He stood prominently atop Mount Everest, where it had all begun. Across China the forces under his command bombed the major cities and his army of followers fought for death and Glory and His Holy Name. Shen-kahn smiled, his pearly white fangs gleaming in the pale moonlight. Several others were present, loyal servants he had honed into implements of war and death far beyond any other.

He rose from the precipce and his eyes gleamed Emerald green. "I tire of this symphony of destruction. It lacks finery, it lacks the Soul of Real Combat. Baselines fighting baselines, bombs dropped without care, too much waste all in all. It's time For them all to see the truth of this matter."

Five exact copies took shape at his sides. "Go forth to your appointed places. Let their paltry resistence end now." The five copies all bow and vanish through five Separate Warpgates. One to Beijing, one to Shanghai, one to Ghuangzhou, one to Shenzhen, and the final to Tianjin, the five most populated cities in China.

Each beacon now in place he snarled and sent power to each of them to broadcast his command. "Forget your meaningless lives, your own weakness, and serve me, Shen-kahn, now." Millions of Chinese stopped, looked skyward, and forgot all the struggles of their lives, all the mindless work, the bombs s that had been faling upon them and they bowed, each placing their head to the Earth, giving praise to their Lord and Master. Accross all five cities it was the same. "All hail Shen-Kahn. All hail the Master."

It took a full week, but soon, all of China would bend knee to their new master. Those who regained some of their former selves simply vanished in the night, executed and their bodies destroyed. The entire experience left Shen-kahn drained in all ways.He could hardly move in his new palace. He laid there, surrounded by his implements in their dormed forms, regaining his power from the last of his conversions. The good Doctor hadn't requested it yet, but he was preparing his first payment in this bargain between snakes. Five hundred thousand able men and a shipment of war materiel were being loaded up and prepared to be shipped to The good doctors training facility and manufacturing area. they wouldd be sent out in all directions, by a dozen meothss. some would be intercepted, but they would know nothing, of importance only that their master commanded them to train and work and fight for his glory under the banner of Boroz, that thier valor would go be remembered as their names were added to the Book of Heroes.

He nodded to his prize implement, Nekigami, his Spirit Cat. Her raven hair flowed down her back. Her Emerald eyes sparkled with unmatched radiance. Even wearing her mask, she was startlingly beautiful. He smiled, noting how well the girl had turned out after a proper upbringing. "Report my dear."

"As you have commanded my Lord all the dissidents have been destroyed."

"Are you ready to follow my next request?"

"I and the Faithful are sworn to die at your command my Lord, what may we your humble implements accomplish in your name?" The look made her uncomfortable, but she hid it.

"This is a task only for you. You alone are fit for it. Besides each of you..." He gestures to the other five novas there... "You are all going to govern a prefecture of my China. You will be responsible to me alone, and your authority over your Prefecture will be total. Each of you has been shown your new area and the boundaries there of. inter-prefecture squabbles will not be tolerated, now go, each of you has much to do." The five all left, each with a smug smile there were only six total divisions for China, and the precious Assassin hadn't been given one. Instead she was to be given another mission to redeem herself.

"I ask forgiveness my Lord." her face blushed with shame. She had to have displeased him she noticed she wouldn't be given part of China.

"For what my dear, you have done nothing wrong, quite the opposite."

"Then I am affraid I don't understand." She realized how her tone could be offensive and tried to apologize, but Shen-kahn's tail pressed against her lips. "It is alright Minazuki. We are alone now."

"Yes Father." Her form shimmered and her body was covered in snow white fur and ebony black striping. Her tail extended and was also covered the same. Her eyes became deeper, even more striking. Small claws tipped each of her nimble fingers. Now the resemblance was obvious. While nowhere near as large as her father, her body belied feline grace, and the power of the great cats. She had slightly elongated incisors, but she did have the full digitigrade legs and tiger's head her father had.

"That's better." He smiled as she took his offered hand and sat across his lower legs. She could feel the rumbling beginnings of his purring deep within him. Despite his exhaustion, she knew he was very pleased with how everything had gone, which only made his dismissal of the others and the command for another mission that much more ominous. He ran a finger down her back and smiled. "Relax, I am giving you that which you desire above all else."

She looked at him quizzically. "I forged seven implements, one for each of the seven cardinal sins of the Christians, our original enemies. You, my Mistress of Lust, are to retrieve my wayward implement, The embodiment of Wrath itself."

"Comprehension showed on her face and in her pearly smile. "Bring Long back to me my daughter. I want him to swear his allegiance to me willingly, to submit and yield completely."

He nods his eyes glowing brightly. "I know you have longed for him since he first rescued you. You knew him to be my heir, and wished to make in official. Your efforts had started to pay dividends, but he was taken from us. We failed him, and they gave him this false sense of honor and respect for his home of Japan. Now he fights in chains for them, and yet he is still a veritable force of nature on the battlefield. I want him back, you want him back , Now I give you permission. Appropriate what you need and give me your plan by the morning. Then you will go and make our family whole." He smiled knowing he had just offered her everything she wanted. The chance to fix what had been broken, the chance to ensure her father's bloodline, and his approval of it. She would say yes.

Her eyes betrayed her boundless joy. Here it was, not a mission of punishment, but a chance to make right everything that had gone so wrong. Her Ryu would come back and he would be hers. They would be first among equals. It was a mission of unfathomable glory and honor.

She bowed to him, her head to the floor her tail coiled about her legs. "I will not fail you Father."