Shang Tsung and Sohcaro

My name is Shang Tsung. I am a Shadow Priest of the late Shao Kahn, and a soul-stealer... Actually, I should be saying those in the past tense because of certain... Developments.

Thanks to Quan Chi's amulet, a portal to the Heavens was opened and I had a limitless supply of souls to use as I saw fit; I used them to keep my strength at its peak and to revive Onaga's undefeatable army of mummies. Once I had completed reviving them all, I had released the Oni demons Drahmin and Moloch to kill off Quan Chi and retrieve the amulet. Part of the soul transference spell stated that the mummies would only obey ``he who possesses the amulet'', and since the Oni did not return with it, the army was completely useless to me until then... Of course, my unlucky streak for everything concerning Earthrealm crept up on me not long afterwards, as the allies of Liu Kang came to avenge his death.

The majority of the mortals fought the mummies that had already been active thanks to a previous order from Quan Chi, but Kung Lao went straight for me... In the name of his fallen brother and friend, he challenged me to Mortal Kombat to spare his home realm, and I readily accepted. I knew that he wasn't as strong a combatant as Liu Kang, and with the various souls from the Soulnado ready to keep my power at its peak, I believed that my chance for victory was much higher than when I fought Liu Kang. But I underestimated this monk...

Kung Lao had become a much stronger and faster combatant since I had last seen him all those years ago. His heart was fuelled with rage, yet he made no mistakes... He was like a whirlwind of fury, landing blow after blow during our bout, and he not only dodged every attack I made, but countered it within seconds... I couldn't get a proper moment to absorb any of the souls from the Soulnado to give me strength either, and within moments, I was on my knees in terrible pain from the thrashing he gave me... He defeated me with so little effort, that I had to beg him for mercy to regain my strength... I saw the anger grow in his eyes upon my request, and he said in a fiery voice that he would give me the same chance that Quan Chi and I gave Liu Kang... The last thing I saw was his hat coming down towards my forehead...

I knew that souls were instantly judged to go to either the Heavens, or the Netherealm, and I had a pretty good idea as to where I was going... But the long tunnel seemed to get dull and grey... Having heard several stories of the blistering, sulphuric path one had to take to enter the realm, I thought that it was a mistake, but once the long tunnel ended, I found myself in a completely dead realm... Not dead in the similar sense that a realm was once Outworld had taken it over, but dead as if there wasn't the presence of anything that made the land even recognisable. No tortured peoples, no demons, no lava, no sulphur; not even the sky had any unique features of the Netherealm. Everything was just greying, lacklustre, and unusually sticky. Occasionally, I could feel that someone was trying to contact me as I stepped on the gooey ground, but it would just pass. I couldn't understand it, because it was so unusual, but it felt like the realm was drained... Its haunting qualities were simply non-existent. For reasons that I cannot explain, I was rejected from this realm, and I found myself back in Outworld. Time passes much more quickly while one is out of their body, and I could only guess that I was gone for a few weeks since my death.

I had lost all the souls I had accumulated ever since I began serving Kahn, and all the knowledge that came with them... I was just a wandering spirit, with nothing to do, and without any purpose... Until I saw the mummified army charging into a massive portal. I followed them through it and found myself in the midst of a war between the mummies and a number of Edenians and Shokan. There were Oni demons and bizarre, red, mechanical creatures fighting alongside the mummies, and I just couldn't understand what I was seeing. I had a feeling that Quan Chi was somehow behind all of this, saving his own hide by bargaining with the Oni, making alliances with radical groups, and using the mummified army for himself... Moloch and Drahmin had betrayed me!

That thought didn't stay long in my mind because a barrage of Centaurian energy projectiles were launched at the army, and several Oni, mummies, and mechanical creatures either fell to the ground or were blasted several meters into the air from the attack. While the massive army fled and the Edenian light priests created a magic barrier that covered the area, I noticed a dying Shokan on the ground. The life was fading quickly from him by an internal wound, and I tried to use my magic to steal his weakened soul to strengthen my own, but as soon as I attempted to take it, the magic barrier came crashing down on me! The surge of power ran through me, and everything was spinning violently and out of control. I collapsed onto the ground... Or so I thought.

I later awoke on a stretcher, taking heavy breaths and clutching my head and chest in pain... The fact that I was breathing and feeling pain came as a surprise to me, but the biggest was the fact that I was holding both my head and my chest with two hands each. The Shokan warriors who carried the stretcher looked at me and gave thanks to their deities for allowing my survival. I realised that the priests' magical barrier forced my soul into the Shokan body that I happened to be close to; his soul was gone from the body, allowing my own to replace his. The pain was too much for me to sustain, and I blacked out once again.

I awoke in a makeshift cot among Centaurian, Shokan and Edenian soldiers, and was greeted with open arms by them, and soon afterwards, by a female Shokan and two small Shokan children... I felt the warmth and affection they had for me, which was really intended for the original owner's body, but I can't say that I didn't enjoy the feeling of being surrounded by family and friends... It looked as if some of the memories and emotions that this Shokan felt were now with me, and helped me figure out who these people were... My lovely wife Callista, my daughter Elia, and my young son Zantoro... I felt such a strong emotion for them, and it took me a few minutes before I realised what it was; love.

Once they left and I was allowed some solitude to recover, I used the Shokan's memories to see who I inhabited. My body's name was Sohcaro, was 274 years old, and was a high-ranking member of the Shokan healer squad, which explained why he was on the front lines of the battle; he probably saved a good number of the frontline warriors while endangering his own life. He was fairly large, with massive, thick, silver hair, and wearing white and red robes under a plate of cold, steel armour. He knew light-based magic attacks, but most of them were either healing spells or diversion attacks. He wasn't much for physical combat like Goro or Kintaro, but he was still a fairly strong creature. He was a very respectable Shokan... A noble friend, a fine husband, a good father, a decent warrior, and a very skilful healer.

When people pass on, remnants of who they were remain, so when a foreign soul is introduced into a dead body, the soul gradually assimilates these things. The souls that I used to revive the mummies were probably already assimilated into their bodies, but mine is strong thanks to millennia of having other souls in my body, and I'm able to resist the majority of these changes... But for how long?

I have to remember that I am the great and powerful Shang Tsung, a sorcerer who was feared in all the realms! It is my destiny to take Earthrealm for my own. I will torture Kung Lao for killing me, and while I'm at it, use these warriors to help me in this war. With my superior sorcery and Sohcaro's healing powers, the Edenian, Shokan, and Centaurian armies will be unstoppable! I will eliminate all of my enemies by using these people to destroy Quan Chi... No, not Quan Chi, Onaga and his army, then pin the Shokan, Centaurians, and Edenians against each other, and while I play the wolf in sheep's clothing, all sides will fall, and I will be the last being standing!

But something feels wrong about doing this. Perhaps it is Sohcaro's mentality that's affecting me, but I do not want any harm to come to my family or my friends... The fact that I have both is clouding my judgement. I think it's about time that a new Sohcaro rise from the ashes and take more control of his life. With my dark soul running this body, perhaps I can become the dominant influence. For now, I will continue my role as Sohcaro, but once this war ends, it'll be Shang Tsung who gets the last laugh! But first, I have to spend some quality with my -er, Sohcaro's children, and then celebrate the latest victory with the Shokans. Onaga, your soul will be mine!

Author : OPEQ

Creation date: 2006-1-19-20-29

Modification date: 2006-1-19-20-29