had.

HAVIK: Ahem, our payment?

DAMASHI (chuckling): All in good time, Havik. Now then...

The spell around Viktor's hands tightened, leaving him thriving in pain as more golden chains appeared around his neck, Jay looked on in horror.

JAY: Hold the fucking phone, you never said you'd torture them!

DAMASHI (coldly): Torture is such a human word. This is separation. A necessity. You wouldn't understand the art behind it.

Viktor let out a guttural yell, his body thrashing as the magical restraints dug into his skin, glowing brighter with every surge of resistance. Enenra’s voice echoed faintly in his head, pained, but still present.

JAY (angrily): This wasn’t the deal, Damashi! You said capture—not mutilation!

DAMASHI (turning slowly): And you said you were loyal. Tell me, Jay… when did you grow a conscience?

Jay’s hand clenched around the hilt of her blade, her eyes shifting between Viktor—now gasping, struggling to even speak—and the smug figure of Damashi, who was raising a glowing hand toward the boy’s chest.

BREEZE (calmly): If you can’t stomach it, leave. This is what you signed up for.

JAY: … No, it's not.

In a flash, Jay unsheathed her sword and stepped between Viktor and Damashi.

JAY (furiously): You’ll stop this or i'll stop it myself.

Damashi sighs, turning his gaze to Havik, Nitara and Jay.

DAMASHI (unimpressed): Kill her.

He uttered as Nitara sharpened her claws, Havik ripped his own arm off and Breeze cracked her neck. It clearly isn’t looking good for the adventurer. However Jay, the quick thinker that she always is, dashed at Damashi, grabbing his wrist as he fired off a portal at a wall. Jay jumped into the portal, flipping everyone in the room off before it closed. Damashi sighed, reopening the portal before turning to the mercenaries.

DAMASHI (dryly): Find her and bring her to me. She will face judgement.

HAVIK (even dryer tone): Jay’s pronouns are they–

DAMASHI: JUST GO!

The three mercs went into the portal, going after the Earthrealmer and leaving in the room only Viktor and Damashi, who then looked over at the spot where Viktor had been chained, his eyes narrowing slightly at the scorched markings left behind from the disrupted spell.

DAMASHI (quietly): No matter. You can’t run, and most certainly cannot hide

Damashi looked at the clock on the wall, adjusting his earrings as he ripped open a portal in front of himself after placing the book he used to seal the two. 

DAMASHI: In time, I will return. Don't bother breaking out. You know you can't.

He spoke menacingly, stepping through the portal which closed on itself in seconds. Viktor then looked down, before speaking weakly. Viktor barely looked around as he struggled against the chains before whispering to Enenra on his shoulder.

VIKTOR (weak tone): Hey... You alive?

ENENRA (slithering out slowly): uhhh... Just barely.

Enenra then turned to the chain admiring it.

ENENRA: Fascinating...

As soon as his tendril touched the chain, it burnt him, the demon gasped in pain.

ENENRA: GAH, MOTHER OF GOD!

VIKTOR: Don't tell me. It's holy magic or some shit.

ENENRA: most certainly.

The two groaned, clearly in desperate need of a plan of escape asap.

VIKTOR: Hey, man. I got a plan. 

ENENRA (in Viktor's head): what's the plan, kiddo? 

VIKTOR: What if you stretched out and grabbed that book? 

ENENRA: ... Really? 

VIKTOR: I didn't say it was a good plan! Besides, do you have any better ideas? 

Enenra sighed, stretching out from under Viktor's dirty jacket, slithering out and his tendril just barely pulling the book down onto the floor and dragging it back to them slowly. 

ENENRA: Great! Now, I need you to read.

VIKTOR: Why? 

ENENRA: holy magic doesn't work when demons do it. 

VIKTOR: I think you're doing this because you can't read-- 

ENENRA: Do you want to stay here and get tortured?! 

Viktor rolled his eyes with a sigh, as Enenra flipped through the pages and found the unsealing spell. Viktor squinted at the ancient, twisted language scrawled across the parchment. The letters shimmered and moved like worms under his gaze, and it took every ounce of focus he had not to pass out from the effort.

VIKTOR (groaning): Christ, it’s like an infant wrote this…

ENENRA (urgently): Just repeat after me.

Viktor took a shallow breath, feeling the chains around his wrists pulse tighter as if sensing their plan. With no time to waste, Enenra read the tomes aloud and Viktor muttered after him, the syllables thick and sticky on his tongue:

ENENRA & VIKTOR (struggling): ... Karrie… Arnett... Roh’gen.

The moment the final word left his mouth, the book snapped shut with a deafening clap, sending a pulse of dark energy through the room. The chains binding Viktor and Enenra hissed and began to corrode, black smoke rising from where the magic was unraveling. The shackles cracked violently before finally shattering in a spray of golden sparks. Viktor slumped forward, gasping for air but smiling wildly through the exhaustion. Enenra laughed weakly inside his head, slithering tighter around Viktor’s arm like a bracer.

VIKTOR (grinning through his teeth): Never... doubt... my half-assed ideas…

ENENRA: C'mon, kid. We gotta move before Damashi figures out we just flipped him off from his own home…

Viktor nodded, and the two started running around, trying to escape from the lair, taking down whoever stood in their path. While the two plan their escape, Melisa and Nico wander around the marketplace alongside a few Special Forces soldiers wandering through the streets. After a while though, the soldiers wandered off, splitting up as they continued to look for a kid with pink hair. Before the caped crusader could sit down and talk with Melisa, the two were surprised by the general of Outworld’s army, who the moment of being noticed, grabbed Red Robin and put him against the wall.

AMARA: Well, if it isn't the Red Robin. Never got to thank you for almost having me lose my rank.

Nico stood against the wall, squirming and barely speaking as general Muchacha Amara choked him.

ROBIN: Muchacha…! Good to see you too…

Melisa looked at the scene, feeling like she should do something, but just admired what stood before her eyes. Muchacha Amara then turned her head to face the earthrealm woman, looking at her disrespectfully.

AMARA (unimpressed): And what are you? His wife?

MELISA (sarcastically): And what are you? His ex?

Muchacha let out a hardy laugh, half turned to her as she still held the masked man against the wall.

AMARA (smiling almost sadistically): Please, I’d rather eat horse shit than ever date this vile cretin.

ROBIN: Damn… that's probably the closest thing you’ve done to damage since–

Muchacha then pressed him harder against the wall. 

AMARA: Bitch, I'm talking!

The caped crusader coughed, as Melisa approached Muchacha, speaking almost formally.

MELISA: To answer your question, yes, he’s my husband. And if you’d be so kind as to return him to me, I won't have to remind you why Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Muchacha looked down at Melisa, looking like she’s checking her out before scoffing and letting go of Nico, dropping him to the floor. As Nico rubbed his neck, Muchacha leaned against the wall, arms crossed, smiling at the earthrealm woman.

AMARA: I’m getting the impression that I’ll like you a lot. 

As Muchacha praised Melisa, the caped crusader caught his breath, he turned his gaze to the general, clearly not in the mood for this.

ROBIN: If you’re done hitting on my wife, it would be nice if you could help us out.

Amara giggled, turning to the crusader.

ROBIN: Anyways, Melisa, this is Muchacha Amara. General of Outworld's armies. Amara, this is Melisa. The single most beautiful woman from Earthrealm. Now, the point…

AMARA: Alright, alright. What’s this about, shorty?

Robin turned to her, sounding slightly offended in his reply.

ROBIN: First off, how dare you, i'm a confident 5’9.

Melisa chuckled, shaking off the dust from Red Robin’s feathered cape.

ROBIN: Second, our kid is missing and we could use all the help we can get–

Muchacha stood there in silence, snorting and busting out in laughter, after hearing Robin mention “their kid”. She wiped a tear out of her eye, looking at the two.

AMARA (laughing): Oh my, thats the best joke you’ve said so far!

He looked at her with a glare that could kill a man, to which Muchacha scoffed. 

AMARA (chuckling): Oh, you’re dead serious.

She then cleared her throat, standing at the scene like she owns the place.

AMARA: Alright, very well. What does your child look like?

MELISA: Male, black jacket, pinkish red hair, a little taller than Nico.

AMARA: Well, I’ve heard of people talking about it while checking on the damage after a fight happened. The biggest piece of property damage delt in the fight was a cart of cabbages. To say the least, if your kid has any kind of firepower, he has a lot of restraint.

ROBIN (interested): Really? What else did you hear?

The general then stroked her chin, looking at the floor as if trying to remember. She then snapped her fingers.

AMARA: There've been reports that someone that fits that description had entered the living forest.

ROBIN: Then let's get going.

Thus spoke the caped crusader, and the three, followed by a group of outworld guardsmen headed towards the living forest.

Meanwhile, back at the plot, Enenra and Viktor broke out of a tower-like structure, Viktor’s jacket slightly stained in blood and after a few minutes of running, they took a break against a tree.

VIKTOR: Are we good?

ENENRA: I think we good.

Enenra looked behind the tree, scanning for any threats. He then turned back around and faced the protege.

ENENRA: We good.

Viktor sighed, looking down at the floor. He then heard rustling in the bushes, jumping right back up. However, instead of a large beast or another assassin or something. But rather, out of the shade of the trees appeared Jay, who stood across from Viktor in an awkward silence. Viktor looked at them coldly, his fist clutching and eyes expressing pure anger, and before soon, Jay spoke aloud.

JAY: Viktor, listen, I–

VIKTOR (cutting Jay off): No, YOU listen! You worked for that sadistic bastard with an earring fetish and the second he begins torturing me, which may I mind you was the most painful thing that had happened to me, you fuck off!! And here I thought that human solidarity bullshit was…

Before Viktor could finish his somewhat reasonable crash-out, his expression softened at the sight of Jay from across him. Enenra rested on Viktor’s shoulder, as the two gazed at Jay, who stood with their muscles tense and lifting their glasses up just a bit, wiping tears from their face.

JAY (through tears): Yes, everything you said is true, but I swear to God, I didn’t know  he was gonna torture you. I understand if you want to  snap my neck, but just know that I’m sorry!

Viktor’s expressions changed drastically, shifting between soft and furious. That is when Enenra whispered into his ear.

ENENRA (whispering to Viktor): I sense they speak the truth, kiddo. Breathe calmly.

Viktor’s fists trembled before opening as he took a deep breath and pulled some of his hair back, exhaling as he spoke.

VIKTOR: Listen, I’m sorry for going off on you like that. You’re clearly more than what you show on the surface, but I’ll accept you for who you are if you don’t try and kill me.

He replied, turning his head to the side as he pulled one of his hands out of his pockets and extending it to Jay, who looked at his and sniffled, taking it gladly as she looked up at Viktor, who stood just a little taller than Jay, softly smiling at one another. Viktor then looked to the side, before darting back at Jay.

VIKTOR: This is a little awkward.

JAY: Yeah.

The two then stepped away from each other, their hands breaking apart while still standing somewhat closely.

ENENRA (almost desperately): Oh, come on, you couldn't have made the moment at least a little more exciting? You’re a coward, Wilson. A coward.

VIKTOR: I have got to teach you about boundaries.

Jay giggled. However, all good has to be ruined by responsibilities. 

HAVIK: How cute…

Before long, Havik walked over to them menacingly, Nitara swooped in from the sky and Breeze skidded across the ground, wind blowing forward from behind her. 

VIKTOR: As much as I actively dislike you right now, that was an awesome entrance.

BREEZE: You’ve seen nothing yet.

Enenra began to shield the protege’s body like a suit of armor, striking a pose as a bit of Vitkor was heard in the demon’s voice.

ENENRA: Let’s give ‘em hell!!

JAY (standing beside Enenra): Hm.

With that, Jay drew her blade, Havik cracked his knuckles and Nitara and Breeze headed straight for Enenra. As the Wind-born fugitive and Vaeternian jumped the demon, Havik’s armored fist collided with Jay’s steel.

HAVIK: Why? Why would you turn against me, Jay? Does chaos mean nothing to you?

JAY (pushing Havik back): Isn’t the point of chaos to fight against your oppressors? Choose your own path?

The kleric chuckled.

HAVIK: Perhaps you have learned something. 

With a quick slice to the shins, Jay knocked Havik to the ground, standing over him with their sword pointed at his throat, Light being reflected  from their glasses.

JAY: I know, I can't kill you, but I might as well prove to you I’m right.

Havik chuckled sadistically, his fingers wrapping around Jay’s blade as he pulled himself up (sounds hot) and flicking blood off his hand as he looked down at the adventurer.

HAVIK: I suppose you do have a point.

Meanwhile, Viktor/Enenra fought for their freakin’ lives. Blocking Nitara’s slashes and dodging Breeze’s strikes. With one fowl strike, they send Nitara flying away into the canopy, then, after listening to the wind, anticipated Breeze's strike, stopping her hand and sending her sliding across the floor. Enenra then spoke aloud, his voice a mixture of worry and judgement.

ENENRA: You fight not because you are loyal to that sorcerer, you fight because of anger. Because of a possible… grief… it clouds your judgement and guides your fists. Why?

The windborn fugitive stood back up immediately, the mask that she wore covered most of her furious expression as she spoke.

BREEZE: You think you know pain? My people are dead, courtesy of Shao Kahn and his accomplices. And now he is dead, so that guilt falls on his daughter, who gets off scott free. That's why I work with Damashi. He offers me to put her six feet under and inflict on his dead soul what he has done to me. She will pay for her father’s crimes.

Enenra then revealed half of Viktor’s face, his expression softened as he heard Breeze’s reasoning. Their guard drops for a moment before regaining it and continuing to fight her, pulling most of his punches. Viktor and Enenra were blocking and dodging  all of Breeze’s strikes, doing as little damage as possible  while Breeze kept trying to  force through the two, briefly stopping and sidestepping. 

BREEZE: I don’t need your pity, fool. So stop holding back!

Breeze went to swing once again, but Viktor and Enenra stood before her, grabbing Breeze’s fist mid-punch as their voices overlapped one another as they replied.

VIKTOR/ENENRA (softly): We don’t want to fight you for our own lives, we will stop for the sake of your own. You fight for another’s sake, and you let your anger blind you. This isn't a pity, Breeze… it’s respect. Empathy, even.

Then, Breeze froze, their words cut deep into her soul. Enenra then retracted into the fist that held her hand, letting Viktor speak for himself.

VIKTOR: Enenra claims himself weak compared to his own kind and I once had my entire arm shattered into bits. Our combined pain doesn’t compare to yours, I won't pretend like it does, but we know for a fact that you aren’t a bad person, it's just a shit world.

Enenra then pulled his arm behind Viktor’s back like a shadow as the protege let go of Breeze’s fist, who pulled it back slowly. She then turned her back to the star child, who looked at her in an awkward silence, before half-turning, speaking to Breeze in a quieter, more sheepish tone.

VIKTOR: I’ll give you time to think alone. I’ve got plans for that Damashi guy, but I won’t force you into any of them. 

The wind-born fugitive did not answer at first, half turning and watching as the boy began to walk away from the corner of her eye. She moved her mask down, showing the lower half of her face as she spoke.

BREEZE (gently): You're really hard to hate, you know that?

Viktor winked and smiled at her, Enenra staring back at Breeze as the kid spoke.

VIKTOR (cheerful but somewhat quiet): I try my best to be likeable to people. It doesn't work most of the time.

Breeze breathed out, half a scoff and half a sigh, looking over to Viktor, who's pinkish red hair almost shimmered with the sunlight before approaching the boy, not out of anger or annoyance, but comfort. Something she hasn't felt in ages. She grabbed the pouch around her hip, reaching in it and grabbing a small box before tossing it to Viktor, who blinked in surprise as he caught it.

BREEZE: Top tier medicine. I feel like you earned it, kid.

Viktor smiled and blinked, putting the meds in the inner pocket of his jacket, looking up at Breeze with a soft smile.

VIKTOR: I'll keep it in mind... Friends?

The protege extended his hand to her, smiling at her as his fingers shook slightly in pain while Enenra peeked from the kids shoulder. Breeze looked down at his hand, taking quick notice of his shaking fingers, looking at his hand long enough for the host to start worrying she’d rip it off. But then, she took his hand, clasping it as she looked up at him with hope in her eyes.

BREEZE: Yeah… friends.

Viktor smiled gently at her as Enenra was gushing behind him. Meanwhile Nitara, Havik and Jay watched along at this sight.

JAY (pouting): Awww, that’s cute.

NITARA: I think I’m going to be sick in the mouth.

Breeze then let go of Viktor’s hand and stepped away.

BREEZE: I should get going now…

VIKTOR: Breeze, wait!

Breeze stopped before she had the chance to head off, turning around so she can speak to Viktor.

BREEZE: Yes?

The kid scratched the back of his head before replying a bit nervously.

VIKTOR: I have something planned for Damashi and I can use the extra muscle, which you certainly don’t have a shortage of.

He spoke, his voice nervous but steady as Enenra wrapped around his neck while Havik, Nitara and Jay stood behind him and chattered 

BREEZE: You really like pushing your luck, don’t you, kid?

VIKTOR (shrugging): Hey, it's your choice.

The wind born fugitive scoffed as she looked to the side.

BREEZE: What the hell? I’m in.

Enenra then looked up at his host, tilting his head.

ENENRA: So, Viktor, whatcha got in mind?

JAY (in the back): Yeah, what's the plan, V?

Viktor then turned over to the mercenaries, the people who once tried to smoke him. And now, he stood in front of them like they were his friends. Family, even.

VIKTOR: Right. Step 1: Havik, Nitara and Breeze take me to Damashi while Jay stays on the sidelines.

BREEZE: If a little strange, understandable.

JAY: Easy enough.

NITARA: What's next?

Viktor then turned his back on the crew, speaking nonchalantly with his hands at his hips.

VIKTOR: Step two: I have no idea.

After Viktor's statement, everyone stood around in a deafening silence. It was quiet for a solid six seconds. Enenra then spoke out.  

ENENRA: ...Come again?

JAY (blinking): You what?!

Viktor slowly turned back around, a sheepish grin on his face.

VIKTOR: Step two is flexible! I have a baseplate for it, but I haven't exactly run through all the options.

NITARA (deadpan): Brilliant. We’re all going to die.

Jay then stroked their chin, looking up as she put her hand down.

JAY (enthusiastically): I think it's worth a shot. IF it's as flexible as you say.

VIKTOR (respectfully): Thank you Jay. Now here’s the rest of the plan…

He replied, stepping just a bit closer to quietly explain the plan.

[mids-dumbbrain]

I finally added color to one of my best drawings

Featuring @hanja-mikiis Breeze and @crowsnhoess Jay

[ash-shark]

Young Shujinko and Damashi..

[cienie-isengardu]

I am your deliverer.

[randomstoreroom21c]

Screencap edit: Meet "Damashi"

"Goodbye Liu Kang. Neither you, nor your timeline, will be missed."

[cdr2002]

Mortal Kombat Odyssey Bio: Onaga

In the ancient past of Outworld, the realm was divided into a various kingdoms, territories, townships, tribes, and communities.

The oldest of these, and for many centuries the most powerful, was the dragons. They were possibly the first sentient race to come about in the universe created from the defeat of the One Being, before even the humans who would go on to populate nearly every realm in some form or another. They were revered for their wisdom, their strength, and their majesty. And with their considerable army, they were virtually unchallenged.

With this power, respect, and seniority, the dragons of Outworld grew arrogant, believing that their position at the top of the food chain was secured, and their superiority self-evident. Even with the rise of the mighty kingdoms of the Shokan and Centaurs, it seemed that this would remain.

At this point, the latest of the Dragon Kings began to develop desires to expand his empire, and take all of Outworld under their banner. Cooler heads in his council were able to deter this ambition for a few thousand years, and Outworld remained in its status quo.

And then a child was born.

Two mere commoners in the Dragon Kingdom laid an egg which would hatch into the strangest dragon which had been seen in eons. He was… humanoid. Two arms, two legs, and while still towering like an elder Shokan, as he entered adulthood, he was smaller than many of the leviathans among the dragon race. A mutant.

His parents named him Onaga.

Onaga had a very difficult life as he entered the world. The other dragons found his mutation and appearance abhorrent, believing him to be hideous and even unworthy to be considered one of their kind. He was constantly berated and mocked, written off as an outcast and excluded at nearly every venue of life. Even his parents seemed ashamed of him, although they tried to keep up his self esteem in his youth.

This embittered Onaga over a period of centuries, causing him to hate those around him just as they hated him.

But there was something more than the pain of suffering this discrimination. Ever since he could remember, Onaga felt some kind of calling… a higher purpose. As if he was destined for some greatness. While the other dragons saw him as lesser, something told him that he was in fact a being most supreme.

He saw the universe before him and it was if he could bend it to his will…

Onaga’s arrogance allowed him to deflect many of the insults as he got older, and in the same span of time, he began to feel his own inner power grow. Something inside him that granted a might which the realms had never seen.

And one fateful day, it was time to let that power out.

Onaga suddenly snapped under the heckling of a group of his fellow dragons, killing them savagely. And he did not stop there.

As if all his rage had finally been unleashed, Onaga rampaged across the kingdom of the dragons, slaying all who stood in his path. Even his own parents fell victim to his staggering strength.

Entire armies were sent against him, and none of them were enough to stop his advance. Whatever innate power Onaga possessed was beyond them all.

Eventually, Onaga had single-handedly genocided almost the entirety of the dragon face of Outworld, reducing their once-great kingdom to ruin. His final foe was the king of their kind, who had his behind warriors for years and finally had nowhere else to run. Their battle was fierce, but Onaga ultimately succeeded, and laid claim to the title of Dragon King.

Onaga would not stop there, going across Outworld and exerting his might to encourage that all those in his path swore fealty to his burgeoning rule. Even the Protector God of Outworld, Shao Kahn, bent the knee to the Dragon King.

Within another century, Outworld had been reorganized into a unified militaristic empire under Onaga’s singular rule. Kingdoms which maintained their stature had become vassals and he had legions of loyal soldiers at his command which recognized his superior might or saw the opportunity to bring order to Outworld.

For several more millennia Onaga would reign unchallenged, using the intervening time to gain a mastery of several arts of sorcery, including a particular knack for resurrection magic, adding a force undead to his army that was fabled to be undefeatable, and which only grew with time.

He also gained a fascination with ancient legends, relics of potential use. The Amulet of Shinnok. The dark blade, the Ebbonrule. Remaining artifacts of the very dragon kingdom he had destroyed. All potential assets as Onaga began to grow in ambition beyond the bounds of Outworld…

Onaga envisioned a vast empire spanning the entire universe. All of existence beholden to his will. All he needed to do… was conquer.

The Dragon King sent forth his armies, commanded by undead generals and worshippers completely loyal to him, into other realms to seize them and allow him to merge these realms with Outworld. Among those conquests were the Kytinn home realm of Arnyek and the oceanic realm of Ebisu.

This merging of realms was an imminent threat to the relative peace the Elder Gods sought throughout the realms. If Onaga was not stopped, his expansionism risked reconstituting the One Being, and thus destroying the universe that the Elder Gods sought to protect, as well as resurrecting their greatest enemy.

Though still reluctant to interfere, they wished to put a stop to this expansion. Thus, the Elder Gods created the Mortal Kombat tournament. Onaga could no longer freely invade realms without incurring their wrath, and realms under threat had a means to defend themselves with minimal bloodshed.

Onaga was infuriated by this, quickly realizing that the Elder Gods were perhaps the greatest threat to the growth of his empire. He has always hated them, something inside him had always despised their arrogance and presumption to dictate the direction of the cosmos. They sat on thrones which Onaga felt rightfully belonged to him, and he would depose them through whatever means he could.

As the Dragon King regrouped his armies and reconsidered his options, he began to remember back to a story he had known since he was a boy, an unimaginable amount of time ago to most. No one had ever told him this story… at least not that he could remember, he just… knew it.

It was the story of the One Being, the Elder Gods’ battle with them, the creation of the universe

…and the advent of the Kamidogu.

Those artifacts had stayed in his mind for most of his life. He swore to himself that one day he would gather them all and unleash their power. That was his path to omnipotence and total dominion over all reality.

It was a goal his dreams of empire had blinded him to. Onaga realized that expansion through brute force was no longer necessary. If he could venture throughout the relams, or perhaps send agents to do so in his stead, he could gather the Kamidogu in time, without having to wage wars with other realms. Then he could lay siege to the Temple of Elements, claim the final piece, and unlock the secret required to unite these artifacts of the Elder Gods into one.

This however was one factor which his strange innate knowledge denied him… why? What force in the universe would grant him this knowledge of the ancients and forgo the final piece of it all. Perhaps something that had goals which did not align with his own?

Before Onaga could consider the matter of his mysterious benefactor further, he was assassinated at the hands of his advisor, Shao Kahn. The protector god poisoned a drink Onaga had been given, and laughed at him as he fell dead. Onaga damned him a coward as his body failed him.

His remaining loyalists were able to recover his corpse during the ensuing civil war for control of Outworld, taking it to a pyramid which would become known as the Lost Tomb, where powerful mystics among their number engaged a spell which caused the deaths of all present: a ritual suicide to join the ranks of Onaga’s undead army and serve him for eternity. Silent sentinels awaiting his inevitable return.

Shao Kahn succeeded in taking the throne of Outworld and began his own campaign to conquer and merge the realms, abiding the Elder Gods’ Mortal Kombat tournament for the time being.

But in his arrogance, Shao Kahn failed to truly understand the power wielded by Onaga. In his all his time of studying the mystic arts of life and death, Onaga had become virtually immortal. Death would not stop him.

His soul persisted, protected from the pull of any afterlife realm, and Onaga began to put a new plan in motion.

He commanded his mystic followers, the Lava Priests, to gather a stillborn dragon egg from the ruins of the dragon kingdom and construct a shrine around it. If necessary, the body within this egg would serve as Onaga’s new vessel in the living world when he decided to return. The Lava Priests were to stand guard of this shrine until their master’s resurrecifon, and for increased security, they conscripted a firespawn named Blaze using powerful mind control sorcery.

The second part of Onaga’s plan was to find a soul to serve as his agent in traveling across the realms and gathering the six Kamidogu so that he could seize them upon his return and begin his path to being utterly invincible. Onaga knew that this plan could take thousands of years, but despite his rage towards Shao Kahn, he was willing to be patient.

After thousands of years of searching, he honed his focus on Earthrealm, and in particular, a young boy seeking adventure…

Alternate poses